Retail In Rhode Island

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FOR 25 GLORIOUS YEARS, the International Retail Design Conference (IRDC) has been reinvigorating the store design and visual merchandising communities with its inspirational keynote speakers, energetic networking opportunities, unexpected educational content and bold ideas. And while this year’s event – presented annually by VMSD magazine – is certainly no exception, there may be more than a few fresh surprises and new experiences added to its always engaging agenda. (It is our silver anniversary, after all.)

From Oct. 22-23, IRDC will venture to Providence, Rhode Island, the state capital and one of the oldest cities in New England. (This year’s event is once again co-located with Shop! Ideation Conference & Retail Challenge, Oct. 20-21.) It’s known as “The Creative Capital,” thanks to its connection to the prestigious Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) and its thriving arts and culture scene. As for retail, Providence offers a slew of independent shops and national brands, not to mention it’s the birthplace of the first enclosed shopping mall in the U.S. Built in 1828 in the Greek Revival style, the Westminster Arcade shopping center – walking distance from the Omni Providence Hotel, a.k.a. IRDC homebase – is now a historic landmark that features a mix of residential and retail spaces.

From colonial architecture to art deco design, downtown Providence is home to numerous historic buildings.

“Providence has an amazing creative energy that shows up in the art, the food and the overall vibe,” says Catherine Keywan, Senior Interior Designer at Boston-based design agency Bergmeyer, and President of the New England Chapter of the Retail Design Institute. “It’s a very walkable city, with a great mix of historic charm and modern culture, especially around College Hill near the RISD campus.”

Prep your Providence to-do list, then start day one with the opening keynote, Orchestrating Reality: AI, Agents and the Near Future of Creativity from Neil Redding, Founder and CEO of innovation consultancy Redding Futures (New York). “In this moment of accelerating possibility, there’s enormous opportunity for people and brands that embrace AI as an active participant in the realities we co-create,” Redding says, “and we’ll be exploring the mental models and narratives that unlock these new realities.”

From May to December, WaterFire lights up the city’s rivers with more than 80 braziers to inspire creativity and community. This year’s IRDC welcome reception (Oct. 21) will take place at an event hosted by WaterFire, located directly across from the host hotel.

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Next, two hands-on workshops keep the creative energy flowing, including Built to Adapt: Designing Accessible Retail for Life’s Unexpected Moments and Why. During lunch, VMSD’s New York Editor Eric Feigenbaum presents Embracing Change and the Art of Design. As for new programming, the afternoon ramps up with full-audience roundtable discussions – different than the lunchtime roundtables of years’ past with live-audience engagement – and an immersive, offsite experience that will get attendees out of the traditional conference setting and into a space that will challenge conventional thinking with unexpected and interactive moments. The location? Shh…we’re keeping it a secret for now!

There’s still time to register for IRDC! Visit irdconline.com today.

Day one wraps with the 19th annual Iron Merchant Challenge, co-hosted by VMSD and ZenGenius Inc. This always entertaining, and often very wild, mashup of improvisation, creativity and design science (emceed by ZenGenius’ Joe Baer) pits six teams against each other to create a winning window display using materials and one secret ingredient.

Thursday, Oct. 23, begins with economist Sarah Quinlan, followed by an interactive panel, Grocery of the Future: The Omnichannel Integration, featuring grocery designers and retailers discussing their strategies for success via a layered retail model. The day continues with more design dialogue, including the VMSD Awards Luncheon, which honors competition winners and the 2025 VMSD/Peter Glen Retailer of the Year Award; Influencers: The Future of Brand Loyalty; Retail Is Blind: Is Your Store the Perfect Match for Gen Z?; and an immersive, high-energy closing session led by Cincinnati-based experiential marketing and innovation firm, AGAR, that will dive into the art of creating memorable brand activations that resonate with customers.

As always, IRDC concludes in grand fashion with an epic closing party. Join us in celebrating 25 years of retail magic at the nearby restaurant and bar Moonshine Alley.