Retail Interiors Expo 2006

Retail Interiors Expo (www.retailinteriorsexpo.com), a new event for the retail store planning, design and visual merchandising communities, has been announced for the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont, Ill., on May 17-18, 2006. The facility is across the street from Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport.

The new event — a joint venture of VM+SD magazine and ExpoNation (Atlanta) — will focus on the needs of the nation’s 200 largest retail chains in the fields of store fixturing, visual merchandising and interior store design products. ExpoNation produces trade and consumer events nationwide.

“The event is designed to bring together the ‘best of the best’ in products and services,” said ExpoNation executive vp Russ Eisenhardt, “to provide seasoned, experienced retailers with an opportunity to take their product and supplier searches to the next level in a smaller, more efficient, more targeted and more structured environment.”

Retail Interiors Expo will feature two distinct and defined pavilions to house store fixtures and visual merchandising products and services. None of the exhibits will be in excess of 800 net square feet, an effort to help retail attendees better navigate the show floor. Exhibitors are being encouraged to give thought and attention to their exhibits, showing the “best” and “newest” in display solutions and products for the retail interior environment.

“Representatives of retail chains will find true VIP treatment at this new event,” said ExpoNation’s Jeanne Phillips. “Bigger isn’t always better when you’re trying to find that just right something to include in your design. Focused attention to our pavilion concept is designed to provide a more efficient and upscale opportunity for retail designers and visual merchandisers to find what they need”, Phillips concluded.

In addition to the pavilion showcases, Retail Interiors Expo will offer two special presentations to the retail store design and visual merchandising communities: “The Design Firm Challenge” and “The Retail Design ROI Report,” both to be offered over two days of presentations.

“The Design Firm Challenge” will feature 10 of the nation’s leading retail design firms presenting their solutions to real-world design challenges from real-world retail chains. Five designers will report on Wednesday morning (May 17) and five more designers on Thursday morning (May 18). In addition, each design firm will staff a presentation on the Expo floor to explain its approaches and solutions one-on-one to attending retailers. Design firms participating in the “Design Firm Challenge” include Carter & Burgess (Fort Worth, Texas), Chute Gerdeman (Columbus, Ohio), Design Forum (Dayton, Ohio), FRCH Design Worldwide (Cincinnati), Little Diversified Architectural Consulting (Charlotte, N.C.), Mancini Duffy (New York), Miller Zell (Atlanta), nParallel (Minneapolis), WD Partners (Columbus, Ohio) and Winston Retail (San Francisco).

“The Retail Design ROI Report” will spotlight retail teams that developed and produced successful in-store, design-based marketing efforts that produced winning return-on-investments for their retail chains. Each award-winning team will present during panel presentations on Wednesday and Thursday mornings following “The Design Firm Challenge” presentations. The presentations are designed to give retail designers the information they need to get management acceptance of new design-based marketing proposals.

Attendees will also be invited to participate in a “Chicago Retail Tour” hosted by VM+SD’s editor, Steve Kaufman. Kaufman will host a limited number of participants in a “behind the scenes” tour of retail locations and renovations chosen by VM+SD editors in downtown Chicago, including a luncheon hosted by one of the retailers. The tour is scheduled for Tuesday, May 16.

A special welcome reception, part of the Expo’s “VIP Retailer” program, will be held on Tuesday following the retail tour, and an opening day reception will be held on Wednesday. VIP retailers will also be given access to a special registration and business lounge during the event, treated to peer-to-peer mingling sessions and offered a complimentary concierge appointment-setting service to arrange for meetings with selected exhibitors and design firms.

“We’re designing a better experience for retailers,” said Phillips. “Retailers need a place to find what they need more efficiently and an event that recognizes the level of professionalism that senior designers and specifiers have achieved. We’re building that kind of event for our participants.”

For more information on the event, contact Jeanne Phillips at ExpoNation: 770-649-0300, extension 16. Visit the web site at Retail Interiors Expo for list of exhibitors and other details.