For 38 years, retailers, designers and architects from all over the world have entered their finest projects in the VMSD International Store Design Competition. Members of the Retail Design Institute ...
Industry experts talk to VMSD about the economy, their business and their expectations in our exclusive design firm roundtable.
These are perilous economic times, for the country and for our industry. As unemployment rises, credit shrinks and consumer confidence disappears, retail is squarely in the cross hairs.
In VMSD’s annual design firm survey, more than 100 design firms weighed in on current industry challenges, trends and opportunities (see sidebars and charts).
And to delve deeper into this critical topic, VMSD assembled some key players in design firm circles to discuss their unique perspectives in a roundtable format. Participants included Michael Bodziner, principal at Gensler (San Francisco); Steven Derwoed, senior vp and managing director at the New York office of RYA Design Consultancy (Dallas); Bruce Dybvad, president of Interbrand Design Forum (Dayton, Ohio); David Kepron, studio principal, store design, in the Philadelphia office of Little (Charlotte, N.C.); Dave Nelson, vp, client services, at JGA (Southfield, Mich.); Michael Payne, designer, retail environments team, at Mulvanny G2 Architecture (Portland, Ore.); Brian Shafley, president of Chute Gerdeman (Columbus, Ohio); and Randall Stone, senior partner at Lippincott (New York).
How are their clients changing to deal with the times? How are they adapting their own businesses to be more valuable to retailers? And where is the whole thing going? Here's our report:
VMSD: What do you find is on retailers’ minds right now?
Steven Derwoed: Virtually all of our clients have work on their books. However, some of the plans have been scaled back or delayed. It’s now a matter of when they intend to initiate them.
Michael Bodziner: We’ve had major retailers who are still developing prototype stores. They’re seeing these times as an opportunity to present a new face. And others have put everything on hold. They’re waiting to get past the first quarter just to see what’s happening.
Randall Stone: We’ve seen a modest cutting back. They’ve laid out their design and renovation budgets, and it will depend on how easily they can borrow what they need. Right now, everyone is plodding along at a modest rate until they see the signs that it’s okay to get going again.
VMSD: And what might those signs be?
Stone: First, the easing of capital and credit. Then the sense that consumer confidence is coming back.
Bruce Dybvad: I think “plodding along” is a good way to put it. We’ve not seen a tremendous number of projects actually being cancelled yet, but we’ve seen people taking their time to move into things.
