Doing something in the retail world came naturally to you, didn’t it?
Yes, my father owned numerous liquor stores and wine shops in New Jersey. He’s still a retail consultant. And my brother recently launched a chain of wine stores.
How did you find you could apply your interest in art to retail?
I worked in an art supply store during high school. I discovered design could be a craft for creating objects with function, so I became interested in industrial design, especially furniture. Beauty and function must go hand in hand, like a great married couple that is more than the sum of its parts.
At Continuum, you’re doing the full-service thing, aren’t you?
Eventually, firms like ours have to become more strategic than just design. We have to think in terms of a new set of tools: the idea of deep strategy rooted in the consumer experience. We have to make it real for the client.
What do you mean by that?
I mean “real” in the most literal sense. Too often, clients come to companies like ours with a business problem – they’re losing market share or their margins are slipping. And they get what I call “desk drawer innovation.”
Explain.
They get some kind of PowerPoint program that ends up in somebody’s desk drawer.
And you give them … ?
We create a specific action plan, translated into tangible strategies. And, more importantly, we integrate all the retailer’s various separate departments – visual, marketing, management, financial. You need to develop business plans and strategies that help everyone in the company benefit.
The obstacle is almost always financial, isn’t it?
Yes, you have to communicate benefits to them in terms they’ll relate to. Why are they spending this money? It’s difficult to show a direct ROI from changing the fixtures, but it’s not impossible. We do the research, so we’re convinced we’re bringing evidence of what’s important. But you have to have finance on board from the beginning and maintain an ongoing conversation with them. Then we can justify where we’re spending and how much.
The financial people must be intrigued by this, getting sound investment advice from a design firm.
I’ve always said that just because you went to art school does not excuse you from understanding finance, how they think and work and what’s important to them.
Jersey Boy
Born and raised in New Jersey, LaRosa still keeps his metropolitan area cell phone number. What does he miss most about the state of the Boss, Bon Jovi, Chris Christie and Snooki?
- Taylor Ham (“You have to be from Jersey to know what it is.”)
- Going “down the shore” (“It's a Jerseything.”)
- The Garden State Parkway (“Those guys know how to collect a toll as efficiently as possible – plus, it's the most well-maintained road in America.”)
- The pizza (“Sorry, I just like it better, must be the water.”)
- Jon Bon Jovi sightings
Since this interview was conducted, Craig LaRosa has joined Sears Holding Inc. as divisional vp, in-store experience and design, effective Sept. 3, 2013.