design:retail - July/August 2020 - 17

JULY/AUGUST 2020

DESIGN

DESIGN:RETAIL

d:r: Is there a project you'd like to revisit in a more
modern time?
Gerdeman: Elle and I visited South Africa for a
three-week vacation during the 2018 holiday season
and took our daughter with us to see the beautiful country, and we also wanted to see how our old
client, Woolworths, was doing. I'm happy to report
that the internal design team at Woolies is doing
very well and still applying a number of the design
principles Elle put in place 20 years ago. The design
style, materials and finishes have certainly evolved
and the core principles are still successful. It made
us feel good to see that type of longevity.
d:r: What advice would you give to designers now,
to keep being creative in these quarantine times?
Gerdeman: My advice to designers now is to keep
an open mind on everything. Customers are as
confused as we often are as to what is going to be
the ideal shopping experience. Minimal contact
is still the name of the game-online shopping has
mushroomed, so the designers in our industry
need to think about the front-end store experience
for the customer. Health safety and security are top
of mind for the consumer and how we design to instill that confidence is key. There is no easy answer,
as we are in unprecedented times.
d:r: Where do you find inspiration?
Gerdeman: I've always found inspiration in travel
and walking through stores, malls, restaurants,
airports, resorts and anywhere that people congregate, socialize, shop, eat and have fun. I'm an
observer of people and their habits. I think it's

necessary to be an amateur anthropologist, as we
use design, business strategy and psychology to
help form our design decisions.
d:r: Your retirement came at a time when the
world shut down. What have you been doing with
your time, and what are you looking forward to
doing when we get back to whatever the new
normal is?
Gerdeman: My plan for a while was to officially

d:r: What will the future of retail look like?
Gerdeman: I think we've seen retail find ways to
adapt and rethink their traditional formats and
operations. Essential businesses rapidly changing to accommodate new guidelines while doing
their best to meet customer expectations, while
others found themselves in need of digital and
ecommerce solutions-scrambling to get it up and
running. Ultimately, these shopping enhancements and behaviors have become increasingly
important and vital to business success. They've
always been discussed, but the pandemic has put
new focus on how necessary it is for retail's survival. Post-pandemic doesn't mean non-physical
retail, however. The desire to return to shopping
and entertainment will always stay steadfast, but
it's these new behaviors that we'll all need to adapt
to moving forward.

FAO SCHWARZ PHOTOS BY RICHARD KADAN PHOTOGRAPHY

M&M'S TIMES SQUARE: TOP PHOTO BY MARK STEELE PHOTOGRAPHY; BOTTOM BY ADRION JONES

PHOTO BY MARK STEELE PHOTOGRAPHY

retire on April 1 this year, but COVID-19 started my
retirement early on March 16. My plan initially was
to take care of myself physically and get a fitness
trainer at our local fitness facility. Since those were
closed, I started walking 4 to 5 miles a day, playing
golf and losing weight by eating healthy. I'm happy
to say I've lost 28 pounds so far and it hasn't been
difficult, staying away from all those office client
lunches and snacks. I've also embarked on several
exterior remodeling projects on our home and
just finished the last piece of it earlier this week. I
wanted to take six months off and have no schedules, play golf, visit family and friends, etc. I've had
to adjust traveling, but filled in my time with our
landscaping projects. I have made some inquiries
about getting onto various boards of directors, but
want to do that later this fall or winter. I'm still really enjoying not having a schedule.

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design:retail - July/August 2020

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