Membership

So how can A.R.E. help you? Nearly all of our members share a common interest in marketing to retailers, directly or indirectly. Our strategy assumes that the better positioned A.R.E. is with retailers, the better the access for our members to these retailers. Our objective, therefore, is to effectively link retailers to A.R.E.

We help members save money while putting them in contact with potential customers and business partners — retailers, designers and architects, store fixture and visual suppliers, and other equipment and materials suppliers. Connect with the people and the educational resources that can make your business more profitable as we shape the retail environments of the future together.

Types of Membership and Membership Applications

New Member Checklist

GlobalShop. At the head of our list of retail linkage activities is A.R.E.’s sponsorship of the largest annual store design and at retail marketing show in the U.S. The show is a dominant element of the marketing plan of many of our member companies and the discount on booth rental rates is a major benefit of A.R.E. membership. If there is only one event retailers can attend each year to make purchasing decisions, it is the A.R.E.-sponsored GlobalShop in March.

Shoptalks. Organized by A.R.E. and hosted by retailers in four regions each year, these networking/educational events bring together retail visual merchandisers, store planners, and designers for peer-to-peer networking.

Retail Design Collective. Previously the NADI Show, the Retail Design Collective is our showroom-based event in New York in early December each year. The show gives our member companies the opportunity to share new visual and design resources in a showroom atmosphere with retailers and designers.

Design Awards. A.R.E.’s Design Awards program that culminates in our presentation at GlobalShop each year brings 500- plus industry leaders together for networking and recognition of the best in retail design, store fixtures, visual presentations, and sustainability.

Retail Council. While retailers can’t be members of A.R.E., 50-plus retailers of our Retail Council advise A.R.E. about how our members can best communicate with the retail community.

PAVE Gala. The major annual event of A.R.E.-administered PAVE, this early-December fundraiser in New York (and all other PAVE activities) are a great way to get “face-to-face” with retailers while contributing to a worthy cause—supporting the education of the next generation of design talent for our industry.

Buyers’ Guide. Perhaps our most recognized publishing activity that links members to retailers is the widely distributed annual Buyers’ Guide and Membership Directory. This is the most detailed, comprehensive resource of its kind in our industry.

Other print offerings that promote our members to retailers include our Green Guide, Winners Book, and the monthly A.R.E. page that appears in DDI.

Online. Our online member search, member profile pages, content for retailers, and Design Awards interface (to name a few), link retailers directly to our member companies in a variety of ways. And our relatively new LinkedIn network now has over 1,000 members, including influential and high-ranking retail contacts. If you haven’t joined, this is yet another way to interact with potential customers, as well as your peers.

E-newsletter. A monthly e-newsletter written specifically for retailers reaches a large audience with news, programs, and events, and promotes our member companies.

Crittenden Retail Space News. A.R.E. members benefit by receiving this highly regarded weekly e-mailed update on store construction plans. Combine that with the A.R.E. member discount on Chain Store Guide lead services, and you can likely track down the right contacts for each retailer.

If you are already a member of A.R.E., you know how much money you have saved on your booth. In addition, your membership provides you with additional exposure before, during, and after the show. Beforehand, you will be featured on A.R.E.'s GlobalShop web pages, which feature all exhibiting members and links to your member profile. During the show, all member companies receive booth identification signs (definite credibility enhancers), and all member companies are identified by A.R.E. logos in the show directory during and after the event.

NEW & TIMELY MEMBER BENEFIT

2-month FREE Trial with Global Credit Services
Global Credit Services, leader in credit risk management systems, is offering a free two-month trial of its premium suite of reporting and analysis tools to A.R.E. members (a $650 value). The GCS PREMIUM credit risk management suite of tools provides reporting and analysis for over 44,000 public companies worldwide, including a select set of 300 U.S. public and private retailers who are closely followed and reported on by experienced analysts of the GCS Analysis Center.

REACH THE RIGHT RETAILERS FOR LESS

Weekly Crittenden Retail Space News Email FREE
Assess which retail segments and companies are planning new construction and renovation with Crittenden Retail Space News, a $967 value provided to all A.R.E. members free of charge.

SAVE 20-30% Off CSG’s Leading Chain Tenants Database
Targeting new retail segments or specific retailers thanks to Crittenden Report data? Get the most up-to-date industry contacts with year-round access to Chain Store Guide’s Leading Chain Tenants Database of over 165,000 retail and restaurant executives, including email addresses. You can even retrieve names based on responsibility, i.e., those who buy store fixtures or oversee visual merchandising. Questions? Contact A.R.E. member Chain Store Guide