Hollywood, Fla. (Nov. 18, 2009)—Retailers from all over the world joined holiday crowds in New York last week, turning out in strong numbers for NADI's Retail Design Collective, which took place December 9-11 at showrooms throughout the city.
 
With more showrooms than ever and a new show headquarters, the December market week provided an encouraging preview for the year ahead. Showrooms reported strong traffic and buyer interest, as retailers sought new ideas to entice shoppers to buy.
 
Retail Design Collective, produced by A.R.E. (the Association for Retail Environments), offers retailers an exclusive collection of the world's top visual and design resources. The show sets a unique stage for retailers, visual merchandisers and designers to see and share new, innovative ideas, while celebrating design excellence and offering multiple opportunities for learning and inspiration.
 
This year's headquarters at 7 W New York hosted 10 of the show's 29 showrooms as well as registration, networking breakfasts and the show conference. Conference sessions were packed, as DDI magazine, VMSD magazine and Retail Design Institute hosted panel discussions on window displays, visual merchandising and New York retail.
 
Attendees, who spent three days visiting participating showrooms and reviewing new lines, came away inspired. "Retail Design Collective was just the burst of energy I needed to start planning creatively for next year," said Brenda Houston, an independent design consultant. "The combination of discovering new vendors and the ability to talk to my peers about projects made the trip well worthwhile." 

International attendance was particularly strong, with retailers coming from Latin America, Europe, Dubai, Australia and beyond. The International Association of Department Stores, a Paris-based organization, held its annual visual merchandising meetings during the show.
 
"Retail Design Collective was ideal for our members, allowing them to combine conference presentations, visits with suppliers and showrooms, as well as take in some of the ever-changing retail scene of New York," said Dr. Christopher Knee, Assistant General Secretary. "Our delegates from 12 countries around the world found plenty to take home. I would definitely recommend the event to all visual people in retail."
 
Showrooms reported strong traffic as retailers came to Retail Design Collective looking for new ideas. "We had the best turnout since I joined Lifestyle/Trimco three years ago," said Show Chairman Sal Lenzo of Lifestyle/Trimco. "Everyone seemed to be in a great mood and more importantly they were looking for new and exciting products. There seems to be a realization that the show must go on and reinvention is key." 

At Rootstein Mannequins, Michael Steward reported "a terrific response from our visitors. We saw many international buyers and as always the New York visual teams turned out in force."

The 13th Annual PAVE Gala, held the first night of the show, added a festive note to the week, and honored its 2009 Rising Star, Travis Burnham, a senior manager of creative services for J. Crew. Also honored was Bergdorf Goodman with the DDI Best Windows of New York City Platinum Award. The Gold and Silver Award were given to Macy's Herald Square and Bloomingdale's respectively.

The Excellence in Visual Merchandising and Design awards, presented by VMSD was given to Bloomingdale's, the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Paul Stuart, an upscale men's and women's clothier. Lastly, the 2009 Helping Hand Fund grant was awarded to the University of Memphis totaling $15,000. The grant will be used to create a Retail Lighting Laboratory based on LED technology.
 
Thirty-one leading companies participated in Retail Design Collective, either through a showroom presentation or as conference sponsors. Participating companies included: Adco Group Worldwide, Adel Rootstein Mannequins, Alpha Display, Alu, Architectural Systems, B&N Industries, Bernstein Display, CGI/Mockshop, Christine Taylor Collection, Circle Visual, DK Display Corp., Elevations, Goldsmith, HUDSON &BROAD, JP Metal America Inc., Holiday Foliage, Holiday Image, Jesco Lighting, Leo Prager, Lifestyle/Trimco Inc., Manex, Material ConneXion, Megavision, Mondo Mannequins/Sellutions by Econoco, Patina-V, RHO, RTR Packaging, shasty, Siegel & Stockman, Universal Display & Design, and Vira Manufacturing. DDI magazine and VMSD magazine were the show's media partners.

To view the photo gallery from the event, click here.

To download the PDF of the show guide, click here.

Click here to download press release. (48KB)

About A.R.E.
Members of the Association for Retail Environments are retail environments professionals and proven industry leaders--companies that are well known for excellent craftsmanship, topflight service, and cutting-edge innovation. Member companies offer a full range of products and services for retail environments, and include store fixture suppliers, retail design firms, suppliers of visual merchandising products, and suppliers of materials and equipment for the retail environments industry. Member capabilities include importing, exporting, consolidating, installing, project management, engineering, design, and more.