Michael Bodziner directs Gensler's Retail Design and Store Planning Studio in San Francisco, specializing in brand invention and its application to the retail customer experience.
Bodziner co-founded Gensler's retail practice shortly after joining the firm in 1985.
The youngest of three children born to a Savannah, Ga., physician and his wife, he received an undergraduate degree in art history from Boston University in 1979 (“I chose Boston because of how romantic it appeared in the movie 'Love Story'”) and went to work in Filene's downtown store. He then went to Saks Fifth Avenue as manager of the gifts, linens, stationery and gourmet food department.
Answering an ad for an intern at a “well-known design firm” began Bodziner's Gensler career. “The retail design practice was small at the time,” he says, “but I viewed it as an opportunity for tremendous growth. My passion for retail and design came together and allowed me to pursue a career that tied all the loose ends of my past experiences together.”
Bodziner will participate again this September in a panel on retail branding at VM+SD's International Retail Design Conference, in Pasadena, Calif.
How did growing up in the deep South influence you?
An upbringing in such a charming city shaped my love and appreciation for design, art, beauty and food. However, the heat, humidity and mosquitoes became too much to bear.
Describe your debut at Gensler.
Sitting in a closet in the parking garage, attaching a Happy Birthday tag to 300 hard hats. It was a surprise 50th birthday party for Art Gensler, and I was the newest hire.
What was the most interesting retail setting you've seen?
10 Corso Como in Milan. All of the product is merchandised by customer profile. For example, instead of displaying music by category and artists, CDs are presented on tables to appeal to an individual's specific tastes. It's entertaining just to find your table. They've developed a unique brand experience around a merchandising approach that is totally unexpected.
What is lacking in retail today?
Originality. There is too much “sameness.” A retailer copying the success of others only contributes to the homogenized landscape we see in malls today. There is so much opportunity for greatness, but too many retailers rely strictly on signage to create their identity, instead of creating an emotional connection with the customer. They're ignoring the fact that a successful brand is consistent in everything it touches – the design of the store, web site, graphics, advertising, sensory stimulation, customer service, display systems, and of course the merchandise or product offering.
What kind of retail do you admire?
Successful retail creates an environment that is so seductive you have to take a piece of it with you. My pulse literally races when I'm in this situation. It's not at all about needing anything, but more about loving the experience so much that you want it to last when you walk out of the store.
Whose 15 minutes is definitely over?
Starbucks. They brought the “coffee house as meeting place” concept back into our culture. Now, the apathetic attitude and inconsistent service is maddening.
What makes you stop and go into a store?
Passion. If I sense true passion in merchandise presentation, a storefront design, a graphic image or any other element that makes up a customer experience, I'll go into a store.
Which retailers do that best?
Dean & Deluca is undeniably passionate about food – how to shop for it, how to prepare it, cook it, share it and eat it. Crate & Barrel has evolved into a highly focused brand. I always have fun when I shop their stores and always buy something. And despite Gap's current troubles, I love the brand and respect it as a retail leader with an original point of view.