Upwards of 300 retail design and visual merchandising professionals gathered for the 2022 International Retail Design Conference (IRDC), held Oct. 26-27 in Columbus, Ohio.
Local retailers and brands turned up in significant numbers, as Columbus is a notorious fashion hub that plays host to several major design firms and brands including DSW, Victoria’s Secret, Bath & Body Works and Express.
This year’s conference included more hands-on workshops and interactive sessions than ever before. We captured all of the action in the photos that follow.
📷: RAY LAVOIE, COLUMBUS, OHIO
IRDC 2022 kicked off with an amazing opening keynote address featuring Ruth Zukerman, the Co-Founder of Flywheel and SoulCycle.
📷: RAY LAVOIE, COLUMBUS, OHIO
Attendees headed out to explore the Columbus retail scene during Wednesday’s Guided Retail Inspiration Walking Tours powered by the Retail Design Institute Ohio Chapter and sponsored by WD Partners.
📷: RAY LAVOIE, COLUMBUS, OHIO
This year’s Iron Merchant Challenge featured one sweet twist with Jeni’s Splendid Ice Cream flavors! Now in its 16th annual year, the Iron Merchant Challenge, co-hosted by ZenGenius Inc., pits six teams of 10 attendees against one another to create a window display using a theme and secret ingredient revealed onsite. Teams only have an hour to complete their displays – all while sipping cocktails.
📷: RAY LAVOIE, COLUMBUS, OHIO
Our Iron Merchant Challenge teams had one secret ingredient, a hodgepodge of materials and just 60 minutes to create a winning display.
📷: RAY LAVOIE, COLUMBUS, OHIO
Iron Merchant Challenge participants made a mad dash to the materials table to kick off this year’s friendly competition.
📷: RAY LAVOIE, COLUMBUS, OHIO
Iron Merchant Challenge teams were hard at work developing their display concepts in just one hour!
📷: RAY LAVOIE, COLUMBUS, OHIO
The Iron Merchant Blue Team, led by 2021 champ Jay Highland. Each team this year was led by a former reigning Iron Merchant Challenge winner.
📷: RAY LAVOIE, COLUMBUS, OHIO
The Iron Merchant Green Team, led by Chuck Palmer. Chuck’s team took the theme of “pineapple upside down cake” to heart when flipping their mannequin into this position.
📷: RAY LAVOIE, COLUMBUS, OHIO
The Iron Merchant Purple Team, led by Bevan Bloemendaal. Bevan has the most Iron Merchant Challenge wins under his belt.
📷: RAY LAVOIE, COLUMBUS, OHIO
The Iron Merchant Yellow Team, led by Beth Harlor. Each team was challenged to include an articulated sasquatch hidden within their window – can you find theirs?
📷: RAY LAVOIE, COLUMBUS, OHIO
The Iron Merchant Orange Team, led by Sharon Lessard. This year, Sharon’s team took home the coveted 2022 Iron Merchant Challenge sashes.
📷: RAY LAVOIE, COLUMBUS, OHIO
The Iron Merchant Red Team, led by David Kepron. David has the second-most past Iron Merchant Challenge wins.
📷: RAY LAVOIE, COLUMBUS, OHIO
Conference Co-Chair, Murray Kasmenn was in for a few surprises during Thursday’s Interactive Workshop: Retail Gets Weird.
📷: RAY LAVOIE, COLUMBUS, OHIO
Conference attendees teamed up for some hands-on collaboration during Thursday’s Interactive Workshop: Retail Gets Weird.
📷: RAY LAVOIE, COLUMBUS, OHIO
Congrats to the 2022 Iron Merchant Challenge winning team!
📷: RAY LAVOIE, COLUMBUS, OHIO
IRDC Closing Keynote Gregory Cohen of Lofty Pursuits delivered an entertaining and informative keynote address while he made candy live on stage.
📷: RAY LAVOIE, COLUMBUS, OHIO
Closing out IRDC 2022 with a perfect view of the city from the roof top at The Revery Space at North 4th Corridor
📷: RAY LAVOIE, COLUMBUS, OHIO
That’s a wrap! IRDC 2022 Closing Party at The Revery Space at North 4th Corridor
📷: RAY LAVOIE, COLUMBUS, OHIO
Celebrating the end of #IRDC2022 – Thank you to all of this year’s participating attendees and sponsors!
📷: RAY LAVOIE, COLUMBUS, OHIO
Kicking off the second day of IRDC, Christian Davies of Bergmeyer delivered an impactful general session presentation focusing on sustainability and retail’s impact on the environment.
📷: RAY LAVOIE, COLUMBUS, OHIO
This year’s event saw more hands-on workshops like “Next Top Retail Concept!” facilitated by Jay Highland and Jody Wasbro of WD Partners, and featuring a retail judging panel. Attendees had to recreate Lazarus department store as it would be in modern times during this sprint challenge.
📷: RAY LAVOIE, COLUMBUS, OHIO
The interactive panel focusing on the first African American-owned autonomous grocery store, Nourish + Bloom Market, featuring Founders Jilea and Jamie Hemmings, James Margrave of UST and Stuart Armstrong of AAG Consulting, took a look at the latest concept that opened in a notorious food desert.
📷: RAY LAVOIE, COLUMBUS, OHIO
Other workshops were more improv-driven, like “Fake it Till You Make It” facilitated by Chuck Palmer and Stephanie Bair-Garant.
📷: RAY LAVOIE, COLUMBUS, OHIO
VMSD Managing Editor and IRDC Co-Chair Carly Hagedon interviewed Jeni Britton from Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams in a fireside general session chat during the first day of the conference.
The breakout session “Purpose Beyond Profit,” featuring Katherine Cousins and Elizabeth Drori of Sperry and Bevan Bloemendaal of NELSON Worldwide analyzed the importance of purpose-driven initiatives to companies and their customers.
📷: RAY LAVOIE, COLUMBUS, OHIO
VMSD’s New York Editor Eric Feigenbaum hosted a special lunchtime presentation focusing on VMSD’s 125th anniversary and its importance to the retail industry.
📷: RAY LAVOIE, COLUMBUS, OHIO
Rick Neira of Petco and Daniel Montaño of Little discussed the latest Reddy concept by Petco in this session, “Reddy, Pet … Co!”
📷: RAY LAVOIE, COLUMBUS, OHIO
An interactive panel featuring Ed Kovolson of Olipop, Rachel Freidman of Tenfold, Faith Huddleston of Tenspace and Amanda Raines of Tenspace, focused on Olipop’s latest activation within Tenspace, the space that allows brands to test out IRL activations.
📷: RAY LAVOIE, COLUMBUS, OHIO
In the breakout session “A Better Future,” Christen Soares of Field Paoli Architects and Melanie Moody of REI examined steps retailers and designers can take in their organizations to become more sustainable, citing real-world examples.
📷: RAY LAVOIE, COLUMBUS, OHIO
The VMSD crew and ZenGenius Co-Founder Joe Baer dressed up as the cast of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz – a tribute to L. Frank Baum, who founded the magazine in 1897 and also wrote the 1900 children’s fantasy novel. From left to right: Carly Hagedon, Baer, Murray Kasmenn, Phil Dzikiy and Linda D’Adamo.
📷: RAY LAVOIE, COLUMBUS, OHIO

31 Scenes from IRDC 2022
Upwards of 300 retail design and visual merchandising professionals gathered for the 2022 International Retail Design Conference (IRDC), held Oct. 26-27 in Columbus, Ohio.
Local retailers and brands turned up in significant numbers, as Columbus is a notorious fashion hub that plays host to several major design firms and brands including DSW, Victoria’s Secret, Bath & Body Works and Express.
This year’s conference included more hands-on workshops and interactive sessions than ever before. We captured all of the action in the photos that follow.
📷: RAY LAVOIE, COLUMBUS, OHIO