design:retail - April/May 2018 - 24

024

Markopoulos
Award 2018
Anne Kong blurs the classroom lines, engaging students
with real-world design challenges. The 22nd recipient of
the Markopolous Award advances the retail industry by
nurturing its greatest asset, the design leaders of tomorrow.
PHOTOS BY PHILIP MAURO (unless otherwise noted)

Ignaz Gorischek
Mancini
APRIL/MAY
2018 DESIGNRETAILONLINE.COM Tony
GLOBALSHOP.ORG

vice president of visual merchandising and store design for the
department store division of Dayton-Hudson set the bar high
for achievements in store design and visual merchandising. His
work elevated the field from a trade to an art form.
Each new recipient joins The Markopolous Circle. With this
honor comes the tremendous responsibility of selecting future
winners. Honorees are nominated by their peers and selected
by The Markopolous Circle based on their lifetime achievements and overall career accomplishments, their ability to
innovate and inspire, their contributions to the success of a
retailer or company, their ability to nurture and mentor young
talent, and their ongoing contributions and support of the
retail design and visual industries. Kong's achievements and
contributions in each of these areas is more than exemplary.
She has been committed to the retail industry her entire life.

BORN WITH THE VISUAL BUG
Kong says that her passion for display began at an early age.
"I was obsessed with arranging objects and enamored by store
windows, museums and great furniture design," she recalls. A
part-time job at a local New Jersey department store gave her
access to the visual design world, from folding jeans to assisting
the "window guy" who came in from New York, while her family fueled her creative energy.
She describes her parents as "makers" who were always

Judy Bell

2001

1999

1998

1997

nne Kong is fabulous, caring and creative. She is an out-of-the-box thinker,
designer, businesswoman, teacher
and mentor. Kong is a presence-
she has been all of her life, and it
is not because of her 6-ft.-plus
stature. She has made a mark
on the retail industry with her
memorable and highly regarded
visual display work, her contributions to PAVE, and her significance to the advancement of retail design education-in
the classroom influencing one student at a time, impacting
the program at the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) and
co-authoring one of the premier visual merchandising and
display textbooks. It is for these accomplishments and more
that Kong-associate professor and program coordinator for
the Visual Presentation and Exhibition Design Department
at FIT and co-author of the 7th edition of "Visual Merchandising and Display"-is honored as the 22nd recipient of the
Markopolous Award.
The coveted Markopoulos Award represents more than
recognition for distinctive career accomplishments. For its
recipients, it is an honor to be acknowledged and respected by
their peers-The Markopolous Circle. The award was named in
honor of the late Andrew Markopolous. His tenure as senior

2000

BY JENNY S. REBHOLZ

James Mansour

Linda Fargo

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