To be held from December 9-11, 2009, Retail Design Collective showcases an exclusive collection of the world’s top visual and design resources. The show sets stage for retailers, visual merchandisers, and designers to see and share new, innovative ideas while celebrating design excellence and offering multiple opportunities for learning and inspiration.
7 W New York, a mart building featuring home décor, table top, giftware, textiles and decorative accessories, will serve as the event’s new headquarters, hosting registration and the daily conference program. The 450,000 square feet building is located in Midtown Manhattan close to Retail Design Collective’s other participating showrooms, as well as some of New York’s popular restaurants, hotels, shopping and entertainment.
Special events during Retail Design Collective will include the PAVE Gala, a fund-raiser benefiting retail design students, taking place on December 9, 2009. A bus tour of holiday displays will be expanded this year based on a strong reception in 2008. In daily conference sessions, panels of leading retail designers will present visual programs, winning window displays, and New York retail.
The show will host conference sessions on all the three days. On December 9, the topic of the session would be ‘winning windows: creating excitement for your stores from the outside in’. Moderated by Alison Embrey Medina, executive editor of DDI, the conference will focus on the fact that from the moment the storefront comes into a potential customer’s view, there are opportunities to saturate that prospective buyer with inspiration. The retail store window drives the “must see” factor that enables the retailer to directly engage with their customers — and entice them to buy.
On December 10, the presentation will focus on ‘visual merchandising: triumphs, trends and predictions’. Moderated by Kristin D. Godsey, associate publisher and executive editor of VMSD, the presentation will bring together the cream of the crop in the visual merchandising world to discuss the best trends of 2009 and what we can expect in 2010.
December 11 will see a presentation on ‘Manhattan must-sees: what’s new in New York retail’ moderated by Andrew McQuilkin, retail market leader, bdhp architecture, and international president of RDI. The session will give a head start in planning the retail visits, as Retail Design Institute’s New York Chapter shares its insider knowledge.
So far, 23 leading companies have committed to Retail Design Collective, including Adel Rootstein, Alpha Display, ALU, Architectural Systems, B+N Industries, Bernstein Display/MC, Christine Taylor Collection, Circle Visual, Elevations, Goldsmith, Holiday Foliage, Holiday Image/Holiday Pro, Hudson & Broad, JP Metal America, Leo Prager, Lifestyle, Material ConneXion, Mondo Mannequins/Sellutions by Econoco, Patina-V, RHO, RTR Packaging, Siegel & Stockman, and Trimco. Shasty has signed on as conference sponsor. Media partners for the 2009 Retail Design Collective include VMSD magazine and DDI magazine.
NADI, based in Hollywood, Florida, is the Visual Merchandising Committee for A.R.E., the Association for Retail Environments. Members include manufacturers, suppliers, and retailers involved in the visual merchandising industry.
Founded in 1992, The Planning and Visual Education Partnership’s (PAVE) objective is to encourage students to study in the fields of retail design and planning and visual merchandising through its annual Student Design Competition. Additionally, PAVE seeks to encourage retail management, store planners, visual merchandisers, architects, and manufacturers to interact with and support design students.
