Podcasts about Visual merchandising

In dieser Episode von SEOPRESSO Podcast spricht Björn Darko mit Chantal Sebrantke, auch bekannt als die Marketing-Fee, über die Verbindung zwischen Psychologie und Marketing. Chantal teilt ihre Erfahrungen aus der Welt des Visual Merchandising und wie diese Erkenntnisse in das Online-Marketing und SEO integriert werden können. Sie diskutieren die Bedeutung von Suchintention, Keyword-Recherche und Zielgruppenanalyse, um effektive Marketingstrategien zu entwickeln. Zudem gibt Chantal Einblicke in ihre persönliche Reise zur Selbstständigkeit und die Aha-Momente, die sie auf diesem Weg hatte. In diesem Gespräch diskutieren Chantal und Björn die Bedeutung von Keyword-Recherche im Marketing, die Strategien für Online-Gestaltung und User Intent, sowie die Rolle von Markenbildung im digitalen Zeitalter. Sie beleuchten die Herausforderungen und Chancen, die sich durch die digitale Transformation ergeben, und betonen die Wichtigkeit von Sichtbarkeit und Emotionen im Marketing. Zudem geben sie wertvolle Einblicke in die notwendigen Skills für angehende Marketer und die Bedeutung der Customer Journey.takeawaysPsychologie ist der Schlüssel im Marketing.Der Goldene Schnitt ist überall in der Natur.Suchintention ist entscheidend für den Content.Keyword-Recherche steht und fällt mit dem Erfolg.Visual Merchandising hat viel mit Online-Marketing zu tun.Emotionen triggern ist wichtig für die Conversion.Die Biosstruktur-Analyse hilft bei der Zielgruppenansprache.Farbpsychologie beeinflusst die Wahrnehmung.Aha-Momente sind entscheidend für die Selbstständigkeit.Die richtige Ansprache führt zu höheren Conversions. Keyword-Recherche ist entscheidend für den Erfolg im Marketing.User Intent sollte bei der Gestaltung von Online-Inhalten berücksichtigt werden.Markenbildung wird im digitalen Zeitalter immer wichtiger.Sichtbarkeit auf verschiedenen Plattformen ist entscheidend für den Erfolg.Emotionen spielen eine große Rolle im Gedächtnis der Konsumenten.Die Customer Journey muss strategisch betrachtet werden.SEO bleibt ein zentraler Bestandteil des Online-Marketings.Langfristige Strategien sind wichtiger als kurzfristige Erfolge.Die digitale Transformation erfordert Anpassungen in der Marketingstrategie.Marketer müssen sich ständig weiterbilden und anpassen.Chapters00:00 Einführung in die Welt des Marketings02:49 Psychologie im Marketing und ihre Bedeutung06:00 Der Goldene Schnitt und seine Anwendung im Marketing08:55 Suchintention und Keyword-Recherche im SEO11:52 Personas und Zielgruppenanalyse im Marketing14:59 Der Weg zur Selbstständigkeit und Aha-Momente17:29 Keyword-Recherche und ihre Bedeutung20:20 Strategien für Online-Gestaltung und User Intent23:23 Die Rolle von Markenbildung im digitalen Zeitalter27:05 Die Zukunft des Marketings und Sichtbarkeit30:17 Wichtige Skills für angehende Marketer34:00 Emotionen und Gedächtnis im Marketing

Skip the Queue is brought to you by Rubber Cheese, a digital agency that builds remarkable systems and websites for attractions that helps them increase their visitor numbers. Your host is Paul Marden.If you like what you hear, you can subscribe on iTunes, Spotify, and all the usual channels by searching Skip the Queue or visit our website SkiptheQueue.fm.If you've enjoyed this podcast, please leave us a five star review, it really helps others find us. And remember to follow us on Twitter  or Bluesky for your chance to win the books that have been mentioned in this podcast.Competition ends on 21st May 2025. The winner will be contacted via Bluesky. Show references: Museum Wales website: https://museum.wales/Big Pit National Coal Museum: https://museum.wales/bigpit/Catherine Pinkerton LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/catherine-pinkerton-b1905a110/Catherine Pinkerton is the Group Retail Manager at Amgueddfa Cymru - Museum Wales.Having worked in senior management positions for some of the high street's most recognisable brands such as Harrods, Selfridges, Dior and Guerlain to name but a few, Catherine spent 20+ years in London building her management career. Catherine is now the Group Retail Manager for Amgueddfa Cymru (Museum Wales). She is responsible for the management of all aspects of retail operations and development, across the national museums of Wales. Catherine is currently leading on a transformation project to create immersive retail experiences in each of the museum shops, reflecting the visitor experience and collections of each of the varied museums.Guests Also Featured in This Episode:Anya Kirkby, Freelancer - Anya Kirkby Ltd – Product Development and Graphic Design anyakirkby@gmail.comArantxa Garcia, Freelancer - Exibeo VM Creative Studio – Shop Design and Visual Merchandising Arantxa@exhibeovm.co.ukNia Elias, Director Relationships and Funding, Amgueddfa Cymru nia.elias@museumwales.ac.ukGuy Veale, Freelancer – Freelancer - Sound artist/designer - gbveale@gmail.comAmy Samways, Shop Supervisor, Amgueddfa Cymru - amy.samways@museumwales.ac.ukKate Eden, Chair, Amgueddfa Cymru - Members of Board | Museum Wales Transcriptions: Paul Marden: Welcome to Skip the Queue. I'm your host, Paul Marden. So today you join me on the top of a mountain in Blaenavon in Wales at Big Pit, the National Mining Museum. I'm here today for a really special event. I've been invited to the opening of Big Pit's new Museum Retail experience, which is a programme of work that's being done by the Museums Wales Group to improve the sense of place and the sense of feeling for what could be a blueprint for the rest of the group. We're going to be joined by a number of different people that have taken part in the project and without further ado, let's get started on our tour of Big Pit. Catherine Pinkerton: Morning, everybody. Hello, welcome. It is my absolute pleasure to welcome you all today and I know there's been a lot of you'd have travelled far and wide, so thank you so much for your time. I really appreciate you coming to see the amazing store that we've created and I hope you love it. We're just going to cut the river now. Paul Marden: First up I've got Catherine Pinkerton, Group Head of Retail at Museum Wales. Catherine, welcome to Skip the Queue. Catherine Pinkerton: Thank you very much. Thank you so much for having me. Paul Marden: Absolute pleasure. And this is a corker of an episode. I think everybody is going to be really interested in finding out about the retail, the gift shop experience that you guys have introduced at Big Pit and then you're going to go wider into. Into Museums Wales. This is a really weird episode because you and I are recording the morning after the day before. So yesterday was the big launch event and I was with you at Big Pit and I've met lots and lots of people and we're going to cut to them throughout the episode and hear from those people that were taking part in the project. But you and I have got the benefit of having enjoyed yester today's event and we can look back on what that experience was like and talk a little bit about the project. Paul Marden: Before we do that, I think it would be really lovely for you to introduce yourself and tell us a little bit about Museums Wales and Big Pit specifically. Catherine Pinkerton: Absolutely. Okay. So I'm Catherine Pinkerton. So I head up all of the retail stores within Amgueddfa Cymru, which is National Museums of Wales. I've been with the museum just under three years and I'm good that Cymru hosts seven sites. It's an incredible establishment to be part of and I think, you know, coming from a very commercial background, this is very different for me, but I think it's given me lots of insights into bringing kind of. Lots of. Kind of different skill sets, I guess, to this cultural sector. I think when I first initially joined Amgueddfa Cymru, there were lots of challenges. And that's not to say that we still have those challenges as they are in many of our museums. And I think coming from a retail background, it's. It's looking at something that's not. That's commercial, Paul.Catherine Pinkerton: That's key. But actually, how can we make it very collection and story based on our amazing assets that we hold within our museums? And I think that I felt was probably the biggest thing that was missing because I thought we've got these amazing exhibitions, these amazing collections, amazing, you know, opportunities, and how are we putting that into the retail structure and how do we offer that to us, you know, to our visitors? And I think. I think sometimes it may be. Have forgotten that you go around these amazing spaces and it's very based on that visitor focus and how can we make that visitor feel very happy and engaged. But actually the end part of that process is nearly always coming through, exiting through the retail space. Right. Catherine Pinkerton: And if they've had this amazing opportunity to go and, you know, a lot of investment in these amazing spaces, and then they come through that retail space which has some elements, but not all of what our collections hold, there's a confusion there. You know, that end piece. And for me, customer service and visitor experience is absolutely key to how they. How they finish and how they end their day. And if they're ending their day with something, oh, okay, I'll just have a magnet then. Because there's nothing really else here. Yeah, that pains me. That really hurts me. I think, come on, guys, we can do better than this. We are in an element of. We have our own assets, our own elements to be able to kind of display that. Catherine Pinkerton:  And I think very much it would be very easy and to take the kind of easy road of having, you know, let's. Let's pop a dragon on a mug and yeah, we're a Welsh museum. No, we're not. We have assets here. We have beautiful exhibitions, we have beautiful spaces. And actually looking from further afield into. In terms of an emotional connection. And I think, you know, for me, from all of my past kind of previous work, I'm working with Amgueddfa Cymru. It's probably been the most challenging to get perhaps senior management to understand a crazy way of Catherine Pinkerton working into a. What's emotional retail? What does emotive selling mean? This lady is crazy. What's she talking about? But actually, it's really basic, isn't it? Catherine Pinkerton: Because for me, if I take my daughter or my husband to any kind of day trip, I want to take something emotional that I've connected with home with me, and that's so simple. But actually, sometimes it's not thought about in that way. And, you know, for me, I'm all about the emotional connection. And I think we put so much investment in curatorial teams to kind of give that to our visitors. We need to end that. That end part is so important for them to finish, you know, that journey with that emotional connection that they can take home as a souvenir. So, yeah, I've probably said more than I needed to there, Paul, but.Paul Marden: Absolutely. So I think you're capturing the need to curate the. The ending experience because, you know, the nature of. The nature of people's memory is they remember the beginning and they remember the end and the bit that is in the middle is hugely important to the storytelling experience they have whilst they're at the attraction. But if you don't end on a high, then their emotional connection to you and the space and the stories they've heard is not going to be as impactful for them. Catherine Pinkerton:  Absolutely, totally agree. I think it's really key, and not just in the kind of, you know, the cultural sector, but in any sector, really. I think it's really important that connection is instant, really, because that is what you need to. That's the hook, isn't it, of getting that person, you know, and. And actually understanding what the visitor needs. I mean, it's very easy for me to say on a personal level, I'd love to have this collection of products within the shop, but actually, that's not what data tells us. That's not what our demographic tells know, you know. And they are the ones that are important. Our local communities, our demographic is key for us to be successful. Paul Marden: You know, so one of the things that I took from yesterday was the importance that you were moving away from being just any other generic Welsh gift shop to being a gift shop associated with the place. Yeah, that. That's the. That was the nub of I think, what you were trying to get to how do you go about doing that? How did you make it feel so much like a gift shop? About Big Pit? Catherine Pinkerton: It's taken a process of really pulling everything back and getting under the skin, what is the detail and the personality of the site. But actually it's talking to people and being humour. And Paul, you know, I think, very much, as I say, it'd be very ignorant for me to say this is what I think will work. And that's absolutely not what we want. What we want is for the visitors to say, I really. I mean, what was really interesting, actually, is that we did quite a lot of data analysis in terms of the demographics of customers that come through our sites. But also what was really key is areas of the sites that were really kind of, you know, three key areas that they really enjoyed or they really loved. Catherine Pinkerton:  And actually, one of the top ones was the pit ponies that they all love the pit ponies, they love talking about it, they love the stories that the mining team would talk about. It was a really inspiring, you know, inspirational moment for them to think, oh, my gosh, the pit ponies lived underground. This is really so, you know, I think in some respects that was probably missed in terms of our retail offer, because what we did after that is that we had a workshop with all our retail team and we almost did a little bit like a Dragon's Den effect. We said, right, these are the products that we have, right? Can you pick up out of these products, which products represent the pit ponies? Which products represent the shower rooms? Catherine Pinkerton: And actually, when you're talking to the teams in kind of a literal sense, there wasn't a lot within our retail offer that we already had. And I think it was a bit of a light bulb moment, really, for the retail team and said, “Oh, Kath. Right, I see, Yeah, I understand what you mean.” That's not represented in our retail offer. So what's represented currently was wonderful things and lots of Welsh kind of products. But actually, what. What makes that relatable to our site? And so I think what I wanted to do originally is just go on a journey and to kind of really, from a very basic stage, is understand what the site's POS was and actually understand what their personality was and what the curatorial team were trying to push forward as being their identity. Catherine Pinkerton:  And I think once we got the identity, we then broke that down into themes in terms of there's pit ponies. That's a huge part of the, you know, the exhibition. The other huge part of the exhibition were the canaries. So, you know, that was something that was talked about. There's a huge story around that. And then, you know, the kind of mining history and the community was massive. And actually that element was so important to me and the retail team to make sure that we got right. Because this is history, right? And this is. I come from both my grandparents were miners. So for me it was very much a, you know, a very emotional time for me to make sure that we got it right and that it was respectfully done. Catherine Pinkerton:  So that was really key in terms of how do we deliver this. That's really. That we are not stepping on people's toes. We're not profiting from something that was, you know, the strike range is very significant within what we've offered, but we really wanted to make sure that was respectful and that it was done in a tasteful way that people felt they could take a souvenir away, but know that was actually part of the exhibition. So it was those kind of areas that we really wanted to work. So once we have those themes in place in terms of what those looked like, it was then developing that and how do we develop that into an actual concept? Paul Marden: Yeah, and you've drawn in lots of people. You've already mentioned the kind of wide team that you brought in from Big Pit itself, but from the wider team in the group. Talk a little bit about what that experience has been like as a team. Who have you brought into this? Catherine Pinkerton:  So originally, when we wrote the retail concept and the retail strategy, you obviously have to kind of involve quite a lot of internal candidates to be able to allow them to believe that this journey and vision is a good one. And I'm super thankful. I've got the most amazing manager, Marc Simcox. He's the head of enterprises and he is incredible. He's very commercial, but very trusting in terms of understanding what the business should look like and actually giving that freedom to say, yeah, I think this can work. Kath. So you, you go ahead and that. That's huge. Right. We're not talking about a small project here. So that firstly was great for me. And then I think having the, you know, the opportunity to be able to get some key people. Catherine Pinkerton: And Matthew Henderson we've worked with previously and we've, you know, I knew straight away, for me, Matthew Henderson has gotten. Got a very unique way of working and we work very well together. We've got quite similar kind of ways of working, but I think that development and concept phase is really key and I think it really got to the point where we just sat in a room and kind of really understood what are we trying to achieve here, how can we achieve that? And really just making it very basic in terms of the key themes. And then in terms of product development, we brought on Anya Kirkby. So she is an illustrator and a very clever lady indeed. And we have worked with lots of illustrators and lots of suppliers over the years. Catherine Pinkerton: But what we wanted something for Big Pit was to be quite different in terms of the illustration and the product development. Because what we wanted to deliver with Big Pit was something that had been my vision since the very beginning when I started with Amgueddfa Cymru. And that is, you know, going into the shop and having those guidelines, you know, pricing guidelines, information guidelines, those small details which would probably mean nothing to the average person walking through, but actually a price ticket on something that's been illustrated pains me to see, because the work that's gone on behind that is so key. Catherine Pinkerton: And, you know, for most people not understanding that a price ticket on that is so I think those details are really key, Paul, and I think she really worked stringently with me to make sure that was, was, that was kind of a massive aspect of that role. And then Arantxa Garcia, who is just the most incredible designer. She's, she's a genius in what she does. She's incredibly creative and sometimes you have to kind of pull her back and say, okay, you want this? Okay, can you deliver this rancher? Paul Marden: Yeah. Catherine Pinkerton: And what was really interesting with a rancher is that, you know, she's got a huge, amazing CV of working with lots of people within the cultural sector and designing amazing, incredible pieces. But I think were very nervous because the, the original kind of renders that she sent through to us were quite amazing and impressive. And I said, arantha, are you able to deliver this under the kind of, you know, the budget? We've got a tight budget here. Paul Marden: That's the challenge, isn't it? Catherine Pinkerton: I mean, isn't it? Paul Marden: You do not want to be paying, you don't want to be offered the picture of a Maserati when you have got a Ford Fiesta budget, do you need to know that you can afford it. Catherine Pinkerton: Absolutely. And I think with Aranta, she was very, again, super creative lady. And I think I, as soon as I saw that image, I did say to her, right, you need to deliver this now. You've, you've committed to it, Arantia, so this needs to happen. And then finally, Richard Evans, who has, is hugely respected in the cultural sector and he really supported in terms of project management and the, you know, I hate to say this, and you won't mind me saying this, but the kind of boring kind of financial Gantt charts and keeping me in line actually. Right, Cath, we haven't got a budget for that. You can't spend that. Come on, Richard, make it work. Move some things around, you know. Catherine Pinkerton: So I think that was kind of the main area and then internally, Tracy Lucas, who was kind of my right hand woman, is our operations manager within Amgueddfa Cymru and she really supported me along with Amy, the shop manager, shop supervisor to really look at the product development. So I think, you know, and I think it was really nice actually to have them on board because I think it gave an opportunity for them to see what could be. And I think, you know, definitely in terms of retail, it's been an opportunity for us to be able to say, look, this, the impossible can be possible. Catherine Pinkerton: Actually this is an amazing project and I think what was really incredible is that when we decided to work on Big Pit, the Big Pit team and all of the mining team actually just came on board, Paul, they took it on board and I think the reason why they did that is that one of the mining teams said to me, he said, kath, you know, we never get any funding here. It's always in this big cities, you know, we, the Cardiff and it's never here, you know, we're just in the middle of nowhere. And I was like, absolutely not. That is not what this is about. It's about, you know, making sure that the community in that area is solid. Catherine Pinkerton: And I think the mining industry and they're very proud of that in terms of who works there, they're incredibly proud of what they do. And so because we chose that as our first project, they were so helpful in terms of, yeah, we're going to make this work, let's make it a success. Cath, how can we do that? What do you need from me? I mean at one point we had two of the mining staff pulling one of the drums which we upcycled out of it was like a lake or, yeah, I suppose a lake with a tractor. And I was like, this is crazy. This is crazy but just amazing that these team members are willing to do above and beyond to kind of go and help and support.Catherine Pinkerton: Dwayne Smith, finally I have to mention him because he went above and beyond. He, he's an electrical engineer for Amgueddfa Cymru and no feat was kind of Too hard for him. He helped us massively. He's got a huge team of people and anything that we needed done, I'm not, you know, I'm not a trades person, so anything Trady. I was like, Dwayne, yeah, I'm on it, Kath, I'll do it. Which is great because I was like, okay, yes, that was massively helpful, but huge learning curve, Paul. I feel I've never been so excited about drums in my entire working career as I am now. Paul Marden: And I never heard of one until yesterday. But what I found interesting was you see them all the way through the underground experience. I went down in the. The cage to the bottom of the pit head, did the whole tour. You talk about these drams and the importance of them and the transportation of the coal from throughout the mine back up to the top. And then you walk into the shop and it's subtle. The way that you've blended the museum into the shop is a subtle experience. It doesn't feel, it doesn't feel crude. But you've got a dram in the middle of the workshop. Now, I know it's a real one because we talked about it yesterday and I know the pains that you went through, but it's very subtle placed in there so that it doesn't feel crude. Paul Marden: It doesn't feel like you're trying to overwork the metaphor of the mine in the shop. It's very cleverly done. Catherine Pinkerton:  Oh, that's great, great, great to hear. Because that's absolutely what we did not want. And I think in terms of visual merchandising, actually, and picking up on your point there, is that it's very easy for us and this is something that we're doing in a different shop. It's very easy for us to look at some of our assets and pop them on a tote bag and say, there you go, that's done, we'll sell that. But actually, no, what can we do that's different? That's more kind of innovative? That's more creative. That is a hint or perhaps an opportunity for us to show and display something that is. Is then part of the visitors question. So when they're coming into store and they're speaking to our retail teams, they're questioning, is this a real drum? Catherine Pinkerton:  You know, and that is a conversation opener, isn't it? You know, and I think Kerry Thompson, who is the curator for Big Pit, he's a really inspiring man. I could listen to him all day. And he told me lots about kind of the drums and the history of Big Pit and the strikes. He's such an interesting man, but I think having the inspiration from him allowed us to make sure that we did it not in a crude way, actually, Paul, but that it was representative of the site, but not in a way that's, I guess, too obvious, you know. Paul Marden: Look, Kath, we could carry on talking for ages, but let's cut at this point to hear about some of the voices from the team that you worked with, your internal team, some of the partners that you worked with, about the experiences that they've had on the project. Paul Marden: So let's hear from some of the internal team members involved in the project. Firstly, we have Amy Samways, the retail supervisor at Big Pit, followed by Kate Eden, the chair of Museum Wales. And lastly, Nia Elias, the Director of Relationships and Funding at the Museum of Wales. Hey, Amy, how you doing? Lovely to meet you. What's your role at the museum, Amy? Amy Samways: I'm the shop supervisor for Big Pit. Paul Marden: What have you been doing in this whole project? I guess you've been integral to the whole kind of making it all about the place. Amy Samways: Yeah, so I've worked with Anya, who did all the products for the new shop. So we walked around all the exhibitions. We did a lot of underground visits and a lot of museum visits and just put things together. I've done a lot of work before this project for the last two years to try and get things more relevant to us and not just a Welsh souvenir shop. So a lot of those products stayed and then we just expanded them then. Paul Marden: So how do you go about looking for those products that make it local to here? Amy Samways: Well, we've got a fantastic exhibition at the top of the hill. We've got obviously our ex miners and we also have a lot of events through the times as well. So this year was a lot about the strike because obviously it's the 40th anniversary and we've got a massive exhibition down in Cardiff and also there's a smaller one up year as well. So we just walked through the museum and obviously, you know that disasters are obviously a big issue. We didn't want to make a big issue about those, but obviously they need. They're part of history, aren't they? So more books. We made sure we had books around that. And as you walk through, there's a lot of signs that the staff liked as well, because a lot of our guys have been done about the new projects with those as well on. Paul Marden: So do you then go looking for local suppliers to help you with that? And where do you find those? Amy Samways: Etsy, Facebook. Paul Marden: Oh, really? Amy Samways: Yeah, a lot of them. And also online. And then we've also. Because we work with a lot of suppliers as well, I'll say we need this and then they'll say, oh, you should ask so and so, and then we'll go and ask both. Paul Marden: Brilliant. So one of the things that's really interested me this year is talking to people that are running museum retail and that kind of process that goes from you as a buyer, having an idea, what do you want? How do you stock the shop? I think is really interesting process to go through, but flip it on the other side, as a local creator, you've got your thing and you want it in the shop. How do you get it found? Well, yeah, sticking it on Etsy is something that they're going to do, but then that might help them get into the museum. Amy Samways: Even if there is something that we want. Like at the minute, we're looking for NCB soap. Paul Marden: For what? Amy Samways: NCB soap. Paul Marden: What's that? Amy Samways: It's either bright green or bright pink and they used to buy it in the canteen shop and it's just imprinted with NCB. The guides have been asking and asking for it, but we have actually found a supplier now who's going to be working on it. So that should be coming this summer. Paul Marden: Wowzers. Amy Samways: Yeah. That's really exciting for you. Paul Marden:  What was the highlight? What's the one thing about this space, about the whole experience of the project. Amy Samways: That jumps out for me is seeing all the stock we've worked on and somebody actually buying it. Paul Marden:  And what is it that people are picking up? What are they walking in and gravitating to? Amy Samways: Anything Big pet, really. The little enamel little mugs have gone really well. I think the wording on those are great because it says they must not be removed from the premises. So our guides are loving those. And also our retro sign, which we had for our 40th anniversary and three years ago, but we kept it because it's such a brilliant design. It was the original from 1983 and it was on the original road sign as you drove in. So we've had that recreated and that sells really well. Paul Marden:  That's really interesting. So my wife with the family about 25, 30 years ago, came on a family holiday and they had the original guidebook that they picked up when they were here with the kind of the retro. Retro signage on there. Amy Samways: Yeah, we're back selling it again. Kate Eden: Yes, So my name's Kate Eden. I'm chair of the board of Amgueddfa Cymru. Paul Marden:  Tell me a little bit about your involvement in this project. Kate Eden:  As the board, we've been tracking the development of commercial and enterprises over the past year. Really. And really thrown our way, weight and support behind what the team has been trying to do here as a kind of flagship, really, for what we would all like the new benchmark to be across all of the seven sites of anger for Cymru. So seeing it all come together this morning has just been such a special experience. It's absolutely fantastic. I'm going to bring the rest of the board here as soon as I can so the trustees can see this and see the reaction of staff and of visitors as well, because it's a fabulous achievement and it shows us what we can do now as a national museum. Paul Marden: How well does it tie back into the original pitch at trustees? So I'm a trustee of a charity as well. The pressures that we're all under in terms of reducing funding and having to generate our own funding is so hugely important. This must be integral to the conversations that you were having as trustees. Did you have this in mind when you were signing off the agreement to spend the money? Kate Eden: Yeah. So I don't think anybody realised just how successful this could be. We'd had some mock ups and we'd had a presentation, so there was a lot of excitement and there was sort of the fledgling idea years. So we've got a sense of what it could be. But I think importantly for us, it's about that marriage of financial sustainability because it's got to wash its face, it's got to provide a working profit that can go back into the running of Big Pit here.Kate Eden: But it's got to be authentic to this place. It can't be the add on the visitor should shop that you walk through at the end. And it's a bit of a tedious thing to get back to the car park. It's got to be an integral part of the whole visitor experience in this place. And I think that's what they've achieved. Paul Marden: It's so impressive. So impressive. You know, just the structure that they've built to give you the impression of the mine in a really subtle way. The product that they've chosen, the way that they've laid out that, the shop is amazing. I think they've done an amazing job. Kate Eden: That's it. I mean, this is my local site. Paul Marden: Okay. Kate Eden: I live about three miles over the mountain there. So I bring my friends and family here. This is our go to place when I've got visitors. And I think just the way they've opened up the room, they've removed the barriers, which is really important. It's a small thing, but really important so that people feel welcome. They can walk in or they can walk ground. Paul Marden: Yep. Kate Eden: And it's. And it just feels a little bit more inclusive. It feels a bit more kind of, you know, we're here, it's easy to come and see us, you know, and spend time and then spend a little. Paul Marden: A little bit of money. Yeah. So where do we go from here as trustees? Are you fully behind rolling this out now? Kate Eden: Yeah, I mean, I think now that we've seen what we can do and the type of data that's coming through from sales, this is now the new. This is the bar. Paul Marden: Oh. So it has made a discernible difference to say. Kate Eden: So early data from Easter is really promising. Yeah. So this is the benchmark now from all of the other sites. Nia Elias: Hi, Paul. Hi, I'm Nia. Paul Marden: Lovely to meet you. Tell me about your role at the museum. Nia Elias: I am Director of Relationships and Funding. It basically means I get to work with all of the teams across the museum that work on the reputation, the reach, but also the revenue of this wonderful charity and national museum that we are. Because as well as getting funding from Welsh government, we raise our own income so it can be invested.Paul Marden: What sort of split? Nia Elias: What sort of split? So the majority of the money that comes to us does come from Welsh government because we're a public service, we're here free of charge for the people of Wales and we look after the national collection, which is over 5 million items across seven museums and a collection centre. Nia Elias: But there's a proportion then of money that we raise ourselves about sort of 30%, which is from our cafes and our car parks and the experiences that people have, and most importantly, our shops. Paul Marden:  So what was the inspiration for this project? Why kick off a strategy project around the whole retail experience? Nia Elias:  Well, this whole project, in essence started three and a half years ago when the museum decided that it would bring a strategy together for all of its self generated income. So that means our philanthropic income generation and through our enterprise, including our retail. And from a retail perspective, we knew that what we wanted to achieve with all of the money that we raise ourselves is that it's really rooted in the collection, because we have an amazing collection. It tells the story of Wales and it's owned by the people of Wales. Paul Marden: Right. Nia Elias: And from a retail perspective, we knew if people could engage with that and could take away something from the wonderful experience that they've had on site, that it would be something that they would want and it would make it unique that it's only possible to have here. Developing a project like this is quite challenging. You need the time, you need the teams and expertise, some of which are on your permanent team, some of which are naturally not. And also you need investment. And so by starting the thinking and the route of where we wanted to get to three and a half years ago, it meant when we had the funding and the opportunity to do so here at Big Pit, we knew exactly what to do. Paul Marden: Okay, so you. You put all of those pieces together and then came here and did the first cookie cutter stamp. But what's interesting is it's not a cookie cutter stamp, is it? This totally feels like the gift shop for this museum, doesn't it?. Nia Elias:  Yeah. So we feel really strongly that we wanted the balance of knowing that you're at a National Museum Wales site, knowing that you're somewhere unique, but equally that it has a sense of a place. Because all of our seven museums together tell the holistic story of Wales, but you really get a sense of personality on all of those sites, not just from the collection and the buildings and the items, but also from the colleagues that work here as well. Paul Marden: Right. Nia Elias: They're very much a part of that in terms of the stories that they tell, their lived experiences, and we had a sense of responsibility and fun to bring that through in the shop. Not just the ambiance, but also the products themselves, so much of them, the majority of them actually, are grounded in being inspired by the collection in some way, and also has a really strong Welsh and local profit as well. What we think that will come through to our customers and visitors and guests is that because we've worked across all of the teams in the museum, so curators and people who care for the collection, our colleagues here at Big Pit, many of whom are former miners, and our colleagues front of house, it means that everybody will be able to speak about the product. Nia Elias: So as you're walking around picking things up, imagining them in your home or as gifts, our colleagues can talk about what they mean to the place. And that brings something additional that you can't really buy. Paul Marden: Yeah. There's a story to it. There's a background to it that roots it. Yeah. Lovely. For you, what's the standout experience from the whole project? What have you enjoyed the most? Nia Elias: Two things I think in terms of the way that it's been done, the fact that so many teams have worked together behind the scenes to make it happen. That means that as we want to change things or tweak things or improve things, we'll have all of the knowledge and expertise already baked in, especially learning from other suppliers who've come along and helped us. So we've got that baked in now, which is really exciting. And the second thing is that I can stand here knowing that this is the standard of a national museum that our guests and visitors expect and want to see. Paul Marden: And now let's hear from a few of the external partners that Kath brought into the project. Arantxa Garcia was the shop designer and visual merchandiser. Anya Kirkby was responsible for product development. And Guy Veal was responsible for sound design. Tell me about your involvement in the project. Arantxa Garcia: Sure. So I'm the shop designer and visual merchandiser. It's a freelance role, so. So I worked with the team, Matthew, Richard, Anne and Guy. Paul Marden: Excellent. Arantxa Garcia: So we kind of all came as part of a team and each one of us looked after different areas of the project. And my involvement was to kind of reinvent and reimagine what was already here. And the idea was to create a space that was connected to the experience and to the site itself. So we've basically ripped the space apart. We've kind of kept the structure, obviously, but we've opened up the space as well. Before the shop, it would be very separate. You'd have admissions and then you have the shop area, which meant that you were only really accessing the shop if you came to visit the site. But as a local, you wouldn't be able to come, for example. Or you could, but maybe not in such an open way. Paul Marden: Yeah, you wouldn't feel welcome. Arantxa Garcia: Exactly, exactly. You may not want to just because you didn't know, whereas now you can just come in and basically hang around and also browse the shop. Exactly. We took inspiration from life underground, from the mine itself. So before the building was white, the units were white, so it could be a shop anywhere. You know, it didn't really have a DNA, so to speak, or an identity that related it directly to the site. So when visiting down to the underground and King Call as well, the exhibition that we've got just up the hill, we took inspiration from basically sort of like the. The cladding that you've got on the walls. Cladding is not the right word. So if one of the miners hears me saying that, they'll be. Arantxa Garcia: That's not the word that we told you, but the idea is that all the materiality that we're using, it's really evocative of. Of the site and it's the materials that have been used underground. So even, like the safety lamps, they'll set authentic safety lamps. And the team on site, Dwayne Smith, has electrified them. So it means that now they work, obviously, as a normal light, but it's a safety. Paul Marden: But they are the original safety. Arantxa Garcia: They are the original safety. Paul Marden: Wowsers. And what about these styles? Arantxa Garcia: So, yes, I always like going for a hunt on the side. So basically the team took me to different rooms and we just found stuff, if you like. So they're like the pressure gauges, you know, we're gonna use them just to add, again, like, references to the site and the authenticity, of course. So you also find loads of tools that would have been used underground as well. Paul Marden: I would imagine that this has been a really enjoyable project for you. I can see it on your face, how much you've enjoyed it. Arantxa Garcia: It has. And I think for designers, sometimes there's projects that take a bit longer to emerge and you keep changing things because you just don't feel probably quite right. There's something. But with this one, it kind of. After the site visit, it was just. Paul Marden: I clicked immediately.Arantxa Garcia: It just clicked immediately. So we darkened the wall. So we've kind of given that sort of grey background just to kind of creating more of like a cosy and shrinking the space. Paul Marden: But you. It pops the orange. Arantxa Garcia: Exactly. And the orange is everywhere. So, like, we've also changed the lighting, so it's a lot warmer. So again, that hint of orange. Yeah, orange on the back, orange on the miners on here. And then it comes also from the products. So the identity is there, but without going fully corporate, if that makes sense. That's the colour that you remember, isn't it? You've just been on the ground. All our guides and miners wear the orange overalls and the sort of, like the blue jackets over it, whether it's a donkey jacket in the winter or then they wear the soft shells as well. So, yeah, it's all those details, like those hints to the experience that kind of are embedded in the design. And these are regional as well. The drums are regional, all the flatbeds. Arantxa Garcia:  So the team here took the metal sides off and then sort of like left the skeleton of the drum, varnished it. And then our shop fitters aren't here. They did all the sort of the cladding using reclaimed scaffolding boards. But the original Drums would have been made out of wood. Paul Marden: Beautiful. It's so tactile, isn't it? Arantxa Garcia:  It's tactile. Again, we're looking at the DNA all the time. And shops can be more than just shops. Shops can tell stories. You just connect with it in a very different way. And just having the time the team on site involved has been absolutely incredible. Like the sense of pride and belonging and provenance that this kind of has awakened, it's been great. It's your job done really as a designer. When you just feel like everyone owns it, that's your job, that's when you can walk away. Paul Marden: What an amazing testimonial for you and the work that everyone feels like that. Anya, lovely to meet you. Tell me, what was your involvement in the project? Anya Kirkby: So I mainly focused on product development. So we looked at where we could get inspiration from the site and how we could translate that really from the site experience into the shop experience as well. Paul Marden: Okay, so you're coming, you're experiencing what's going on and then looking to the outside world as to how you can source your products. Where do you go for the inspiration for the products? Anya Kirkby: Working with the team a lot. So Amy was a huge help on guiding us on what things would be very useful for visitors, what they really enjoyed when they were on site, what were their key take home messages that they experienced. And then working with Amy and Tracey as well to look at what products people like when they're in the shop anyway and how we can kind of marry those two up. Paul Marden: So what is it that people like when they come to Big Pit? Anya Kirkby: Well, unsurprisingly, the mine, they enjoy the mines, the mining experience. So that was just something that we already had in the shop. So we just expanded on that more if possible. But then we've also taken inspiration from signage. So they already had the original Big Pit signage and we looked at that and kind of again expanded on it. So then we've kind of expanded that to signage that you find in some of the other exhibits. So up in the showers, for example, in the canteen, signage, some of the original pieces from collections. We then translated that into products. So you'll see we've got the designs across mugs, original little metal signs, moved that across to prints, notebooks, postcards. Paul Marden: You've been developing a lot of the products yourself, so bringing that kind of the unifying feel to everything. Anya Kirkby: Yeah. So along with product development and making all the kind of the new things that we can have it's just bringing across the branding through the AC brand really strongly across everything. It's got such a strong message that we may as well have that on as many products as we possibly can do. Paul Marden: And how much of the stuff is actually locally sourced? Anya Kirkby: Oh, it's huge amounts. And the exciting thing is after speaking to Amy, the things that she needs to reorder are the local suppliers, which is so nice. So a lot of the confectionery that's locally sourced candles, soap, the coal figures, the wooden spoons, chocolate boxes, the biscuit boxes. So as much as possible. And then we've worked with local suppliers as well to do photography, to do some of the signage, to do the original signwriting in the shop as well. So beyond products, we've looked at the POS points like elements of the shop as well. So thankfully we've used as many local spires as we possibly can. Paul Marden: You've enjoyed this project, haven't you? Anya Kirkby: I absolutely loved it, yeah. It's fantastic to see it's absolutely amazing. Paul Marden: Yeah. Anya Kirkby: So yeah, it's really special. Paul Marden: And then from here you springboard on to the other seven sites. How do you, how do you come up with the ideas then? Anya Kirkby: Exactly the same process. So working with the teams to find out what it is that visitors absolutely love about their sites and bringing that into the shop experience. So again I get very lucky. I get to go around a lot museums and experience it. Paul Marden: It's a tough job, isn't it?Anya Kirkby: It's tricky. But basically finding out what they love and bringing that through the really things that visitors take home with them anyway and just making it into a product that they can actually physically take a piece of the museum home with them as well. Paul Marden: It's great because there are some pocket money items here because I take kids on school visits and it's a very expensive experience. You know, if they catch take a fiver with them, often they can't get anything with a fiver but they can walk in and they've got pencils, they've got rubbers and they'll walk out happy with those little bits. But at the same time you've got some beautiful stuff that the grown ups can come and pick up and really enjoy. Anya Kirkby: It's the same as any museum visitor. You kind of have to look at who's going to be visiting. It's all types of people that come and just gauging it from that as well. So having an offer for everyone that they can enjoy. Someone said to me once that children for the first time. It's often their first time having a transaction monetary wise. Is that a museum on a school trip? So it's just lovely to kind of have something for them to experience that as well. Paul Marden: Never thought of it like that. They're out on their own. They're not with mum and dad. So they've got the money themselves and they've got to make the decision. So we are at. I took some kids to the science museum last year. Anya Kirkby: Oh. Paul Marden: And the amount of time we took in the shop because of the indecision that they had. Anya Kirkby: It's the indecision decision and then the queue of all them having a five pound note and having all the change come back or not having quite enough. But I think it's such an important. If you can't do that in a museum, where can you do it? Paul Marden: Guy. Hi. Guy Veale: Hi. Paul Marden: I just wanted to talk to you a little bit about what was your part of the project? Guy Veale: I was sound designer for the soundscape which we can't hear when everyone's chatting. Paul Marden: I can hear some birds in the background. Is that. Guy Veale: Is that canaries? Living canaries. Not dead gas. Paul Marden:  Coal mine canary. Guy Veale: So I did a little bit of research sort of towards the end of the project after lots of stuff had been built in, when they decided that some low level sound would be a good part of the experience. And looking at the brief and the shape of the room, the acoustics, a lot of this new ducting that's gone in that was not then easy to put cables into. We had to go for a wireless solution. Paul Marden:  Okay. Guy Veale: As part of that I found a Swedish company that had a system that creates its own network which is like a weird dream because normally you've got to go the IT guys and then something goes wrong and there's some sort of address problems or. Bluetooth is not always reliable. This has been a revolution just in terms of. Guy Veale: Don't if you can see them. There's little. They look like light fixtures that are centrally over these panels. Paul Marden: Oh right. Guy Veale: And they're quite. Paul Marden: Oh. And so they're speaking speakers pointing down onto the panel to separate it. So what. What. The other kind of sound pictures that you're painting. We've got the canary. What else have you got? Guy Veale: So the whole idea is that you're trying to represent the industrial heritage of the site and have as many authentic sounds from the site as possible. Paul Marden: Right. Guy Veale: So we've reused some of the really high quality recordings that also feature at different parts of the site already. Paul Marden: Yep. Guy Veale: But then, also sourced about another 70 or 80 sound from the BBC archive. Paul Marden: Oh, wow. Guy Veale: Paid for. And so. But if you think about those sounds, they're quite punctuated and aggressive. You think of any industrial sound and like chipping away or different tipples working. You know, the idea is that you don't want to surprise someone that while they're shopping and leaning over next to a speaker and hearing. So it needed to be softened in some way. And you know, traditionally the way I've done work is music and sound design is using different textures and tonal design and like a drone, I suppose, is this as a sort of basis that can be moving and organic, not totally static? Paul Marden: Yeah. Guy Veale:  And the idea was to sort of try and include fragments of relevant songs using the male voice choir.Paul Marden:  Really.Guy Veale: And we tried several things and I looked at it and I realised that you might catch someone coming in for five minutes here and they catch a snippet and it's all well and good for them, but the staff and you've got to hear this eight hours a day, every day, you know, four weeks, a month, so forth. So even just one little identifiable recurring melody starts to get too much, even on quite a long five. Paul Marden: Oh, really? Guy Veale: And I found that it wasn't sustainable. So I, in the end, I ended up using the. Almost like the vocal warm ups and breaths of the choir artificially extended out so they're not breathing, just this constant low level, breathy sort of expulsion. I mean, if went quiet now, we'd hear it as the. As a backdrop and it's embedded with a few other little musical elements that just sort of try and soften and support. I think of it like the vowels of the track and then the consonants. Paul Marden: Or the industrial chipping noises and the harsher noises. Guy Veale: So they're harsher but they're there and they're a bit removed and reverberate and in the background. Paul Marden: But it's really interesting how you describe it in that kind of. Using the metaphor of the letters. Guy Veale: Yeah, that's what it felt like. Just trying to find something that was like a vocabulary of work that has to tick so many different boxes, including like a therapeutic retail experience. People leaving the site with a sense of well being. Also like summarising what they've been through, not sort of projecting them out the door with, you know, a completely new thing or somewhere that they haven't been through yet. So, you know, fair few things to try and fit in there and, you know, hopefully it works and we'll see how things are in a year's time. Paul Marden: Yeah. Cath, the last point I wanted touch on before we finish today is oh my God, how happy everybody was at that event yesterday. How positive the experience was for all of the team members. What was for you the big standout moment for the entire project? Catherine Pinkerton: I mean, there's so many, Paul. But I think for me it's an opportunity to see what can be achieved when people collaborate. And I think, you know, joining the museum three years ago is really collaborating with lots of different departments to achieve something as a team.Catherine Pinkerton: Teamwork is absolutely the key to kind of success and I think you can only achieve that by having that really product professional kind of embodiment with all of the collaborative teams to work together for the same goal. And I, I was really proud yesterday that it took a lot of work, but actually without a team of 40 people as well as the wider organisation, it would not have been, it was no mean feat, but it was certainly wasn't just down to one person saying this is my project because it was a team effort. Catherine Pinkerton: And I was so proud of everybody that was there to kind of thank them along the way to say, this is, we've done this and now onwards and upwards. Paul Marden: Yeah, absolutely. You should be so proud. It really was. Catherine Pinkerton: Thank you. Paul Marden:  It's a demonstration of what a museum gift shop experience can really be like when you work together like that, when you collaborate. So well done to all of you. It was such a lovely experience yesterday. Thank you for inviting me. Catherine Pinkerton: Thank you so much for coming, Paul. I appreciate it. Paul Marden: Before we go though, I always ask for a book recommendation from our guests. Now it would have bankrupted me to have asked everybody yesterday for book recommendations. So you have to take the responsibility of a recommendation on behalf of everybody. What have you got for me? Catherine Pinkerton: The secret for me is, you know, that that book seems to be. I always go back to that book very often and I think it's a key one for lots of areas. So that's definitely a takeaway for me. But the other one I'm reading at the moment called A Monk's Guide to Happiness. I'm not sure if you've had enough to read it. Yeah, it's a 21st century take on A Monk's Guide. It's written by Gelong Thubten and he had a very high powered job and he had a burnout and interestingly he changed his whole mindset in terms of what makes him happy and really making it quite basic. Right. Catherine Pinkerton: So it's a, it's a real eye opener in terms of just pulling things back sometimes, you know, at the end of the day, come on, let's just live life and be happy but, you know, not stress out about things. I'm quite easy to do that. So this is very much a. Just breathe, Kath, get through it. But it's a good one. If you want to just strip it back and just kind of understanding the basics of being happy, then, yeah, he's great. Paul Marden: Oh, Cath, that's a great recommendation. If you go over to Bluesky and repost the show message that Wenalyn put out and say, I want Kath's book, then the first person that does that will get a copy of the book sent to them. Kath, it was absolutely delightful. I enjoyed my day wandering around Big Pit yesterday no end. Given that half my family is from the valleys and most of them were miners, I feel like I should have done this a very long time ago. But it was lovely. And to enjoy the experience of the celebration that you had yesterday, it was a real privilege. So thank you. Catherine Pinkerton: Oh, huge privilege to have you there. Paul. Thank you so much. I'm really appreciative. Did you purchase? Paul Marden: I did purchase on my way out. Catherine Pinkerton: Yay. Great, great, great.Paul Marden: Deal. Catherine Pinkerton: Deal. Thank you so much. Paul Marden: So after my trip 90 metres down to the bottom of the mine shaft, where I of course couldn't take microphones, I'm now back up on the surface, microphones back in hand and enjoying myself, wandering around currently in the winding house, which is where all the machinery is for lifting the cages that 90 metres down to the bottom of the pit head. I've had an amazing day here at Big Pit. It's been so interesting to see this museum and to talk to many of the amazing staff that have taken part in this big project to redesign their gift shops. Highly recommend a day trip to Big Pit. Really has been very enjoyable, if for no other reason, to see that amazing new gift shop experience. Paul Marden: Now, as always, if you'd like a copy of Catherine's book, head over to Blue sky and repost the show notice that Wenalyn will post out and say, I want a copy of Catherine's book and the first person to do that will get that copy sent over to them. So all that remains for me to say is thank you to Catherine for inviting me here to Big Pit today. And I'll see you again soon. Take care. Bye Bye. Paul Marden: Thanks for listening to Skip the Queue. If you've enjoyed this podcast, please leave us a five star review. It really helps others to find us. Skip The Queue is brought to you by Rubber Cheese, a digital agency that builds remarkable systems and websites for attractions that helps them to increase their visitor numbers. You can find show notes and transcripts from this episode and more over on our website, skipthequeue fm.  The 2024 Visitor Attraction Website Survey is now LIVE! Dive into groundbreaking benchmarks for the industryGain a better understanding of how to achieve the highest conversion ratesExplore the "why" behind visitor attraction site performanceLearn the impact of website optimisation and visitor engagement on conversion ratesUncover key steps to enhance user experience for greater conversionsDownload the 2024 Rubber Cheese Visitor Attraction Website Survey Report

Tiffany Coble, Senior Visual Merchandise Manager, joins MattBeall Legacy to discuss her lengthy career at Bealls, experiencing changes of retail, and much more.  Interested in aCareer at Bealls? – https://www.beallsinc.com/beallsinc/careers Follow Matt Beall Legacy:https://www.youtube.com/@mattbealllegacyhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/matt-beall-legacy/https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61571350027578https://www.instagram.com/mattbealllegacy/    Episode Timeline:00:00    Introduction04:58    Beginning at Bealls14:28 bealls & Bealls Florida40:58 Adapting to Change43:53 Early Leaders in your Career47:44 Witnessing big change52:41 Closing

Looking to give your store a new look in 2025? Lyn Falk and Suzanne Rafenstein join Main Street Matters to discuss visual merchandising techniques you can incorporate into your store! Whether you're looking to make little tweaks or a whole new redesign, the team from Retailworks Inc. can set you on the path to realizing your visual merchandising dreams this year!Don't miss out on expert insights and real-world case studies that can help your local shopping district thrive! Subscribe now and follow us on social media @HeartonMainStreet.#MainStreet #SmallBusiness #ShopLocal #RetailSuccess #CommunityRevitalization #DowntownDevelopment #HeartonMainStreet

¿Sabías que la forma en que se exhiben los productos puede hacer que una tienda venda más?

On dit souvent que le diable est dans les détails. Force est de constater que le luxe est alors le plus satanique des Arts car aucun secteur n'est justement aussi épris du moindre détail. Et ceci concerne tout aussi bien les créations (vêtements, joaillerie, maquillage, horlogerie etc) que tout ce qui les entoure. La période des fêtes est propice à ce constat, car les vitrines se parent de leur plus vibrants atours. Alors qui de mieux placé pour parler de la mise e' scène du decorum essentiel au luxe qu'une artisane d'art qui travaille avec un raffinement infiniment complexe la plus commune (en apparence) des matières : le papier ?.Décousu reçoit pour cet épisode Marianne Guély, artisane exceptionnelle qui travaille la sculpture papier pour les plus grandes maisons de luxe. De la carte de visite, au plan de table privée en passant par les vitrines jusqu'à d'immenses scénographies : ses mains touchent à tous formats. Dans cet échange, Marianne partage les détails de son métier, ses relations avec ses clients, avec son atelier, mais également les réalités techniques et professionnelles d'une cheffe d'entreprise qui a créé son propre studio.Bon épisode à toutes et à tous !Retrouvez Décousu sur instagram : @decousupodcast 

Nella puntata di oggi parliamo di visual merchandising, window design e direzione artistica con Stefano Barni, Global Head of Visual Merchandising, popup and windows design presso Tod's. Vi è mai capitato di camminare e ad un tratto essere rapiti dalla vetrina di un negozio?  Oppure vi siete mai chiesti come avviene la disposizione dei prodotti in un negozio di lusso?  Queste sono solo alcune delle tematiche che troverete in questa puntata. Una nuova puntata ogni martedì alle 7.   Se vuoi contattarci scrivici su Linkedin: ci trovi come Trudy Berger e Arianna Alessio oppure ci trovi all'email ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠lusso360.podcast@gmail.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ 

  On this episode of Westside Stories, Head of Visual Merchandising and Store Design, Andrew Peter, talks about how wanting to present himself well was what inspired him to work in visual merchandising, the importance of being a bridge between the store staff and the customer and the innovation that goes into designing a space that is welcoming and that entices the customer to buy a certain product.    Shop the look here: www.westside.com Follow Westside here: https://www.instagram.com/westsidestores   CREDITS: Guest: Andrew Peter Executive Producer: Umashan Naidoo Creative Director: Liana Deboo Created by Westside   This is a Maed in India production. Head of Production: Mae Mariyam Thomas Project Manager: Shaun Fanthome Head of Audio Production: Kartik Kulkarni Sound Editor & Mix Engineer: Lakshman Parsuram, Nihar Temkar Senior Producer: Ruchi Sawardekar Junior Producer: Saakshi Samant Production Coordinator: Natasha Vakil Director & Video Editor: Jishnu Guha Assistant DOP: Roshan Paul Recorded at School Studio, Mumbai  

In this episode of Cutting Edge: Web Content Development, host Jonathan Ames is joined by Rick Wingender, a fractional CMO and CDO at Small Biz Coach, to discuss the evolution of e-commerce and best practices for product pages. With over 25 years of experience in the field, Rick shares invaluable insights on creating compelling product descriptions, the importance of visual presentation, and strategies for scaling content creation across thousands of products.

The retail landscape is rapidly evolving, and brands are redefining their approach to in-store experiences to remain competitive. Victoria's Secret & Co. is at the forefront of this change, focusing on creating a welcoming and inclusive environment through its 'Store of the Future' initiative. This episode explores how Victoria's Secret is leading with curiosity and a commitment to storytelling in the design and execution of its new store formats. As the stakes in retail continue to rise, how can brands maintain relevance and deepen customer connections in an ever-changing market?What does it take to craft a store experience that not only meets but exceeds customer expectations?In this episode of Retail Refined, host Melissa Gonzalez sits down with Albert Gilkey, Senior Vice President of Store Design and Visual Merchandising at Victoria's Secret & Co., to discuss the evolution of the brand's store experiences and the importance of staying curious in retail.The two discuss...- Holistic Store Experiences: Albert emphasizes the importance of storytelling in store design, ensuring that every aspect—from layout to visual merchandising—works together to create a cohesive customer journey.- Customer-Centric Design: The 'Store of the Future' is designed with openness and inclusivity in mind, making customers feel seen and welcomed.- Continuous Learning: Albert discusses the need for constant curiosity, listening to customer feedback, and adapting store formats to meet diverse customer needs across different markets.Albert Gilkey is the Senior Vice President of Store Design & Visual Merchandising at Victoria's Secret & Co. In this position, he spearheads the introduction and execution of the 'Store of the Future', the company's new store experience. This store experience embraces an open and modern design to amplify product storytelling and create an inclusive, welcoming environment for all–a major initiative in Victoria's Secret & Co.'s overall brand transformation. Albert has overseen the launch of over 150 'Stores of the Future' globally.Albert is also the executive sponsor of Mosaic, Victoria's Secret & Co.'s Inclusion Resource Group for Black and African American associates and allies. In this role, he leads the group's mission to promote a dynamic and culturally enriched work environment that helps recruit, retain and empower diverse associates internally.Albert has been with Victoria's Secret & Co. for over five years. Prior to leading Store Design & Visual Merchandising, he was a VP of Visual Merchandising for Victoria's Secret Beauty. Albert has enjoyed a career in creative environments and storytelling for notable fashion brands, such as Coach, Armani and Cole Haan. 

We invite you to take a few minutes to discover why you should become a “playful imperfectionist” like our next guest and friend Robin Davis. She followed heart compass, and it led her to a whimsical wonderland and successful business! Robin's creative journey began in Visual Merchandising and Graphic Design and Art Licensing. Guided by a playful heart and inspired by her little boy, Robin began creating a miniature up-cycled world with a tiny robot named Pocket. Pocket's mission is to bring hope and wonder while inspiring creativity using the treasures that surround us. Pocket cheerleads every creature, demonstrating that even the smallest steps can lead to big dreams. Robin Davis Studio invites everyone to rediscover childlike wonder and embrace the magic within our everyday life.Website: https://www.robindavisstudio.com/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/robindavisstudioYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@RobinDavisStudioOur Podcast is proudly sponsored by Jet Creative and UrbanStems! Jet Creative is a women-owned marketing firm committed to community and empowerment. If you are looking to build a website or start a podcast--visit JetCreative.com/Podcast to kickstart your journey.UrbanStems is your go-to source for fresh gorgeous bouquets flowers and gifts delivered coast-to-coast! USE: BLOOMBIG20 to save 20%!Subscribe to this podcast and follow us on Instagram and Facebook @rebloom.podcast

Join our host Mr. Rahul Desai, CEO and MD of the International Institute of Gemology, who will be sharing a series on effective merchandising strategies for jewellery retail. He will guide us and help us explore the critical role of merchandising and break it down into four parts: Visual Merchandising, Customer Experience, the role of AI, and Inventory Turnover. Our host will share some invaluable tips and strategies to help you us understand strategies for jewellery retail. Hosted by: Mr. Rahul Desai, CEO and MD of the International Institute of Gemology Visit the IIG website www.iigindia.com Follow us on: LinkedIn @ iigofficial Instagram @ iigofficial Facebook @ iigofficial Twitter @ iigofficial Youtube @ iigofficial Subscribe & Like below Podcast Channels: Apple Podcast Spotify Podcast Amazon Podcast Youtube Podcast Inquire about sponsoring and showcase your business on our next podcast episode by the Loupe Insight: Delving with Rahul Desai:rahul@iigindia.com

It's time to delve into the dynamic challenges and strategies in the fashion retail industry.  Michaela Wessels, CEO of Style Arcade, explores the critical role of AI in predicting customer demand, leveraging product data for growth and the importance of size inclusivity for brands.  Michaela has a background in finance, with over a decade of experience in global retail, including formative roles at Lacoste and The Iconic in Visual Merchandising. Style Arcade has seen some of the world's most notable brands replace spreadsheets with intelligent analytics and digital range planning. Michaela shares insights on the 80-20 principle and the transformative impact of Style Arcade in making well-informed product decisions. The discussion also delves into the evolving trends in digital marketing and technology for online stores.  Tune in as they shed light on the intricacies of retail and eCommerce in an ever-changing landscape. Topics Covered:  00:25 - Michaela Wessels, CEO of Style Arcade, discusses AI tech in fashion retail 04:44 - How Style Arcade helped a brand grow from $25M to $500M in two years by focusing on product data and demand 09:14 - Retailers should focus on improving returns and using technology to reduce them 11:54 - The truth behind retail growth: market spend, product purchase, tech limit, hidden data and the 80:20 rule 14:52 - Nervousness about 20% selection, need for visual data and challenges in sizing and stock management 19:34 - Explore gaining full price sales to increase margins and understand customer buying behaviour deeply 22:35 - Working with a sportswear brand, AI revealed performance insights, exciting and empowering buyers 24:41 - AI in fashion tech can speed up the market, automate product attribution, analyse attributes and avoid cannibalization in retail 28:13 - Brands should prioritize size inclusivity based on customer demand and data 33:45 - Focus on simplicity, brand marketing and flexible technology decisions for success. 35:48 - Choosing adaptable, open tech is crucial for growing businesses. Making short-sighted decisions can limit future growth 39:56 - Retailers must prioritise planning and forecasting for key sales events like Black Friday and Cyber Monday, which can make up a significant portion of their annual sales. Analysing data and post-event evaluation is crucial 41:50 - Focus on the present, not dwell on the past/future. Live in the present. 44:39 - Experience brings challenges and fun 

This week on Finding Your Bliss, we have a show devoted to fabulous women who not only are Toronto celebrities, but they love to give back! So this week, Bliss Coach and Celebrity Interviewer Judy Librach is joined by two wonderful personalities! First up, Zoomer Radio's very own television and radio host, Liz West is on the program.  Liz has been engaging audiences for over two decades as a television reporter, anchor and host for several networks including CTV, CityTV, CHCH, and Amazon Prime. Liz's credits include CityPulse News, Star!, eNow, Square Off, Rags to Red Carpet and No Fun Intended. Liz has done hundreds of interviews with musicians, actors, newsmakers, and politicians, covering everything from arts and culture to news and lifestyle content, but her heart lies with music having kicked off her career in her 20's, working with concert promoter Michael Cohl and spending a decade at Concert Productions International.  And now Liz can be heard every day as the host of The Afternoon Express on Zoomer Radio.  So Liz West has really come full circle to be playing great music everyday, interviewing musicians and also building this really cool museum called the Toronto Music Experience. She's also a public speaking coach, a creator of the University of Toronto School of Continuing Studies - Virtual Communicator course, she's an author and an active member of the Toronto music community. Also on the program is Visionary, Speaker, and Influencer Meagan Elieff! As well, Meagan is a Producer of hundreds of events, ranging from Pop-up Markets, Speakers Series, Galas and Charity Events. As Founder of Modern Day Wife, she has taken her concept and vision and turned it into a tangible real-life community inspiring thousands across the globe. On paper, she has a degree in Public Relations, Tourism Management and Visual Merchandising. Through hands-on experience and various positions she's held Internationally, she has obtained knowledge that has been extremely beneficial in achieving real results and exponential business growth. Previous Founder of Project YOU: A women's networking group whose main mission is to elevate women and the world. She created and sold this business all under the age of 30 years old. She had an extremely successful Corporate Career at Fairmont Hotels & Resorts for 5 years as a Retail Buyer, Merchandiser and Manager, building a gift shop from the ground up that generated over 3/4 of a Million Dollars in sales annually. Currently living in Toronto, Canada and Florida — covering the North American Market with her connections — she is married to the CEO OF YESA, Corrie Elieff and has a fur baby named Mopar. For more on Finding Your Bliss, you can follow us @theblissminute on Instagram, TikTok and Facebook. Or you can visit our online magazine at findingyourbliss.com and take one step closer to finding your bliss. Listen live every Saturday at 1pm on Zoomer Radio

Craig and Liza Amlani, Principal and Founder of Retail Strategy Group, discuss the arrival of La Maison Simons in downtown Toronto and its potential impact on the retail landscape. They explore how the new stores at Yonge and Dundas will influence shopping habits, tourism, and local retail dynamics. Simons' diverse product assortment, combining private labels and luxury goods, is expected to attract a wide range of customers and drive significant sales. The conversation also touches on the broader retail trends, emphasizing the importance of physical stores in enhancing customer experience and loyalty. Amlani highlights the role of visual merchandising and knowledgeable sales associates in creating memorable shopping experiences. They also discuss the importance of data-driven insights in tailoring product assortments to meet customer needs, as demonstrated by Simon's strategic approach. Additionally, Patterson and Amlani delve into the global shopping phenomenon, with a particular focus on Shein's IPO and its implications for the fashion industry. They discuss the environmental impact of fast fashion and the growing consumer awareness around sustainability. The conversation underscores the need for retailers to balance product quality, customer experience, and ethical practices in today's competitive market. Episode Sponsor: Salesforce - Turn today's shopping trends into tomorrow's retail success. Visit Salesforce to see the global insights from Salesforce to boost your bottom line.Featured During this Episode: Liza Amlani, Principal and Founder of Retail Strategy GroupRetail Strategy Group This podcast is the audio version of the The Interview Series video podcasts by Retail Insider Canada are available through our Retail Insider YouTube Channel where you can subscribe and be notified when new video episodes are available. Subscribe, Rate, and Review our Retail Insider Podcast! Follow Craig:LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/CraigPattersonTorontoInstagram: @craig_patterson_torontoTwitter: @RI_EIC Follow Retail Insider:LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/Retail-InsiderFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/RetailInsider/Twitter: @RetailInsider_Instagram: @Retail_Insider_CanadaListen & Subscribe:Apple PodcastsSpotifyOvercastStitcherShare your thoughts!Drop us a line at Craig@Retail-Insider.com. You can also rate us in Apple Podcasts or recommend us in Overcast to help more people discover the show!Background Music Credit: Hard Boiled Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

About James Damian:James' Profile: linkedin.com/in/james-damian-3a54956Website: james-damian.com (Company)Email: james@james-damian.comJAMES' BIO:Senior Executive and Consummate Business Leader who drove major change across the consumer retail industry by leveraging the power of design thinking as a strategic advantage, delivering economic success. Trusted advisor committed to creating purpose, achieving profit through performance for sustainable growth. While at Best Buy James and his group led innovation and new concept stores making them the most profitable in the history of the company to date. During his time the Store count went to 1400 from 275 and the stock soared from $7 a share to $110.James is a Design Thinking practitioner, Creative Strategist and Motivational Speaker at International CEO Summits, illustrating how to create a Customer Centric Culture through Design Thinking where Culture precedes Strategy, creating growth through an integrated, collaborative, interdisciplinary process.BOARD LEADERSHIPAs Chairman of the Board for Buffalo Wild Wings from 2008 to 2017, helped to shift corporate focus to an employee and customer-centric culture with the goal to become the ultimate social experience for sports and gaming fans. This strategic shift accomplished through alignment of the board with management enabled an extraordinary run of top quartile performance delivering an 850% return to shareholders.STRATEGIC LEADERSHIP THROUGH CREATIVITYDrove culture of innovation within Best Buy and consequently transformed the 'Big Box' consumer electronics retail format. Pioneered company's “new store” experience by integrating creative visual merchandising and design into the overall corporate vision. Instrumental in expanding BestBuy from 275 to 2,500 stores. This experience based strategy was instrumental in driving revenue from 8 billion to 50 billion in a 12 year period, attaining status as a Fortune 50 company.SHOW INTRO:Welcome to the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast.These dynamic dialogues based on our acronym DATA - design, architecture, technology, and the arts crosses over disciplines but maintains a common thread of people who are passionate about the world we live in and human's influence on it, the ways we craft the built environment to maximize human experience, increasing our understanding of human behavior and searching for the New Possible.    The NXTLVL Experience Design podcast is presented by VMSD Magazine part of the Smartwork Media family of brands.VMSD brings us, in the brand experience world, the International Retail Design Conference. The IRDC is one of the best retail design conferences that there is bringing together the world of retailers, brands and experience place makers every year for two days of engaging conversations and pushing the discourse forward on what makes retailing relevant.You will find the archive of the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast on VMSD.com.Thanks also goes to Shop Association the only global retail trade association dedicated to elevating the in-store experience. SHOP Association represents companies and affiliates from 25 countries and brings value to their members through research, networking, education, events and awards. Check then out on SHOPAssociation.orgIn this episode I talk with James Damian a retail industry leader who was mentored in the fine art of visual merchandising and display by one of retail's icons, Gene Moore of Tiffanys. James has had a brilliant career leading major transformations at Best Buy where he was SVP and Chief Design Officer of Experience Design Group, the Chairman of the Board of Buffalo Wild Wings and now shares his experience and passion for retail as a consultant with GAP international.First though, a few thoughts…             *                         *                         *In 1994 I was working in my hometown of Montréal as an architect and at the same time teaching was the director of the interior design program at College Interdec at LaSalle college. One day my friend and colleague Monique Piroth invited me out to lunch across the street from the school for a sandwich we talked about the world of visual merchandising, the program that she was the director of and where our careers would take us.She explained that the college wanted her to go to Singapore to step into the role of the director of the visual merchandising program at La Salle international Fashion School in Singapore, an affiliate of LaSalle College, because our friend and colleague Guy Lapointe had to return to Montréal to tend to his ailing father. She effectively said that she didn't want to go and I immediately offered up the option that I would instead. This was one of a series of fateful moments of serendipity that would shape my career for the next 30 years. I never planned to be in retail... It just happened. I wasn't out looking for it, but it somehow found me. And so, after that somewhat joking, off the cuff remark, I was on a plane for Singapore not much more than two weeks later. At that point, my life shifted and instead of practicing architecture in the way that I thought that I would, I shifted into the world of visual merchandising and store design. While running the Visual Merchandising program at LaSalle International Fashion School, I was asked to do a presentation on visual merchandising trends at a Retail Asia conference.To be honest, I had very little insight what trends were shaping the retail world since the whole thing was new to me. I was reading everything I could in retail design magazines and trying to learn about who the voices were in the industry and what they were talking about. I scoured the magazines trying to determine who were the thought leaders in the industry and compiled a short list of people who I thought had great insights and sent out invitations, by fax, for them to provide some insight on what they considered to be major trends in the industry. One of those individuals was a gentleman named Tom Beebe who at the time was the visual merchandising director for a men's fashion store in New York called Paul Stewart.Tom was an enthusiastic participant and when at the end of my one-year tenure in Singapore I arrived in New York I made sure to make a point of connecting with Tom.Tom was gracious and enthusiastically set up meetings for me to meet people in Manhattan so that I could start off on the right foot in a new city and upon a path of the new career. One of those individuals was Gene Moore. Gene was the visual merchandising maven that shaped the visual display direction not just for Tiffany's, where he was the master of storytelling in the small windows on 5th Avenue, but he influenced an entire generation of what were then called window trimmers later being called visual merchandising and display people.Genes work elevated the making of stories in store windows into an art form. I was lucky enough to be invited to spend an afternoon with Gene Moore in the Tiffany display studio on 5th Avenue. It was truly a memorable moment of my career but I confess that at the time, I had very little idea about who Gene Moore was and why I might have otherwise treated him with extraordinary reverence. I think the few hours that I spent there were kind of like when you meet someone who's famous but you actually have no idea who they are and so the conversation is casual and unpretentious, and you don't spend time worrying about what you're saying or trying to play to their preferences. Gene didn't have to take the meeting. But he did and shared his delight and passion for his profession with a total newbie with nothing but questions and awe for making magic in retail stores.What an honor…Another of the introductions that Tom Beebe made for me was to the late great Peter Glenn.Peter invited me into his home on Sniffin Court on 36th St. east of Madison where he talked about the world of retail stores and customer experience – his specialty - over a freshly brewed pot of English tea.I look back now at how fortunate that I was to meet these two luminaries in the most early days of my retail career and grateful I am to have had an industry friend like Tom Beebe who, out of the goodness of his heart and genuine love of retail and visual merchandising, shared his passion for the industry as well as his connections to some of the great influencers of the day.Over the years my path has crossed with Tom.His passion hasn't waned neither for the world of creating compelling retail places with stunning and cleaver visuals nor his love of one of his mentors Gene Moore. Tom gave a compelling and impassioned retrospective presentation on Gene Moore, with another industry friend and colleague Eric Feigenbaum, at the International Retail Design Conference in 2023.Both of them aficionados and ombudsmen for the world of visual presentation – Eric being the New York Editor for VMSD magazine and a standout writer and educator in the field.In New York I settled in as the resident architect at a small 3-4 person consulting firm called New Vision Studios lead by another industry icon Joe Weishar. Another strange serendipitous occurrence since I had read Joes book “Design for Effective Selling Space' while in Singapore and had canvassed Joe for a trends report for the Singapore presentation but… he was a non-responder. Ironically I end up working for him.Joe Weishar truly taught me what I know in the retail design and visual merchandising world bringing together the art and science of visual presentation in the making of great stores.In the late 90's, and into the next decade, the world of retail and visual merchandising was magical. The Christmas season in New York meant the NADI show, showroom parties that were spectacular and windows on 5th Avenue were a must-see event.During those years there were a number of people in the New York area who were making things happen in the retail design space. These were the people who were a few years ahead of me in their careers and unbeknownst to them, became my mentors from a distance. James Mansoor, Tom Beebe, Eric Feigenbaum, Linda Fargo, Judy Bell, Ellie Chute and Denny Gerdeman, Ken Walker…A bit later, in the mid 2010's there was Christian Davies, Harry Cunningham, Ray Esheid, Anne Kong and Elisabeth Jacobson, Bevan Bloomendaal, Ignas Gorischek, Linda Lombardi, Bill Goddu, Christine Belich, Tony Mancini - All who had begun to create a wave of new thinking about retail stores and how to design them. And there was James Damian…I knew James Damien more by name and for the fact that at that time he was the head of Design at Best Buy. Things that were happening at Best Buy were extraordinary. The creation of magnolia, the introduction of Apple shops - within an electronics mass merchant - and the complete rethinking of that category of Retail stores was about.But more than that it was a presentation that I saw James giving at the International Retail Design Conference in Atlanta in 2005 or 2006 that completely left me awestruck. I can't truly remember what James was talking about, but I distinctly remember him becoming emotional on stage and needing to take a moment to gather himself. That moment of vulnerability began to change my thinking about being an impassioned, creative an emotional leader.If a senior leader at a major electronics company could become ‘Verklempt' on stage… I don't know… it just captured my imagination and I have not since forgotten it.It turns out that, and maybe not so surprisingly, James Damien and Tom Beebe are deeply connected as long time industry friends and colleagues but also grew up in the retail industry under the mentorship of none other than... Gene Moore of Tiffany's.Are you getting all these weird crossovers of interconnectedness? I don't even think that there's 7° of separation here I think like there's this interconnected interwoven set of interdependencies and crossing paths that keep on surrounding my retail career. In any case, James Damien was another one of those names, luminaries of the retail industry who I, from a distance, would admire and borderline stock over the years watching and following what he was doing in hopes that I would learn what the secret sauce of creating great retail spaces was.And so, it may also not seem as a surprise that I would eventually find my way to getting James Damien as a guest on this podcast and that it would be a delightful conversation that unfolds with ease and mutual admiration. Which to me, makes it all the more special. I have held such great respect for James over the years and that unbeknownst to me he shared the same feelings. I'm not sure whether it's because I followed him, and the others I've mentioned so closely, that my ideas about great retail space, visual merchandising and leadership are so similar or that somehow, independent of each other, we both grew to believe in the same things. In any case, the points of connection are plentiful.James came up in the world of Retail in the windows. Really from the artistic side rather than the  corporate leadership side and I think that gave him a different sensibility that is emotionally closer perhaps to what happens on the sales floor.He took a risky step out of the windows into the machine of corporate retail in a somewhat unlikely segment – consumer electronics – with Best Buy. While at Best Buy, James and his group led innovation and new concept stores making them the most profitable in the history of the company to date. James drove a culture of innovation within Best Buy and consequently transformed the 'Big Box' consumer electronics retail format. He pioneered the company's “new store” experience by integrating creative visual merchandising and design into the overall corporate vision. During his time the Store count went to 1400 from 275 and the stock soared from $7 a share to $110.While there James, evolved into a Senior Executive and consummate business leader who drove major change across the consumer retail industry by leveraging the power of design thinking as a strategic advantage, delivering economic success.Through his own moments of serendipity, James' skills, experience and passions landed him the role as Chairman of the Board for Buffalo Wild Wings from 2008 to 2017. While in this role, he helped to shift corporate focus to an employee and customer-centric culture with the goal to become the ultimate social experience for sports and gaming fans.James Damian is a Design Thinking practitioner, Creative Strategist and Motivational Speaker at International CEO Summits. In his talks he illustrates how to create a Customer Centric Culture through Design Thinking where Culture precedes Strategy, creating growth through an integrated, collaborative, interdisciplinary process.James knows the power of a good pause… he can tell a good story and he has had some remarkable experiences to share.I have hung on every word in his presentations that I have had the good fortune to listen to and our talk was no exception.             *                         *                         * ABOUT DAVID KEPRON:LinkedIn Profile: linkedin.com/in/david-kepron-9a1582bWebsites:  https://www.davidkepron.com    (personal website)vmsd.com/taxonomy/term/8645  (Blog)Email: david.kepron@NXTLVLexperiencedesign.comTwitter: DavidKepronPersonal Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/davidkepron/NXTLVL Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nxtlvl_experience_design/Bio:David Kepron is a multifaceted creative professional with a deep curiosity to understand ‘why', ‘what's now' and ‘what's next'. He brings together his background as an architect, artist, educator, author, podcast host and builder to the making of meaningful and empathically-focused, community-centric customer connections at brand experience places around the globe. David is a former VP - Global Design Strategies at Marriott International. While at Marriott, his focus was on the creation of compelling customer experiences within Marriott's “Premium Distinctive” segment which included: Westin, Renaissance, Le Meridien, Autograph Collection, Tribute Portfolio, Design Hotels and Gaylord hotels. In 2020 Kepron founded NXTLVL Experience Design, a strategy and design consultancy, where he combines his multidisciplinary approach to the creation of relevant brand engagements with his passion for social and cultural anthropology, neuroscience and emerging digital technologies. As a frequently requested international speaker at corporate events and international conferences focusing on CX, digital transformation, retail, hospitality, emerging technology, David shares his expertise on subjects ranging from consumer behaviors and trends, brain science and buying behavior, store design and visual merchandising, hotel design and strategy as well as creativity and innovation. In his talks, David shares visionary ideas on how brand strategy, brain science and emerging technologies are changing guest expectations about relationships they want to have with brands and how companies can remain relevant in a digitally enabled marketplace. David currently shares his experience and insight on various industry boards including: VMSD magazine's Editorial Advisory Board, the Interactive Customer Experience Association, Sign Research Foundation's Program Committee as well as the Center For Retail Transformation at George Mason University.He has held teaching positions at New York's Fashion Institute of Technology (F.I.T.), the Department of Architecture & Interior Design of Drexel University in Philadelphia, the Laboratory Institute of Merchandising (L.I.M.) in New York, the International Academy of Merchandising and Design in Montreal and he served as the Director of the Visual Merchandising Department at LaSalle International Fashion School (L.I.F.S.) in Singapore.  In 2014 Kepron published his first book titled: “Retail (r)Evolution: Why Creating Right-Brain Stores Will Shape the Future of Shopping in a Digitally Driven World” and he is currently working on his second book to be published soon. David also writes a popular blog called “Brain Food” which is published monthly on vmsd.com.  The next level experience design podcast is presented by VMSD magazine and Smartwork Media. It is hosted and executive produced by David Kepron. Our original music and audio production by Kano Sound. The content of this podcast is copywrite to David Kepron and NXTLVL Experience Design. Any publication or rebroadcast of the content is prohibited without the expressed written consent of David Kepron and NXTLVL Experience Design.Make sure to tune in for more NXTLVL “Dialogues on DATA: Design Architecture Technology and the Arts” wherever you find your favorite podcasts and make sure to visit vmsd.com and look for the tab for the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast there too.

In this engaging podcast episode, Kacey Bengtson, the esteemed Director of Retail at Cheekwood, offers invaluable insights into the dynamic world of visual merchandising in tourism retail. With her wealth of experience, Kacey delves into the art of crafting compelling retail displays that captivate customers and drive sales. She discusses the importance of strategic placement, cohesive themes, and storytelling through product arrangement to create immersive shopping experiences. About our guest, Kacey Bengtson: Kacey Bengtson has been the Retail Director at Cheekwood Estate & Gardens since 2020. Prior to working at Cheekwood, she managed Retail Operations at two other major Nashville tourist destinations - The Hermitage Hotel and Hatch Show Print (inside the Country Music Hall of Fame). Kacey was also a Visual merchandiser at Magnolia, in Waco, Texas. Working in tourism-retail for over 10 years has made Kacey an expert on experiential retail and customer connection, as well as product curation and visual merchandising. As a member of the Museum Store Association, Kacey shares her skills and unique perspective on visual merchandising with other Museum Retail professionals as a speaker at multiple MSA conferences. Her passion for designing well-curated retail spaces with unique products is something she enjoys sharing, and she continues to train others on the best buying and merchandising practices. Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kaceyafd/ Website: https://cheekwood.org/ About Retail Corner Podcast: Guest Host: Cole Koumalats Producer: Sachin Kumar Bhate Podcast Sponsor: Proxima360 Listen to other podcasts at: https://proxima360.com/retail-corner.podcast or https://retailcorner.live Subscribe our Podcast: Apple iTunes: https://apple.co/3eoeUdT Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3dvjpDJ Google Podcast: https://bit.ly/3DFHXHw Amazon Music: https://amzn.to/3tkbhk1 Interested in being on our podcast? Submit request at: retailcorner@proxima360.com

Elena y yo descubrimos el fascinante mundo del visual cuando abrimos nuestra primera tienda en Zurbano y nos dimos cuenta de que teníamos que colocar el producto con sentido, llenar el espacio, conseguir que todo brillara más de la cuenta. Con la apertura de nuestra segunda tienda el pasado verano entendimos que un km de distancia podía cambiarlo todo, que pese a ser la misma marca, cada punto de venta tiene sus particularidades, su tipo de cliente, su personalidad propia. Algo fascinante.

Introducing the advice series! Celebrating the 50th episode of the Simply Digital Marketing podcast, I am starting an advice series where fellow entrepreneurs can come onto my podcast and we can chat through their social media challenges. They will come away with advice of what to do to improve their socials. My first guest: Kier Adair; a London based, International Brand Photographer, published author and mentor, wanted to improve her impressions and engagement on LinkedIn. So here we are chatting all things LinkedIn and what is working for this platform right now. Kier is passionate about empowering ambitious business owners to have the confidence to stand out and be seen for themselves, shining for their difference. She is an expert in visual branding after over 20 years in Marketing and Visual Merchandising in multinational corporations, today she loves to help business owners to thrive and grow with her unique approach and experience infront of the camera. Check her out on social: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kier-adair-brand-photographer/

[285] How might we increase salon retail sales outside of the often go-to opportunities that are upselling clients while they're in the chair and building an online store? From strategies for creating events that don't just charm but convert to finessing product placement through visual merchandising, we explore an array of techniques to not only captivate clients' attention but also significantly boost your bottom line. With another two reruns in one, we're dishing out all the secrets to capture your clients' senses and keep them coming back for more. The episode rerun featuring Rowena Doyle was originally released in April 2018 as part of Season 2, and Katie Lowndes' episode was originally released in April 2019 as part of Season 3. Links: Connect with Katie Lowndes on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/katie-lowndes-6211b812/ Connect with Rowena Doyle on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rowena-doyle-31a00718/ Click here to subscribe to the weekly PhorestFM email newsletter: http://bit.ly/2T2gUj1 This episode was edited and mixed by Audio Z: Montreal's cutting-edge post-production studio for creative minds looking to have their vision professionally produced and mixed. Great music makes great moments. Leave a Rating & Review: http://bit.ly/phorestfm  Read the transcript, or click here to learn more about Phorest Salon Software.

Originally from Albuquerque, NM, Thomas is an accomplished Visual Merchandising professional with over 2 decades experience across diverse retail channels from small boutiques to world-renowned luxury department stores.  As the son of two talented jewelry designers, he learned the value and beauty of craftsmanship at an early age and explored photography and architecture in college. After moving to the east coast in 1993 he landed at Urban Outfitters then Brooks Brothers, starting as a District Visual Manager and then as the Global Visual Merchandising Manager, executing and writing corporate VM guidelines through a period of expansive international growth.  His next stop was the Saks Fifth Avenue flagship in NYC where he held several Visual Manager positions including Men's, Visual Operations and Special Projects.   In his new role as a Visual Consultant, he leverages his experience and knowledge of engineering, construction and project management to help clients bring their brand vision to life through buildouts, popups and experiential design. In this episode, Thomas talks with Andrew Pieris about how his engineering background and his ability to pivot and formulate a Plan B have been critical to his career.

ABOUT JEAN-PAUL MORRESI:Jean-Paul's Profile: linkedin.com/in/autsideWebsite: thinkautside.com (Company)Email: jpmorresi@thinkautside.comBIO:Jean-Paul Morresi is the founder and Chief Creative Officer of Autside, a retail focused creative agency in Toronto, Canada. Over 3+ decades, Jean-Paul has worked across 5 continents, run offices in Toronto, Stockholm and Dubai, overseen a Shanghai based creative team, and led projects teams across the Americas and Europe.An Architecture graduate of the University of Toronto, Jean-Paul's unique background weaves marketing, merchandising, design and construction into an interdisciplinary approach where creative, strategic and executional acumen conspire, delivering customer focused, performance driven retail and brand experiences.A regular contributor to industry publications and events, Jean-Paul currently sits on the Retail Touchpoints/design:retail Editorial Advisory Board, the Advisory Board of retail technology company Virtual Visions, and Curriculum Advisory Committees for Humber College's Interior Design and the Sheridan College's Visual Merchandising Programs.Jean-Paul & the Autside team are currently collaborating on the design of projects spanning the retail spectrum, branded corporate interiors, showroom spaces and a variety of in-store digital marketing and engagement tools.SHOW INTRO:Welcome to the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast.These dynamic dialogues based on our acronym DATA - design, architecture, technology, and the arts crosses over disciplines but maintains a common thread of people who are passionate about the world we live in and human's influence on it, the ways we craft the built environment to maximize human experience, increasing our understanding of human behavior and searching for the New Possible.The NXTLVL Experience Design podcast is presented by VMSD magazine. VMSD is the publisher of VMSD magazine and brings us, in the brand experience world, the International Retail Design Conference. The IRDC is one of the best retail design conferences that there is bringing together the world of retailers, brands and experience placemakers every year for two days of engaging conversations and pushing the discourse forward on what makes retailing relevant.You will find the archive of the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast on VMSD.com.Thanks also goes to Shop Association the only global retail trade association dedicated to elevating the in-store experience. SHOP Association represents companies and affiliates from 25 countries and brings value to their members through research, networking, education, events and awards. Check then out on SHOPAssociation.orgIn this episode I talk with Jean-Paul Morresi the the founder and Chief Creative Officer of Autside, a retail focused creative agency in Toronto, Canada about a creative career in the world of retail and design.But first a few thoughts.****************It has seemed that during my career some of the really cool stuff, the things that change the path of my life, that took me to places around the world and introduced me to new ideas and people who challenged all the things that I believe to be true about myself and the world, came by way of serendipity.I started a career as an architect in Montreal and got an invitation to go to Singapore and run an International School back in the mid 90s. And that opportunity popped up at a lunch with a colleague of mine who said she was asked to do the job but really didn't want to go all that way.I of course raised my hand saying yes I'll do that and two weeks later I was living in Singapore and my life in the world of Retail Design started at that juncture. I landed in New York a year later and spent four years working in the office of New Vision Studios with Joe Weishar.We traveled the world teaching retailers how to merchandise their stores, how to use design principles and apply them to more effective selling spaces. Those years were critical because I spent time on the sales floor moving fixtures around, stripping down shelving and re-stocking them at the same time as we were teaching various managers, department heads and sales associates the basic principles of visual merchandising. Those years were foundational in my career because it gave me a different view on how to look at the world of retail design not from simply the point of view of the architect but as from someone who had worked the sales floor. From the point of view of who had the sales floor experiences of about it was like to put merchandise on a table or shelf or a hanging rack and how visual presentation and visual merchandising were critical components of the retail storytelling that happens inside stores.When I think about having been pushing those store fixtures around on the sales floor I often wondered then what my parents, who had invested in my education as an architect, would be thinking that their son who was supposed to go off and build huge projects and save the world from itself through architecture was instead occasionally putting flower displays together and stripping down or merchandising store fixtures with baby booties, bras and panties, canoes, big ass TV's and rice steamers all on the same day. My father wasn't particularly jazzed about the idea that I mostly truly interested in being a painter. “Get a degree or get a trade that'll lead to you making a good job he used to tell me”In the end he was probably right because the idea of being a starving artist was never particularly interesting to me.I actually did end up in architecture having studied psychology beforehand and I oftner think about how interesting it is that a confluence of educational orientations and experiences all came together to study of architecture school at McGill University in Montreal.I just about quit in second year, it was a tough , tough program, and almost applied into the Fine Arts department at another university.But somehow I got myself a tutor who got me through the engineering courses and I ended up continuing my studies in architecture completing 4 year degree going on to getting in license to practice.I'm proud of the fact that I'm an architect for the past 35 or 40 years of my professional career. It has served me well.I also liked teaching a lot and was always in front of students whether it was as a ski school technical director teaching other teachers how to teach or being engaged in universities in both Montreal, Singapore, New York, Philadelphia and most recently teaching a course in cognitive science at the Columbus College of Art and design. Teaching has always been part of what I've liked to do.Teaching is a passion (as well as painting) and no matter where I've been at what phase of my career I've always included teaching in that process. When I came back to New York from a year in Singapore, I didn't land in the big firm that I'd hoped to but in fact I ended up starting in a small firm.In that basement office of a brownstone on 36th street just off of Park Aveneue, Joe Weishar, another merchandising pro by the name of George Homer, an interior designer and I were a four-person office with a big client list. It was an amazing experience and I think it fundamentally changed the way I thought about store design.I spent about 22 years designing stores and as another moment of serendipity crossed my path, or maybe I crossed its path, and I had an opportunity to shift away from retail, still staying in the world of brand experience placemaking, and joined Marriott as a vice president of global design strategies. This was a pretty significant shift and people asked me how does retail affect the hospitality how are you gonna do that because I had never designed a hotel before in my life.but I was confident in my design skills and that I had enough experience in understanding brands and people and making spaces for their interactions that hotel would be like painting with a different palette but I would never forget the rules of how to apply paint to the canvas. And so, for a number of years I was in the hospitality space which I have always loved and yet again, I began to forge a new path.Often when I've had to describe my career to people when they've asked, as they usually do at a party or some event, what do you do? I sort of get stuck and say well I'm I'm not a one trick pony.I have taken to describing myself as a hybrid professional which seems to fit because painting teaching podcasting architecting and working across multiple types of business segments has given me an amazing career with a wealth of different experiences. I suppose you could say that they all fit into the world of design, architecture and placemaking but I've been able to exercise those passions in very different areas.You could say that focusing on one thing and one thing only was not the way I decided to lead my career. What I've really begun to understand that I was spending more time connecting the dots between all of the experiences that I had. My fascinations gave me a broad mindset of multiple influences. I've often seen my job as finding the blank spaces between the notes and deciding how to fill them in.The interesting thing about career path changes are that they're the ones that seem to present the most interesting opportunities for growth. For challenging the way you think about things and for giving you a different point of view. It's also allowed me to think about the idea of collaboration and how to do it well. When working across multiple disciplines you end up having to put a number of different hats on each day. I suppose that is also true of designing multiple stores for different brands.  I was never particularly interested in focusing on one type of retail design versus another.For example, I never really thought that my world would be designing shopping malls or big box retailers or specialty jewelry stores. I've always tried to find myself in an office where my curiosity and creative interests would allow for multiple expressions. I simply found that much more interesting than being singularly focused on one idea. And this it brings me to a fundamental understanding about doing retail design that emerged out of my early years working in New York and that is:…that ultimately, in the end, it's not about me as the designer it's about the product and about the brand and if I can get a little bit of me in there then I feel good about that. I don't have to change the world like I thought at the onset of my career path but that it is often good enough to change a small thing that impacts many people in a small way and perhaps the compounding of those smaller individual experiences ends up creating something great. But if it doesn't, that's OK too.If it changes a single individual and gives them a better experience or allows them to see something a new way and learn , then I'm good with that. Now in the world of advanced technology my passions for living a life in the time of Star Trek are coming to fruition.AI, as well as all of the generative design tools and immersive digital technologies that we are now able to employ in the service of creating great experiences, are beginning to make real some of the things that a number of years ago I was always fantasizing about.This brave new world we are entering into makes a career in brand experience placemaking super exciting.Now, when I take a moment to think about each of these individual areas serendipity forging a path in retail - working the sales floor, thinking about art school versus architecture, teaching my whole life, working in the small firm and having opportunities to shift career paths to major corporations, developing an understanding about what makes good leadership built in trust, authenticity communication yada yada…I end up bumping into an industry colleague at the SHOP Marketplace event a number of months ago. I had known Jean Paul Morresi from the industry though I have to admit we have never had time to sit down and talk. I recognized him at industry events. We would often say hello and we had industry friends and colleagues with whom we collaborated and against whom we often competed.So, when I offered Jean Paul an opportunity to do an interview for the NXTLVL Experiences Design podcast, he eagerly accepted and we sat down to what became more like a fireside chat with a good Scotch in our hands sharing stories about how our careers evolved. And lo and behold, we discovered that in many ways our career paths had aligned with many, I mean many, of the same experiences, values and principles that led us from then to now.Jean-Paul Morresi is the founder and Chief Creative Officer of Autside, a retail focused creative agency in Toronto, Canada. Over 3+ decades, Jean-Paul has worked across 5 continents, run offices in Toronto, Stockholm and Dubai, overseen a Shanghai based creative team, and led projects teams across the Americas and Europe. An Architecture graduate of the University of Toronto, Jean-Paul's unique background weaves marketing, merchandising, design and construction into an interdisciplinary approach where creative, strategic and executional acumen conspire, delivering customer focused, performance driven retail and brand experiences. A regular contributor to industry publications and events, Jean-Paul currently sits on the Retail Touchpoints/design:retail Editorial Advisory Board, the Advisory Board of the retail technology company Virtual Visions, and Curriculum Advisory Committees for Humber College's Interior Design and the Sheridan Colleges's Visual Merchandising Programs. Jean-Paul & the Autside team are currently collaborating on the design of projects spanning the retail spectrum, branded corporate interiors, showroom spaces and a variety of in-store digital marketing and engagement tools.This conversation with John Paul Morresi is a little bit different than the ones I've done in the past. Having met at the SHOP Marketplace tradeshow and decided to put a mic in front of each of us and have a conversation and record it, this talk didn't have a strong thematic orientation like in many of my other discussions. Instead, I sort of let it unfold and what I discovered was a like-minded creative professional with whom I shared many life experiences on a parallel path. It was kind of like getting to know an old friend all over again… ABOUT DAVID KEPRON:LinkedIn Profile: linkedin.com/in/david-kepron-9a1582bWebsites: https://www.davidkepron.com    (personal website)vmsd.com/taxonomy/term/8645  (Blog)Email: david.kepron@NXTLVLexperiencedesign.comTwitter: DavidKepronPersonal Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/davidkepron/NXTLVL Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nxtlvl_experience_design/Bio:David Kepron is a multifaceted creative professional with a deep curiosity to understand ‘why', ‘what's now' and ‘what's next'. He brings together his background as an architect, artist, educator, author, podcast host and builder to the making of meaningful and empathically-focused, community-centric customer connections at brand experience places around the globe. David is a former VP - Global Design Strategies at Marriott International. While at Marriott, his focus was on the creation of compelling customer experiences within Marriott's “Premium Distinctive” segment which included: Westin, Renaissance, Le Meridien, Autograph Collection, Tribute Portfolio, Design Hotels and Gaylord hotels. In 2020 Kepron founded NXTLVL Experience Design, a strategy and design consultancy, where he combines his multidisciplinary approach to the creation of relevant brand engagements with his passion for social and cultural anthropology, neuroscience and emerging digital technologies. As a frequently requested international speaker at corporate events and international conferences focusing on CX, digital transformation, retail, hospitality, emerging technology, David shares his expertise on subjects ranging from consumer behaviors and trends, brain science and buying behavior, store design and visual merchandising, hotel design and strategy as well as creativity and innovation. In his talks, David shares visionary ideas on how brand strategy, brain science and emerging technologies are changing guest expectations about relationships they want to have with brands and how companies can remain relevant in a digitally enabled marketplace. David currently shares his experience and insight on various industry boards including: VMSD magazine's Editorial Advisory Board, the Interactive Customer Experience Association, Sign Research Foundation's Program Committee as well as the Center For Retail Transformation at George Mason University.He has held teaching positions at New York's Fashion Institute of Technology (F.I.T.), the Department of Architecture & Interior Design of Drexel University in Philadelphia, the Laboratory Institute of Merchandising (L.I.M.) in New York, the International Academy of Merchandising and Design in Montreal and he served as the Director of the Visual Merchandising Department at LaSalle International Fashion School (L.I.F.S.) in Singapore.  In 2014 Kepron published his first book titled: “Retail (r)Evolution: Why Creating Right-Brain Stores Will Shape the Future of Shopping in a Digitally Driven World” and he is currently working on his second book to be published soon. David also writes a popular blog called “Brain Food” which is published monthly on vmsd.com.  The next level experience design podcast is presented by VMSD magazine and Smartwork Media. It is hosted and executive produced by David Kepron. Our original music and audio production by Kano Sound. The content of this podcast is copywrite to David Kepron and NXTLVL Experience Design. Any publication or rebroadcast of the content is prohibited without the expressed written consent of David Kepron and NXTLVL Experience Design.Make sure to tune in for more NXTLVL “Dialogues on DATA: Design Architecture Technology and the Arts” wherever you find your favorite podcasts and make sure to visit vmsd.com and look for the tab for the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast there too. The next level experience design podcast is presented by VMSD magazine and Smartwork Media. It is hosted and executive produced by David Kepron. Our original music and audio production by Kano Sound. The content of this podcast is copywrite to David Kepron and NXTLVL Experience Design. Any publication or rebroadcast of the content is prohibited without the expressed written consent of David Kepron and NXTLVL Experience Design.Make sure to tune in for more NXTLVL “Dialogues on DATA: Design Architecture Technology and the Arts” wherever you find your favorite podcasts and make sure to visit vmsd.com and look for the tab for the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast there too.

Retail Insider's Craig Patterson and Ani Nersessian, Founder at VM ID Inc., discuss the role of visual merchandising in the retail sector. Nersessian emphasizes the importance of visual merchandising in creating inviting retail environments and enhancing customer engagement. She highlights the challenges small businesses face in visual merchandising, noting that it often gets neglected due to various operational demands. She advocates for the strategic use of visual elements to optimize retail presentation and elevate customer experiences. Nersessian points out how larger companies set trends, and she discusses the importance of adapting these trends to fit the needs of smaller businesses. She shares her approach to consulting and package design, offering tailored visual merchandising solutions. Nersessian also touches on the psychological aspects of merchandising, such as customer navigation, product grouping, and creating an inviting space layout, which all contribute to the overall shopping experience and potentially increase sales. Nersessian then goes on to talk about the practical aspects of visual merchandising, including the use of planograms, software tools, and the importance of experience over formal education in this field. She addresses the challenges of meeting tight client deadlines, especially during peak retail seasons, and the importance of adaptability in visual merchandising. The conversation concludes with a discussion on measuring the success of visual merchandising efforts, focusing on metrics like unit per transaction, average sales, and customer conversion rates. Ani emphasizes that visual merchandising is not just about aesthetics but is a critical component of the retail engine, driving sales and enhancing brand value. Interviewed this episode:Ani Nersessian, Founder at VM ID Inc.VM ID Inc. This podcast is the audio version of the The Interview Series video podcasts by Retail Insider Canada are available through our Retail Insider YouTube Channel where you can subscribe and be notified when new video episodes are available. Subscribe, Rate, and Review our Retail Insider Podcast! Follow Craig:LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/CraigPattersonTorontoInstagram: @craig_patterson_torontoTwitter: @RI_EICFollow Retail Insider:LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/Retail-InsiderFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/RetailInsider/Twitter: @RetailInsider_Instagram: @Retail_Insider_CanadaListen & Subscribe:Apple PodcastsSpotifyOvercastStitcherShare your thoughts!Drop us a line at Craig@Retail-Insider.com. You can also rate us in Apple Podcasts or recommend us in Overcast to help more people discover the show!Background Music Credit: Hard Boiled Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Today's Everyday Business Leader is Kimberly Smith the Executive Director of Johnson County Senior Services Kimberly Smith, based in Whiteland, IN, US, is currently an Executive Director at Johnson County Senior Services, bringing experience from previous roles at SON-sational Accessories and Christ Fellowship Church. Kimberly Smith holds a Certificate in Marketing and Distributive Education @ Ivy Tech Community College. With a robust skill set that includes Customer Service, Visual Merchandising, Loss Prevention, Merchandising, Coaching, and more, Kimberly Smith contributes valuable insights to the industry. Executive Director @ Johnson County Senior Services Owner @ SON-sational Accessories Pastor of Women's Ministry, Outreach, and Special Events @ Christ Fellowship Church https://www.jcseniorservices.org/home-page JOHNSON COUNTY SENIOR SERVICES 36 W 600 N, WHITELAND, IN 46184 (317) 738-4544. Follow Johnson County Senior Services on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JohnsonCountySeniorServices Thank you for following Everyday Leaders. If you've been following us since 2018, we appreciate your support and look forward to continuing to add value to you if this is the first time you're finding us, welcome! We are a husband and wife media team based in Indianapolis, IN, and have been helping clients build their marketing and media strategies for over 20 years. I am your host, and my husband Joe, https://Joeakestudios.com, is the producer, director, and editor of the Everyday Leaders media programs, virtual and live event broadcasts, and more. We are excited to bring you a new focus on this platform, celebrating Everyday Business Leaders in our local community. Don't forget to subscribe to our YOUTUBE Channel, turn on notifications, and never miss an episode! Watch the full LIVE in-studio interview here from JPtheGeek Studio in Greenwood, Indiana: https://www.youtube.com/@MelahniAkeEverydayLeaders Everyday Business Leaders is a program dedicated to elevating our business leaders who inspire us to connect and thrive in our local community. A note from Melahni Ake, Founder of Everyday Leaders. When you visit EverydayLeaders.com, you will find valuable resources to become a better leader in your life, including. Women's Leadership Programs, including Top Floor Women Monthly Networking events, corporate workshops, and strategic business coaching services, discover personal development classes and products to develop yourself, including morning leadership devotionals and more. Order one of my inspirational books, sign up for classes, or pick up some gear in the leader store, listen to the Everyday Business Leaders podcast, apply to be a guest in our studio, or sponsor our show with your commercial advertisement. Contact us today at https://www.everydayleaders.com. #everydayleaderschangetheworld #interviews #inspiration #businessleaders #inspiration #jpthegeek #podcast #studiointerview #passiontopurpose #communitybuilding #collaboration #celebration #supportlocal #supportsmallbusiness #maxwellleadership #familybusiness #nonprofit #becauseone #podcast

Craig and Mark Ainley, a contemporary Feng Shui consultant and the founder of Sense of Space based in Vancouver. Ainley sheds light on the intricate interplay between design, colour, and functionality in retail spaces. He emphasizes the need to move beyond conventional perceptions of Feng Shui, showcasing its relevance in optimizing the layout and ambiance of homes, businesses, and, notably, retail establishments. Mark Ainley Ainley discusses his expertise in aligning the design of spaces with their primary functions, offering a blend of aesthetics and functionality. He dispels common misconceptions about Feng Shui, illustrating its application in creating spaces that resonate with individuals, whether they live, work, or shop there. The discussion delves into the impact of subtle design elements on customer behaviour, from the positioning of tables to the psychology of colour and the importance of maintaining an inviting exterior. The conversation extends to the nuances of retail, exploring how small details like cleanliness, lighting, and signage play a pivotal role in attracting customers. Ainley draws from his experiences, including a fascinating observation of a store with a table angle affecting foot traffic. As the dialogue unfolds, the focus shifts to the significance of visual merchandising, the changing dynamics of window displays, and the role of technology in enhancing or detracting from the overall retail experience. Ainley concludes by urging businesses to prioritize the physiological welcome and call to action within their spaces, fostering an authentic and enjoyable shopping experience that goes beyond the convenience of online alternatives. Interviewed this episode:Mark Ainley, Flow Optimization Specialist, Contemporary Feng Shui Facilitator and Instructor, WELL APSense of Space Subscribe, Rate, and Review our Retail Insider Podcast!Follow Craig:LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/CraigPattersonTorontoInstagram: @craig_patterson_torontoTwitter: @RI_EICFollow Retail Insider:LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/Retail-InsiderFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/RetailInsider/Twitter: @RetailInsider_Instagram: @Retail_Insider_CanadaListen & Subscribe:Apple PodcastsSpotifyOvercastStitcherShare your thoughts!Drop us a line at Craig@Retail-Insider.com. You can also rate us in Apple Podcasts or recommend us in Overcast to help more people discover the show!Background Music Credit: Hard Boiled Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Patricia Sampson is the Director of the Bookstore Resource Center at The King Center in Atlanta, Georgia. She has also work for the High Museum of Art Atlanta as Manager or Retail Shops and Visual Merchandising. She began her retail career in for-profit retail in her home state of New York. She wore many different […]

Patricia Sampson is the Director of the Bookstore Resource Center at The King Center in Atlanta, Georgia. She has also work for the High Museum of Art Atlanta as Manager or Retail Shops and Visual Merchandising. She began her retail career in for-profit retail in her home state of New York. She wore many different […] The post Patricia Sampson With The King Center appeared first on Business RadioX ®.

Ready to Zen? Let's go!ZenGenius specializes in providing Visual Merchandising, Creative Direction, and Special Events support to retail brands, businesses, and organizations of all types. Going on 25 years, ZenGenius has been a proud part of the creative and retail design communities across the globe.Michelle and the team kick things off by talking about the beginning of ZenGenius and how it evolved into the powerhouse it is today. The ZenGenius team also shares stories from their projects, including a weed store, and how they approach working with each of their clients. Discussion topics also include leaving the corporate world, prop and inventory management, event and convention planning, and more.MEET THE TEAM:Joe Baer is the Co-Founder, CEO, and Creative Director of ZenGenius, Inc., a creative design firm based in Columbus, Ohio, founded in 1999 with Paul Cook. Joe is on the Editorial Advisory board for VMSD, has been a regular judge for the International Visual Merchandising Competition, and created and hoststhe popular Iron Merchant Challenge held annually at the IRDC Conference. Joe now sits on the Advisory Board for the Masters of Retail Studies at Columbus College of Art Design and is on the Board of PAVE Global.Dedicating much of his career to leading engaging workshops, visual merchandising training programs, and interactive visual challenges, Joe Baer celebrates the art of visual merchandising and inspiring event design in all he takes on. Joe brings along a talented team of creatives that are ready to problem solve and bring "the calm to the chaos," a motto at ZenGenius. Paul Cook / Co-Founder + Senior Visual MerchandiserLuAnne Baer / Director of Finance + OperationsMeg Lefeld / Director of Business Development + Senior Project ManagerStephanie Bair-Garant / Director of Visual Merchandising + TalentEmily Shirey / Director of Visual Merchandising + EventsJill Shindler / Event Design ManagerJalpa Patel / Interior ArchitectJen Dragonetti / Visual Project Manager, NYCWhat's Inside:How ZenGenius began and grew into the powerhouse it is todayHow ZenGenius works with their diverse client baseInsights into prop management and event planningThis episode is sponsored by Patrick & Company, a wholesale sales agency proudly representing nationally and internationally branded companies. Located in the Dallas Market Center, for over 30 years they have been the go-to source for retailers helping to discover those unique, sought-after, and stylish brands.  Mentioned In This Episode:ZenGenius WebsiteZenGenius on InstagramZenGenius on LinkedInZenGenius on FacebookZenGenius on TikTok

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Simon is the Founder of Flagship - https://flagship.ai Flagship is an end to end digital visual merchandising platform for physical retail stores Think of Flagship like a visual workspace or canvas that recommends and tracks changes to your store layouts and product placements and then tracks the success of those changes over time in terms of sales and conversion rates Flagship digitalises and automates what traditionally has been a very manual process since the birth of retail In this episode, Jason & Simon discuss how retail is stuck in its ways and how much really hasn't changed since the early days of the mercantile shop This fact gives progressive retailers the ability to harness digital technologies to get ahead of their competitors in a huge way!

Join us in the enchanting realm of museum retail with the captivating Retail Corner podcast. In this episode, we're honored to welcome Christine Kostyrka, the distinguished Director of Retail at the renowned Philadelphia Museum of Art, as our special guest. Tune in to uncover invaluable insights into the distinctive hurdles and prospects that set museum retail apart from its conventional counterpart. About our Guest, Christine Kostyrka: Christine Kostyrka graduated with a BFA in painting and art education from the School of Visual Arts in NYC. At the age of 23, she opened a Home Goods store without any real knowledge of retail. Her appreciation for the common ground between art and commerce and her love of design and handcrafting led to a 30+ year career overseeing buying and product development businesses for Home and Lifestyle at Martha Stewart, Crate and Barrel, and Urban Outfitters, where she helped launch several trends as DMM over Home, including the resurgence of turntables and vinyl. Christine's areas of expertise include Product Development, Buying/Planning, Visual Merchandising, Marketing and EComm. In 2019, she joined the Philadelphia Museum of Art as Director of Retail, just as they were poised for a 90,000-square-foot expansion. Over the next four years, Christine led efforts to open four brand-new stores and several exhibition shops, and she relaunched the museum's web store while overseeing product development and marketing. As she puts it “Our goal is to provide a shopping experience that is just as transportive, educational, and inspiring as the galleries and collection itself.” Though originally from New York, she has grown to love Philadelphia, especially its rich history in craft and manufacturing and thriving creative community. Through the retail relaunch at PMA, she helped to introduce and support the work of almost 100 local artisans in all stores, as well as partnering with local non-profits and artist collectives to source products. She has served for 15 years as a business advisor and board member for Fresh Artists, a Philadelphia-based non-profit whose mission is to provide art supplies and innovative arts programming to the nation's poorest schools. Christine lives outside Philly with her daughter and four cats. Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christine-kostyrka-7101a510 Company: https://store.philamuseum.org/ About Retail Corner Podcast: Host: Carlos Diaz Producer: Sachin Kumar Bhate Podcast Sponsor: Proxima360 Listen to other podcasts at: https://proxima360.com/retail-corner.podcast or https://retailcorner.live Subscribe our Podcast: Apple iTunes: https://apple.co/3eoeUdT Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3dvjpDJ Google Podcast: https://bit.ly/3DFHXHw Amazon Music: https://amzn.to/3tkbhk1 Interested in being on our podcast? Submit request at: podcast@retailcorner.live  

Do you ever wonder who makes those chalkboard signs at Trader Joe's? Well, that's how Benjamin Soto got started—drawing Trader Joe's signs by day and designing band merch at night for Fearless Records.In 1998, Ben was recruited by Paul Frank to help kick off the massive millennial pop-culture brand Paul Frank Industries. Ben managed the brand creative for about 10 years, which meant involvement with character designs, the tee and fleece program, pajama prints, photoshoots, trade show booths, retail spaces, collaborations/licensed products. They even let him voice Julius the Monkey on the pilot show of Yo-Gabba-Gabba. In 2008, Disney Animation called and gave Ben the job of helping to create and Art Direct a cartoon based on Evel Knievel's daredevil culture. The Emmy nominated show Kick Buttowski had 52 episodes and aired between 2010-2012. Ben eventually left Disney to partner up with some other entrepreneurs to start the next creative adventure: C-Preme. They had captured "lightning in a bottle" with their 3-D youth bicycle helmet brand, Raskullz. Within three years, they had sold over 3 million helmets and countless other outdoor products. C-Preme sold to Bell Helmets (Easton Bell Sports) in 2014. Ben stayed on working for Bell Helmets until the next idea hit: a colorful cooler manufactured like a bicycle helmet. Target accepted a huge order; patents were in the works, and before the dust settled, they sold their company to Igloo Products Corp. in 2016. Ben is still at Igloo, managing creative for the cooler brand. You might've seen a little bit of Ben in the VW Playmate bus, retro coolers, eco coolers, licensed coolers, and the packaging and marketing of the brand. Igloo sold to Dometic in 2021 for a lot more money than anyone ever dreamed of. Michelle and Ben dive into Ben's amazing career, from Paul Frank to Igloo, and his extensive experience with graphic design. Ben shares stories from past trade shows (before the days of social media) and the wild ride that was Paul Frank in the early days. Michelle and Ben also discuss his transition to Disney, then Igloo, living in Hong Kong, and where Ben looks for inspiration.What's Inside:How Ben got started at Paul Frank and stories from the early days.Ben's experience working at Disney and Igloo.How Ben finds his inspiration.This episode sponsored by Fine Lines, a west coast wholesale rep agency with showrooms in Las Vegas and Seattle representing over 50 fabulous gift, fashion + home lines.Mentioned In This Episode:Benjamin Soto portfolioPaul FrankKick ButtowskiRaskullzIgloo

A native of the Pacific Northwest, Susan Esayian has been working in the gift industry professionally for 26 years in a variety of roles. She's done it all, from merchandising Kitchen-Aid mixers to buying fine tableware. She even carried a four-poster bed up a mountainside for a catalog photoshoot... and that was just in the first 10 years!Since then, Susan's kept herself immersed in the gift industry as a buyer for a hospital gift shop and a merchandiser for several wholesale showrooms and retailers. For Susan, retail is not just a job, but a career that she's inspired by and passionate about more every day.Michelle and Susan talk about retail, merchandising, including the good, the bad, and everything in between. Susan shares her retail journey, complete with a ton of fun stories, from the very beginning to where she is today. They discuss how she took the leap from the corporate world to freelancing, the importance of hospital gift shops, retail displays, and much more.  What's Inside:How Susan made the leap from the corporate world to freelancing.Stories from Susan's merchandising journey.The importance of hospital gift shops and retail displays.Mentioned In This Episode:Susan on InstagramSusan on LinkedInMC Design Academy on YouTube

Welcome back to The Wedding Biz! This week, Andy has Bob Conti on the show! Bob is a principal member and business partner of Ed Libby and Company Events. For over two decades now, Bob has made a name for himself in the event industry by designing and producing milestone luxury events. Bob shares his journey from a background in visual merchandising to becoming a renowned figure in the luxury market, and he also discusses the importance of balancing creativity with practicality, adapting to changing industry dynamics, the value of collaboration among event professionals, what he means when he refers to legacy clients, what he still struggles with in the market, and so much more! Join Andy and Bob as they delve into the world of high-end events, share insights about staying authentic, and discuss the evolving landscape of the event industry. You'll also discover how collaboration is becoming a pivotal trend in creating memorable experiences for clients and guests. Andy had such a great time catching up with Bob and having him on the show and is very grateful for his time. He hopes that you enjoy this conversation, and if you do, please be sure to share it with a few friends or colleagues who might also enjoy it. Andy would also appreciate it if you were to leave a top review wherever you listen because that really helps the show out! Be sure to also subscribe to the podcast so that you never miss a new episode, and we will catch you next week on The Wedding Biz!   Have you heard about Stop and Smell the Roses with Preston Bailey on The Wedding Biz Network? Listen as Preston shares the secrets, tools, and technologies behind his extraordinary ability to create a theatrical environment out of any space. Also, don't forget about Sean Low's podcast The Business of Being Creative, where Sean discusses the power of being niched, pricing strategies, metrics of success, and so much more. You can find both shows on The Wedding Biz Network.   SUPPORTING THE WEDDING BIZ Become a patron and support Andy and the show! If you are so inspired, contribute!   Time Stamps [1:23] - Andy reveals that this episode's guest is Bob Conti of Ed Libby and Company Events! [2:14] - Bob used to be an executive in visual merchandising. [3:02] - How did Bob transition into the events industry? [4:51] - Bob values his enduring partnership with Ed Libby, which evolved organically. [7:56] - Bob prioritizes representing clients' tastes over personal style for successful events. [9:08] - Bob's creative process involves adapting to clients' ideas and understanding their style. [10:41] – Hear how Bob's career initially revolved around bar mitzvahs, leading to legacy clients. [13:14] – Andy and Bob discuss varying degrees of parental involvement in modern weddings. [15:05] – Nearly all of Bob's work involves collaborating with a planner or producer. [18:17] – Bob identifies one of his biggest challenges in the industry. [20:07] – Learn about the talks that Bob gives at conferences. [22:55] - Bob's mission is to ensure newcomers engage with industry veterans at conferences. [23:58] - Bob believes in simplicity and staying authentic in the saturated industry. [26:43] – Bob identifies collaboration as a current trend in the industry. [29:07] – Andy reveals where Bob can be found online.   LINKS AND RESOURCES Find Bob: Ed Libby - WebsiteEd Libby - Instagram PageBob's Instagram Page Follow The Wedding Biz on Social: The Wedding Biz The Wedding Biz on Instagram: @theweddingbiz The Wedding Biz on Facebook: @theweddingbiz The Wedding Biz Network The Music Makers   Support The Wedding Biz by clicking here. Title Sponsor: This episode is sponsored by Kushner Entertainment.

In this episode we're exploring one of our favorite stores during our favorite season! Join David and Kari as they learn about the theming and design of this year's Halloween Horror Nights Tribute Store! This episode welcomes Rob and Greg from our Visual Merchandising team to talk about the incredible theming of this unique store, some merchandise you'll find and a few other offerings available during the Halloween Horror Nights season.Want to learn more about Halloween Horror Nights 2023? Hear from the Entertainment team as they reveal the line-up of this year's event. In this 3-part episode, you'll learn about the original concept haunted houses and scare zones that will terrorize our guests this year.Links: Learn More about Haunted Tales: https://blog.discoveruniversal.com/podcasts/halloween-horror-nights-haunted-tales-at-universal-orlando-resort/Listen to learn more about Halloween Horror Nights 2023: https://blog.discoveruniversal.com/podcasts/listen-to-halloween-horror-nights-orlando-2023-full-reveal/Learn more about Halloween Horror Nights: https://www.universalorlando.com/hhn/en/usBlog: https://blog.discoveruniversal.com/Universal Orlando Resort: https://www.universalparks.com/en/usUniversal Parks and Resorts: https://www.universalorlando.com/web/en/usFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/UniversalOrlandoResortTwitter: https://twitter.com/UniversalORLInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/universalorlando/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/UniversalOrlando/featuredHALLOWEEN HORROR NIGHTS WARNING: Event may be too intense for young children and is not recommended for children under the age of 13. No costumes or costume masks allowed. Halloween Horror Nights is a separately ticketed event. Event occurs rain or shine. No rain checks, returns or refunds. Prices, dates, times, attractions, entertainment, and/or experience details are subject to availability, changes and/or cancellation without notice.Copyright & TrademarkSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Effective visual merchandising allows your products to stand out from the crowd and can set your store apart. But truly good visual merchandising is a skill that has to be learned. Lyn Falk and Suzanne Rafenstein of Retailworks Inc. join the Main Street Matters webinar to discuss visual merchandising techniques that all retailers should know about!https://retailworksinc.com/Heartonmainstreet.orgheartonmainstreet.org/educationhttps://www.facebook.com/donate/1238433293395477/

Mariana Nunes, Formada em Marketing, Visual Merchandising, CEO Loja Online Mary Shoes, Proprietária Espaço Rosalina Coworking de Beleza, Saúde e Bem-estar. Palestrante Motivacional, Especialista Empreendedorismo Feminino, Premiada Rainha Perola Negra 2023, categoria comunitaria. www.linkedin.com/in/mariana-nunes-maryshoes www.instagram.com/maryshoes_oficial_

Se você se interessa por comunicação, negociação e estabelecer conexões com pessoas ao redor do mundo, a trajetória da Mariana Fett vai te inspirar. Ela é fundadora da Arp Agency, especialista em marketing de influência e relações públicas e mora em Nova York há um ano. Como uma típica millennial multifuncional, já trabalhou em diversas áreas da moda como Visual Merchandising, Design, Marketing no Brasil e nos Estados Unidos. Em 2015 ela estudou moda em Los Angeles e trabalhou como gerente de produção na marca de luxo Lurelly. Seus primeiros passos foram como Visual Merchandiser na Zara e depois na Topshop, como coordenadora de VM. Se essa trajetória te inspirou, então pegue sua mochila e venha se aventurar junto com Mari! CONVIDADO | Mariana Fett @mari_fett  www.arpagency.com/

Join host Deborah Weinswig as she sits down with Alexandre De Vigan, Founder and CEO of Nfinite, for a dynamic conversation on the growing significance of compelling product imagery in e-commerce. This episode of Retaili$tic explores the challenges brands and retailers face when managing and producing product visuals, as well as how CGI and 3D rendering can revolutionize the industry. Head to coresight.com to read the full report, “CGI and 3D Product Imagery: The Future of Visual Merchandising in E-Commerce.”

Cette semaine, je suis ravie de partager ma conversation avec Sara El Khouya Ali, Global Porject Manager au sein du département Visual Merchandising chez Christian Dior. Dans cet épisode, Sarah retrace son enfance et l'éducation stricte mais pleine d'amour qu'elle a reçu. Elle évoque ce lien fort qui la lie à son papa ainsi que l'admiration qu'elle lui porte. Elle relate sa rencontre avec Jean Paul Gaultier à l'âge de 9 ans et sa découverte plus tard du monde de la mode. Elle revient sur son parcours et ses expériences au sein de différentes maisons de luxe. Elle nous explique également en quoi consiste sa fonction actuelle. Nous avons aussi parlé de santé mentale. Sara partage comment un besoin de reconnaissance parfois poussé à l'extrême l'a conduit à deux burn-out. Enfin nous avons discuté de la diversité dans le milieu du luxe, du rôle de Chief Diversity Officer et de l'importance du rôle de mentor dans une carrière. Sans plus attendre je laisse place à la HeyA du jour - Sara El Khouya Ali.    -----------------------------------------------------   Pour suivre Sara: Instagram: @saraelkho LinkedIn: Sara El Khouya Ali | LinkedIn     Pour suivre Heya: Instagram: @heya_podcast  

About Toni Roeller:Toni's LinkedIn Profile: linkedin.com/in/toni-roeller-3624676Bio:Toni Roeller currently serves as Senior Vice President, In-Store Environment, Visual Merchandising and House of Sport at DICK'S Sporting Goods. In this role, Toni is responsible for bringing the brand to life through the overall in-store experience, while ensuring the athlete is at the center of all merchandising strategies.Toni joined the company in May 2014 as Vice President of Visual Merchandising. In 2019, she was named Vice President of In-Store environment and Visual Merchandising, overseeing all aspects of evolving the in-store environment and visual storytelling. Prior to joining DICK's, she served as Vice President of In-Store Environment at The Home Depot. Throughout her career, she also has held increasing roles of responsibility at Best Buy, Levis Strauss and Maurices.Toni earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Communications from Concord University.SHOW INTRO:I grew up one of five boys. No sisters… just 5 rambunctious, energetic, physically active, sometime mischievous, food consuming boys. Oh, and we had dogs and cats, birds, gerbils, Guinea pigs, turtles and I think at one point we even had a parrot… or was it a cockateel.My mother, God bless your soul, somehow held this sometimes-unwieldy lot together and made sure, along with my father, that we were exposed to the great outdoors.This, or course, was a time where there was no such thing as a home computer or a cell phone. There was a TV, but for many years it was black and white with something like 3 or 4 channels and so outside we were most of the day at the park, the swimming pool, or playing in the street while the summertime the sun went down and the last round of kick the can was played before we were all called in for a bath. Summer trips from Montreal to Winnipeg, where my father side of the family lived, brought us through Toronto and most of northern Ontario. We camped the entire way which was always a lot of fun. 5 boys in a station wagon, with the dog and a camper in tow. For days…My father made sure that we were also well versed in the world of fishing which I can imagine must have tested his patience as toddlers undoubtedly got hooks stuck in themselves and each other more than they likely caught any fish.Throughout high school there was no music or theater program at my high school. And so, my friends and I played every sport that there was able to be played starting in the fall with football, leading to volleyball and then basketball and then track and field and then rugby. There never was a time in school where I wasn't playing sports and I loved it. My high school football coach Chuck Poirier still stands as a significant and memorable figure through those years.All of my brothers and I became ski school instructors which was one of the only ways to survive Montreal winters which could naturally get as cold as minus 20 or 30 below zero. No big deal really. My parents had us on skis as soon as we could stand, somewhere around the age of two or three. And so, we were used to being out in the cold.In any case, my parents made sure that we played sports all the time and that we were always physically active.In college, my mother would show up at all of my football games sitting in the stands, rain or shine, cheering me and the team on. She showed up at my baseball games too. And she was always there reminding me that playing team sports was important because it taught you cooperation, collaborating towards a common goal and teamwork and that you had to rely on others at times to reach your objectives. The ‘all for one and one for all' mantra of The Three Musketeers was something that she truly believed in. My mother had no problem with us being team players, but she believed in leadership in fact she always encouraged her sons to lead the charge in whatever team they were playing.As for sports stores to meet our needs, well, growing up in Montreal there was Canadian Tire and a store I remember called Le Baron. There was nothing like Eddie Bauer with indoor fishponds and taxidermy statues of giant bears or elk with enormous antlers. There wasn't anything like REI with rock climbing walls and there certainly wasn't anything like a two-story 100,000 square foot Dick's Sporting Goods that seemed to have merchandise for any sport you could possibly imagine.My uncle Roy, one of my dad's older brothers, was the Wilson sporting goods distributor for Western Canada so we occasionally got a good set of golf clubs a few flats of balls and some tennis rackets. But again, nothing like you find at a Dick's Sporting Goods.DICK'S Sporting Goods is an amazing story of a young man, Dick Stack, who worked in an Army Surplus shop who, when asked to come up with some ideas about what other products could be sold, was dismissed by his boss, the shop owner.Upset about the interaction, he goes to his grandmother's house and shares the story of the interaction with his boss. His grandmother literally took money out of a cookie jar on the kitchen shelf and gives him $300 to start his own company instead of staying an employee in someone else's store.  Dick Stack later on passes on a legacy to his son Ed Stack who turns Dick's Sporting Goods into a mega brand in the sporting goods industry with about 800 stores and a number of different brands.DICK'S Sporting Goods also recognizes the profound impact that sports have on youth, community and culture. With their “Sports Matter” program they support little league teams as well as aspiring professional athletes. In fact they don't call people who shop at their stores customers or guests. To DICK'S Sporting Goods, their customers are all “Athletes.” And their sales associates are “Teammates.”Enter Toni Roeller to the sporting goods story.Toni Roeller is an ardent hockey fan, which is always strange for me because I grew up in Montreal during the reign of the Montreal Canadiens hockey team, but it never seemed to catch with me because I was a skier. In any case, Toni is also the Senior Vice President of In-Store Environment for DICK'S Sporting Goods.In the past couple of years Toni Roeller and the DICK'S team has launched a couple of extraordinary sporting goods store concepts including House of Sport and Public Lands. House of Sport is truly one of the most interactive sporting goods stores that there is today. Complete with batting cages, golf simulators and an outdoors practice field, the environment invites athletes to ‘try before they buy' and to experience the feeling of sports while in the store. Public Lands is capitalizing on an emerging trend towards hiking and climbing and boasts two to three story rock walls in the center of the store.When Ed Stack was interested in creating the next evolution of a sporting goods store concept, he told his team that he wanted something that if it was built across the street from a DICK'S Sporting Goods store it would put them out of business. That was a challenge for any store designer who is sports oriented and has competitive mindset that couldn't be left unanswered.Toni Roeller and  the DICK'S team delivered the House of Sport concept.Toni joined the DICK'S Sporting Goods in May 2014 as the Vice President of Visual Merchandising and in 2019 she was named SVP of In-Store Environment, Visual Merchandising and House of Sport. She is responsible for bringing the brand to life through the overall in store experience while ensuring that the athlete is at the center of all merchandising strategies. Tony has a deep history in retail design and store planning and prior to Dick's she served as the VP of in-store environments at the Home Depot. She is also held leadership roles at Best Buy, Levi Strauss and Maurice's. While at the International Retail Design Conference in November of 2022, Toni was gracious in accepting an early morning conversation about sports as a cultural phenomenon, the growth of DICK'S Sporting Goods as a business and a brand, the evolution of the sporting goods store concept and why sports matter.ABOUT DAVID KEPRON:LinkedIn Profile: linkedin.com/in/david-kepron-9a1582bWebsites: https://www.davidkepron.com    (personal website)vmsd.com/taxonomy/term/8645  (Blog)Email: david.kepron@NXTLVLexperiencedesign.comTwitter: DavidKepronPersonal Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/davidkepron/NXTLVL Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nxtlvl_experience_design/Bio:David Kepron is a multifaceted creative professional with a deep curiosity to understand ‘why', ‘what's now' and ‘what's next'. He brings together his background as an architect, artist, educator, author, podcast host and builder to the making of meaningful and empathically-focused, community-centric customer connections at brand experience places around the globe. David is a former VP - Global Design Strategies at Marriott International. While at Marriott, his focus was on the creation of compelling customer experiences within Marriott's “Premium Distinctive” segment which included: Westin, Renaissance, Le Meridien, Autograph Collection, Tribute Portfolio, Design Hotels and Gaylord hotels. In 2020 Kepron founded NXTLVL Experience Design, a strategy and design consultancy, where he combines his multidisciplinary approach to the creation of relevant brand engagements with his passion for social and cultural anthropology, neuroscience and emerging digital technologies. As a frequently requested international speaker at corporate events and international conferences focusing on CX, digital transformation, retail, hospitality, emerging technology, David shares his expertise on subjects ranging from consumer behaviors and trends, brain science and buying behavior, store design and visual merchandising, hotel design and strategy as well as creativity and innovation. In his talks, David shares visionary ideas on how brand strategy, brain science and emerging technologies are changing guest expectations about relationships they want to have with brands and how companies can remain relevant in a digitally enabled marketplace. David currently shares his experience and insight on various industry boards including: VMSD magazine's Editorial Advisory Board, the Interactive Customer Experience Association, Sign Research Foundation's Program Committee as well as the Center For Retail Transformation at George Mason University.He has held teaching positions at New York's Fashion Institute of Technology (F.I.T.), the Department of Architecture & Interior Design of Drexel University in Philadelphia, the Laboratory Institute of Merchandising (L.I.M.) in New York, the International Academy of Merchandising and Design in Montreal and he served as the Director of the Visual Merchandising Department at LaSalle International Fashion School (L.I.F.S.) in Singapore.  In 2014 Kepron published his first book titled: “Retail (r)Evolution: Why Creating Right-Brain Stores Will Shape the Future of Shopping in a Digitally Driven World” and he is currently working on his second book to be published soon. David also writes a popular blog called “Brain Food” which is published monthly on vmsd.com. ************************************************************************************************************************************The next level experience design podcast is presented by VMSD magazine and Smartwork Media. It is hosted and executive produced by David Kepron. Our original music and audio production by Kano Sound. The content of this podcast is copywrite to David Kepron and NXTLVL Experience Design. Any publication or rebroadcast of the content is prohibited without the expressed written consent of David Kepron and NXTLVL Experience Design.Make sure to tune in for more NXTLVL “Dialogues on DATA: Design Architecture Technology and the Arts” wherever you find your favorite podcasts and make sure to visit vmsd.com and look for the tab for the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast there too. 

ABOUT AMBER BAZDAR;Amber's Profile: linkedin.com/in/amberbazdarAMBER'S BIO:As a seasoned retail executive, Amber Bazdar's sharp foresight, expertise, and ability to guide a traditional retailer into a new phygital generation has made her stand out in the competitive world of retail.Amber's diverse professional background includes retail design, visual merchandising, brand experience and fixture and lighting design.  Throughout her career, Amber has excelled at developing and growing retail locations through innovative design and visual merchandising strategies, solving complex “back of house” problems with advanced solutions and attracting and developing high performing talent.  A vibrant and proactive leader, Amber excels at propelling corporate visual standards and creative direction while developing innovative concepts to engage customers.A life-long learner, Amber was recently an Adjunct Professor of Visual Merchandising at Lasell University, where she taught at the undergraduate level.  She has been involved with curriculum development, student/industry design projects and design competitions.Amber currently resides in the Seacoast of New Hampshire with her husband, three children and their GSP, Luna.  She enjoys living near the mountains and sea, where she can enjoy nature frequently with her family.Amber is also the recipient of the "2022 Retailer Innovator Award" SHOW INTRO: A of lot of brands have a story. A narrative that underpins the entire enterprise.These stories are crucial since they establish a framework helps define the customer, their needs and how the brand's products or services is going to satisfy them.The brand story isn't just about what the brand sells though, or who buys their stuff, it's more a statement of what the brand is about, its essence, its raison d'etre.It is what it means to be in business in the first place, why they do what they do and how they do it. It sets out a series of promises, that sort of act like a contract for engagement between the brand and its customers. Let's say you were single, you already felt pretty confident about who you were, you knew what you liked and knew what you needed in a relationship.Let's say there was a dating service… but it matched people like you with brands in an effort to create that special relationship. And let's say that you thought that a relationship with a brand would make a great compliment to who you already were. It's not that you need something, or someone, to make you whole but that a good brand relationship would just make experience better, more fulfilling.Well, if there was such a service existed then you'd probably also want to check out the brand's online profile. You know…do some research. If you did, you might find that the story they'd likely tell may be a little aspirational - for example a friend who is out on the dating circuit, tells me that everyone's profile says that they are into hiking… and dogs… they may only climb up and own the stairs at home and have a dog calendar hanging on the wall, but for some that may qualify.In any case, you'd hope that the narrative is authentic and is genuine.You're a little bit of a dreamer, you might even like the idea of hiking too, or maybe you area just optimistic, always looking for the thing that could augment your everyday.If you moved along and you liked eachother then you maybe you'd accept an offer to get together. What you hope is that on the first date, and everyone after that, that it delivered what you were expecting. It held the relationship in the highest regard. And the act of doing life together, yes, made it your personal experience better. But more than that, you feel that you and this new brand relationship became connected. You felt that on some level you didn't become one, enmeshed, indistinguishable from each other, but became better, interdependent, and that the relationship was generative. It grew you.Some brands make up that foundational, ‘who we are‘story. They see a market opportunity. Build a customer profile, brand platform, product or service assortment and go to market. Others have an authentic origin story, a real life narrative, that lays the foundation for how they show up, every day, everywhere with everything they do.Timberland is one of those brands.A Russian immigrant buys a shoe company, dedicates his ingenuity and craft of making quality boots to growing a company. He creates a boot that is built for the harsh New England climate and it catches on becoming a pop cultural icon whose name has become part of the lexicon of a generation of musicians with rappers like Notorious B.I.G., Jay Z and DMZ calling them out in lyrics.My sons call them Timbs and the signature yellow leather boot is as much a recognizable brand character as a blue box is for Tiffany.This dating service I was imagining earlier, well it exisits, it's pretty much anywhere you might come in contact with a brand. And the place for the first date also exists. It's called the store. The store is like the physical manifestation of the brand story. It's where the narrative comes to life surrounding customers in all that the brand is.And this is where Amber Bazdar comes into the brand dating game metaphor. Amber is the Director of Global Retail Design at Ztimberland. She is a seasoned retail executive with sharp foresight and expertise built on a professional life working in and understanding retail. Her ability to guide a traditional retailer into a new phygital generation has made her stand out in the competitive world of retail. In fact, this past year she was awarded the 2022 Retail Innovator Award.Amber's diverse professional background includes retail design, visual merchandising, brand experience, store fixture and lighting design. Throughout her career, Amber has excelled at developing and growing retail locations through innovative design and visual merchandising strategies, solving complex “back of house” problems with advanced solutions and attracting and developing high performing talent.  Amber excels at propelling corporate visual standards and creative direction while developing innovative concepts to engage customers.I was able to catch up with Amber at the International Retail Design Conference where we had an early morning talk, well before my second cup of morning coffee.To use some Timberland parlance, it was a ‘bold' move to meet e breakfast and we got some ‘shit done'… ABOUT DAVID KEPRON:LinkedIn Profile: linkedin.com/in/david-kepron-9a1582bWebsites: https://www.davidkepron.com    (personal website)vmsd.com/taxonomy/term/8645  (Blog)Email: david.kepron@NXTLVLexperiencedesign.comTwitter: DavidKepronPersonal Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/davidkepron/NXTLVL Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nxtlvl_experience_design/Bio:David Kepron is a multifaceted creative professional with a deep curiosity to understand ‘why', ‘what's now' and ‘what's next'. He brings together his background as an architect, artist, educator, author, podcast host and builder to the making of meaningful and empathically-focused, community-centric customer connections at brand experience places around the globe. David is a former VP - Global Design Strategies at Marriott International. While at Marriott, his focus was on the creation of compelling customer experiences within Marriott's “Premium Distinctive” segment which included: Westin, Renaissance, Le Meridien, Autograph Collection, Tribute Portfolio, Design Hotels and Gaylord hotels. In 2020 Kepron founded NXTLVL Experience Design, a strategy and design consultancy, where he combines his multidisciplinary approach to the creation of relevant brand engagements with his passion for social and cultural anthropology, neuroscience and emerging digital technologies. As a frequently requested international speaker at corporate events and international conferences focusing on CX, digital transformation, retail, hospitality, emerging technology, David shares his expertise on subjects ranging from consumer behaviors and trends, brain science and buying behavior, store design and visual merchandising, hotel design and strategy as well as creativity and innovation. In his talks, David shares visionary ideas on how brand strategy, brain science and emerging technologies are changing guest expectations about relationships they want to have with brands and how companies can remain relevant in a digitally enabled marketplace. David currently shares his experience and insight on various industry boards including: VMSD magazine's Editorial Advisory Board, the Interactive Customer Experience Association, Sign Research Foundation's Program Committee as well as the Center For Retail Transformation at George Mason University.He has held teaching positions at New York's Fashion Institute of Technology (F.I.T.), the Department of Architecture & Interior Design of Drexel University in Philadelphia, the Laboratory Institute of Merchandising (L.I.M.) in New York, the International Academy of Merchandising and Design in Montreal and he served as the Director of the Visual Merchandising Department at LaSalle International Fashion School (L.I.F.S.) in Singapore.  In 2014 Kepron published his first book titled: “Retail (r)Evolution: Why Creating Right-Brain Stores Will Shape the Future of Shopping in a Digitally Driven World” and he is currently working on his second book to be published soon. David also writes a popular blog called “Brain Food” which is published monthly on vmsd.com. ************************************************************************************************************************************The next level experience design podcast is presented by VMSD magazine and Smartwork Media. It is hosted and executive produced by David Kepron. Our original music and audio production by Kano Sound. The content of this podcast is copywrite to David Kepron and NXTLVL Experience Design. Any publication or rebroadcast of the content is prohibited without the expressed written consent of David Kepron and NXTLVL Experience Design.Make sure to tune in for more NXTLVL “Dialogues on DATA: Design Architecture Technology and the Arts” wherever you find your favorite podcasts and make sure to visit vmsd.com and look for the tab for the NXTLVL Experience Design podcast there too. 

Gemma Ostroburski from TalkShop Retail has Retail and design in her blood!  She has spend years honing her craft of visual merchandising, helping retailers hone the experience they offer customers and She help retailers turn their shops into destinations. And stores that makes people want to buy, grows your sales & keeps customers coming back!We talk all things VM , how to bring a sense of wonder and increase your sales for physical brick and mortar Retail stores.Gemma has so many great tips to help you and really dives into the elements of VM and experiential retail that can make a difference.You can find out more about Gemma and her work at @talkshopretail or at https://www.talkshopretail.com.au/I'm Mel Robbins! from @thelotco Register for my FREE webinar here https://www.thelotco.com/freewebinarprofitAnd if you want a Roadmap to Building a Profitable Product Business head here for directions! Looking for specific help with Wholesale? Check out the Essentials to Wholesale webinar here:Find more details at https://www.thelotco.com.au/Business Coach for product-based businesses. Teaching creative business women how to build a scalable and profitable million-dollar product business whether a physical Retail store or Brand.Over 25 years in Retail and Wholesale Sales and Marketing.Grab my 8 step checklist on building a profitable product business.

In this episode, I share my interview with Emma Morgan, the founder of Emma Morgan Creative, a conceptual and strategic boutique design studio based in New York. She's an expert in brand storytelling and full-circle visual expression for retailers, and her business provides visual concept design and creative strategy consulting for brands and retailers of all sizes. Emma's approach is backed by a decade of experience and fueled by the process of creation and her own natural curiosity. Her projects include brand activations, pop-up shops, exhibitions, events, product launches, visual merchandising and product presentation, windows, and more. In this episode, we'll be covering: What does the word "activation" mean as related to branding/marketing, and what are some general examples of activations commonly used for luxury/jewelry brands?  How can a brand's personality be expressed through a brand activation? What steps do you take to ensure consistency across all brand touchpoints, and why is consistency so important? …and more! Sparkle Award: Lark & Berry - https://larkandberry.com/ News Articles: Why a DTC wine company started a branded podcast - https://www.marketingbrew.com/stories/2022/11/28/why-a-dtc-wine-company-started-a-branded-podcast 6 Amazing Unboxing Experiences and Ideas to Try - https://www.shopify.com/blog/16991592-how-to-create-a-memorable-and-shareable-unboxing-experience-for-your-brand Live shopping comes to select NYC holiday window displays - https://www.marketingdive.com/news/live-shopping-holiday-marketing-saks/637355/ Connect with Emma: https://emmamorgancreative.com/ Transcript: https://joyjoya.com/visual-merchandising-jewelry

One of Jane's clients, Kier Adair is an International brand photographer who is passionate about the power of a high impact visual presence.  In this episode, Jane and Kier discuss the power of visual branding to elevate your visibility and results on social media. They examine various tips and tricks you can use to help your visual brand stand out from the rest, and discuss Kier's experience of participating in Jane's acclaimed Ideal Client Success Accelerator. For over 20 years Kier carved out a highly successful career in Marks and Spencer Plc. She spent time in the International group, heading up Visual Merchandising across Central Europe before launching her brand photography offer.  Are you keen to develop your visual brand but have no idea how to bring it to life? You'll want to tune in to this fantastic episode if so! ABOUT THE HOST: Jane Bayler is a serial entrepreneur, investor, speaker, event host and business scale up expert. She had a 20 year history in global media and advertising, before becoming a serial entrepreneur herself, with multiple businesses in real estate, marketing and education. Having grown and sold a £6M brand identity business to US communications group Interpublic, today she is most passionate about and committed to serving other entrepreneurs – helping them grow their businesses and achieve their best lives.  Enquire about working 1:1 with Jane, book a call here: https://bit.ly/2Z07DML Join Jane's free Masterclass to discover her Triple C HyperGrowth system - to scale up your business and attract your ideal clients, here: https://idealclientsuccess.com/masterclass

One of Jane's clients, Kier Adair is an International brand photographer who is passionate about the power of a high impact visual presence.  In this episode, Jane and Kier discuss the power of visual branding to elevate your visibility and results on social media. They examine various tips and tricks you can use to help your visual brand stand out from the rest, and discuss Kier's experience of participating in Jane's acclaimed Ideal Client Success Accelerator. For over 20 years Kier carved out a highly successful career in Marks and Spencer Plc. She spent time in the International group, heading up Visual Merchandising across Central Europe before launching her brand photography offer.  Are you keen to develop your visual brand but have no idea how to bring it to life? You'll want to tune in to this fantastic episode if so! ABOUT THE HOST: Jane Bayler is a serial entrepreneur, investor, speaker, event host and business scale up expert. She had a 20 year history in global media and advertising, before becoming a serial entrepreneur herself, with multiple businesses in real estate, marketing and education. Having grown and sold a £6M brand identity business to US communications group Interpublic, today she is most passionate about and committed to serving other entrepreneurs – helping them grow their businesses and achieve their best lives.  Enquire about working 1:1 with Jane, book a call here: https://bit.ly/2Z07DML Join Jane's free Masterclass to discover her Triple C HyperGrowth system - to scale up your business and attract your ideal clients, here: https://idealclientsuccess.com/masterclass

Join David and Kari on one of the most anticipated stores of the season, the Halloween Horror Nights Tribute Store! This episode welcomes back Rob and Sara from our Visual Merchandising team to talk about the incredible theming of this unique store, some merchandise you'll find and a few other offerings available during the Halloween Horror Nights season.Links: Blog: https://blog.discoveruniversal.com/Behind-the-Design: Halloween Horror Nights Tribute Store: https://blog.discoveruniversal.com/behind-the-scenes/halloween-horror-nights-tribute-store/Universal Orlando Resort: https://www.universalparks.com/en/usUniversal Parks and Resorts: https://www.universalorlando.com/web/en/usFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/UniversalOrlandoResortTwitter: https://twitter.com/UniversalORLInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/universalorlando/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/UniversalOrlando/featuredCopyright & TrademarkSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

What does 20 years in retail, owning Fred Segal shops and working for Anthropologie have in common? Michelle Craig being a a retail queen, badass podcast host and visual merchandising aficionado. On this week's episode of the podcast we are talking all things: Hiring a merchandiser  to increase sales and profitability  Common mistakes retail stores are making that kill their sales How  following my gut and stepping out of my comfort zone is propelling my business And more WORK WITH ME  Join E-Commerce Society Coaching, Community & Educational Membership For Female Product-Based & E-commerce Business Owners Starts at $29+ a month   Follow Michelle & Listen To Her Podcast-  Www.mcdesigncollaboration.com Www.theretailwhorepodcast.com https://www.instagram.com/mcdesigncollaboration https://www.tiktok.com/@mcdesign_collaboration?   Free Guides & Resources For The Win: The Step-By-Step Guide To Getting New Customers Without Paying For Ads Or click here https://marketing-by-kerrie.mykajabi.com/getmorecustomers-freeguide Increase Your Website Conversion Rate For Your Ecommerce Shop Or click here https://marketing-by-kerrie.mykajabi.com/websiteconversion Let's Be Friends Follow Kerrie on Instagram Follow The 6 Figure Product Business Podcast on Instagram www.kerriefitzgerald.com

What does a professional coach do? Who needs a coach for their career? How can a coach help you? Today we’re talking with Kelvin Thomas, the Director of Coaching Experience at LeggUP. As director, he has a special interest in various levels and types of coaching, motivation, leadership, and company culture. Kelvin has an eclectic background of impressive achievements. He shares how he utilizes all these experiences to help better himself and his career. He also shares an important but hurtful lesson that changed the projection of his career path. Before coming to LeggUp, he was the founder at Position Consultants, Vice President of Business Development and Operations at Pillar College, the CMO of Marketing and Visual Merchandising at Under Armour, and the Brand Director at The Body Shop. Kelvin also has his MBA at Trevecca Nazarene University. ‍ Talking Points: How to avoid boxing people in or limiting people Taking charge of your career What it means to be a coach and what a coach does Who benefits from a coach or thought partner How compliance can hinder as well as help What it means to really be seen Looking for fit during your job interview Strategic planning to change company culture for the better

In this episode, you will get an inside look into the world of visual merchandising with our first Invisible Thread interview (claps and applause)! We had the opportunity to interview Hayden Oney, a director of visual merchandising who has extensive corporate experience with many coveted brands such as BEBE, Tommy Hilfiger, and Kate Spade. He is currently the Director of Field Visual Merchandising in North America for Athleta! He shares his journey throughout the industry, the ins and outs of the visual merchandising process, and tips for anyone looking to get into the field. We absolutely loved chatting with Hayden and can't wait for you all to take a listen!