design:retail - April/May 2014 - (Page 6)

editor's note 006 Thinking Small T ALISON EMBREY MEDINA "Edison's electric light did not come from the continuous improvement of the candle." -OREN HARARI HOUSANDS UPON thousands of small, boutique, Momand-Pop retail store owners go to bed each night thinking: "What do I have to do to continue to compete with the big guys?" Perhaps more surprising is that thousands upon thousands of giant, mass-merchant retail brand executives drift to sleep at the end of a long day pondering how to keep their stores feeling more local, relatable and relevant. The argument could be made that one group certainly has plenty to learn from the other, and vice versa. This dichotomy was spelled out very clearly for me at the latest GlobalShop event in Las Vegas. For the 2014 show, GlobalShop avidly reached out to include independent retailers (classified as those with 10 or fewer retail storefronts) in the mix, even dedicating an entire conference track geared toward Independent Retail Trends. What we found most surprising about the track was that 1) its sessions were some of the highest attended of the entire conference and 2) its attendee mix was filled to the brim with big-box retailers. Literally everyone from Target to Michael's, Lowe's and TJ Maxx were all accounted for, waiting to steal-err, I mean, hear-the tricks of the trade from independent retail's ﬁnest minds. What I took from the sessions is that all the same key rules of retailing apply, just enacted on APRIL/MAY 2014 EXECUTIVE EDITOR alison.medina@emeraldexpo.com @dretaileditor DESIGNRETAILONLINE.COM a much smaller scale. The buzzwords were entirely the same. Curb appeal. Real estate. Interact. Memorable. Engage. Local. Surprise. Fun. Impulse. Emotion. Experience. Reinvent. Fulﬁllment. Value. It's the space (and customers) between these buzzwords that diﬀerentiates a big box from a small one. In a later session, McMillanDoolittle's Neil Stern reminded me of a quote that I love and have not heard in a while, regarding innovation: "Edison's electric light did not come from the continuous improvement of the candle." The late bestselling author, speaker and professor Oren Harari's words have never rang so true. Bright ideas often are born from dark-or small-places. Frankly, if you're really looking to pinpoint innovation in the retail channel in today's post-recession hangover, it's the independents that are leading the charge. The examples are countless. Ziferblat is a pay-bythe-minute café concept (now in London, but coming soon to New York) where everything in the shop is free-you just pay for the time you stay. At the Negozio Leggero "Light Shop" concept in Italy, all of the product in the store is package-free. Customers are asked to shop "on tap," bringing their own containers, bags or bottles to ﬁll. And at STORY in SoHo, the shop owners are able to completely reinvent their space, design and theme (not to mention entire product offer) every four to eight weeks (see our cover story on page 42 in this issue). In her independent retail session at GlobalShop, Georgeanne Bender urged anyone in the retail channel-big or small-to be in a constant state of reinvention. "The challenge is not how to get new, innovative thoughts into your head," she said, "but how to get rid of the old ones." Illustration by JESSE LEFKOWITZ http://www.DESIGNRETAILONLINE.COM

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of design:retail - April/May 2014

design:retail - April/May 2014
Table of Contents
Editor’s Note
Show Talk
On Trend
We Love This!
Designer Picks
Innovation
Postcard
How’d They Do That?
Have You Heard?
Mingle
Shopper Insights
Shopping With Paco
Story
GlobalShop 2014
Lord & Taylor
Products
Backstory

design:retail - April/May 2014