Christian Davies Leaves Retail Group for Utility Inc.

Christian Davies, formerly executive creative director of The Retail Group (Seattle), has joined Seattle-based Utility Inc. as vp design/creative director. Utility is a retail and environmental design and fabrication house that has worked with Salomon, Patagonia, Yakima, Giro, Teva, Dockers, Eddie Bauer, Jackson Hole Ski Resort, Four Seasons Resorts at Hualalai, Zaaz and Atom Films among a list of other clients and projects.

Utility says Davies is tasked with the continued development of the company's design and consulting business.

“My focus has always been the development of lasting relationships with clients,” Davies said. “Utility's model is wholly in-sync with this approach and is reflected in a long-term client roster of the highest caliber. I am thrilled to be aboard.”

“The hiring of Christian Davies represents the latest strategic step towards our goal of a true A to Z design-build offering,” said Utility ceo and founder Todd Jacobsen. “In our case, this means everything from branding and strategy to environments, visual merchandising programs and communications including the manufacture and management of deliverables.”

Davies is an 11-year veteran of retail design and strategy in both the U.S. and Europe. He began his career in the London office of Fitch Worldwide; relocated to the U.S. in the mid-90s to build a consumer environments capability in Fitch's Boston office; and eventually served as a creative director for the company's U.S. retail business. He left Fitch for The Retail Group in May 2001.

He has worked for U.S. clients ranging from Timberland and Bebe to Nickelodeon and Chrysler, and has won a variety of international honors including a Business Week Designs of the Decade Award. He is a frequent contributor to VM+SD magazine and was a featured speaker at VM+SD's International Retail Design Conference in Orlando in October 2001.