Screen Printing - April/May 2017 - 4

editorial insights

Betting on Retail
Yes, the market is changing, but 'change' doesn't necessarily spell 'death.'

W

"

hat the heck is going on in retail?"
I heard the question time and again a few weeks ago at the GlobalShop exposition in Las Vegas - often enough that if I had a buck for every time someone said it, I
might have spent a few hours at the blackjack tables. In truth, I shouldn't have been
surprised; headlines about brick-and-mortar retail's current misfortunes are plentiful.
Stores are being shuttered at an alarming rate, while online retail continues to grow
- 8.3 percent last year based on US Department of Commerce stats. It's an ominous
trend for suppliers to traditional retail environments and for just about every merchant
not named Amazon.
Or is it? Are we witnessing the death of the store, or simply its evolution? ST Media
Group has some perspective on the subject through our long history with VMSD (Visual
Merchandising and Store Design), a sister title to Screen Printing. VMSD has been
monitoring retail design since 1897; in those days, the hand-lettered window facing the
street was pretty much the sole design consideration. By the time we bought VMSD in
1922, stores were mindful of how merchandise was presented inside their businesses,
and became much more so during the golden age of advertising.
Then Americans moved to the suburbs, and retail responded with the shopping mall.
Later, "big-box" chains emerged. Service and aesthetics became secondary to product
distribution; the goal was to move units of merchandise through the front door as fast
as possible. The bigger these chains grew, the more impersonal they became, which left
retail ripe for disruption in the form of figures like Steve Jobs and Jeff Bezos.
But the story doesn't end there. Just as retail followed baby boomers to the suburbs
50 years ago, it is now following millennials as they move back to the cities. These
young consumers embrace online retail, but they also recognize needs that can't be
addressed outside store environments. Amazon realized this as well and has spent the
past decade trying to find the right brick-and-mortar formula.
Amazon, like other retailers, is rediscovering the value of ideas discarded during
the big-box era. The personalized customer service we once took for granted has been
reborn with "brand ambassadors," - knowledgeable associates who are a far cry from
cashiers standing at endless checkout lines. The notion that consumers might want
to enjoy their shopping experience is now known as "experiential
retail," and in the quest to deliver it, retailers are looking to suppliers (including printers) for innovation. It's all about authenticity,
and I'm not convinced that older consumers value it any less than
millennials. We just weren't getting it for a long time. And millennials are bringing new demands to the table with increased
appreciation for social responsibility and sustainable production
- expectations retailers are passing along to their print vendors.
So what's happening in retail? It's called adaptation, and it's
been happening for as long as humans have been selling things
to one another. I'm placing my bet that brick and mortar will
remain part of that process for a long time to come.

Steve Duccilli, ASDPT

4

screenprinting

www.screenweb.com

EDITORIAL
Steve Duccilli
Senior Vice President of Content
steve.duccilli@stmediagroup.com
Kiersten Wones
Associate Editor
kiersten.wones@stmediagroup.com
Kelsey Johnson
Assistant Editor
kelsey.johnson@stmediagroup.com
Adrienne Palmer
Contributing Editor
adrienne.palmer@stmediagroup.com
Kelly Farrar
Art Director
kelly.farrar@stmediagroup.com
Barbara Montgomery
Contributing Writer
Linda Volz
Production Coordinator
linda.volz@stmediagroup.com
SALES
Senior Vice President/Group Publisher
Murray Kasmenn
murray.kasmenn@stmediagroup.com
770-578-2577
Business Development Managers
Lou Arneberg - East and Midwest US,
Eastern Canada
lou.arneberg@stmediagroup.com
800-654-5169

Jim Karwowski - West and South US,
Western Canada, Europe, Asia
jim.karwowski@stmediagroup.com
630-474-4038
Karen Jones - NC, SC, GA, Classifieds
karen.jones@stmediagroup.com
843-697-3802
Tedd Swormstedt
President
Christine Baloga
Audience Development Manager
Kari Freudenberger
Director of Online Media
Customer Services
Screen Printing Subscription Services
P.O. Box 3060, Northbrook, IL 60065
P: 847-504-8166/877-494-0727
F: 847-763-9030 E: SP@omeda.com

Free Subscription
www.screenweb.com/subscribe
Renewals/Address Changes
www.screenweb.com/renew


http://www.screenweb.com http://www.screenweb.com/subscribe http://www.screenweb.com/renew

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Screen Printing - April/May 2017

Table Of Contents
Screen Printing - April/May 2017 - Cover1
Screen Printing - April/May 2017 - Cover2
Screen Printing - April/May 2017 - 1
Screen Printing - April/May 2017 - Table Of Contents
Screen Printing - April/May 2017 - 3
Screen Printing - April/May 2017 - 4
Screen Printing - April/May 2017 - 5
Screen Printing - April/May 2017 - 6
Screen Printing - April/May 2017 - 7
Screen Printing - April/May 2017 - 8
Screen Printing - April/May 2017 - 9
Screen Printing - April/May 2017 - 10
Screen Printing - April/May 2017 - 11
Screen Printing - April/May 2017 - 12
Screen Printing - April/May 2017 - 13
Screen Printing - April/May 2017 - 14
Screen Printing - April/May 2017 - 15
Screen Printing - April/May 2017 - 16
Screen Printing - April/May 2017 - 17
Screen Printing - April/May 2017 - 18
Screen Printing - April/May 2017 - 19
Screen Printing - April/May 2017 - 20
Screen Printing - April/May 2017 - 21
Screen Printing - April/May 2017 - 22
Screen Printing - April/May 2017 - 23
Screen Printing - April/May 2017 - 24
Screen Printing - April/May 2017 - 25
Screen Printing - April/May 2017 - 26
Screen Printing - April/May 2017 - 27
Screen Printing - April/May 2017 - 28
Screen Printing - April/May 2017 - 29
Screen Printing - April/May 2017 - 30
Screen Printing - April/May 2017 - 31
Screen Printing - April/May 2017 - 32
Screen Printing - April/May 2017 - 33
Screen Printing - April/May 2017 - 34
Screen Printing - April/May 2017 - 35
Screen Printing - April/May 2017 - 36
Screen Printing - April/May 2017 - Cover3
Screen Printing - April/May 2017 - Cover4
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/STMG/sp_20201011
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/STMG/sp_20200809
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/STMG/sp_20200607
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/STMG/sp_20200405
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/STMG/sp_20200203
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/STMG/sp_20191201
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/STMG/sp_20191011
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/STMG/sp_20190809
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/STMG/sp_20190607
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/STMG/sp_20190405
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/STMG/sp_20190203
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/STMG/sp_20181201
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/STMG/sp_20181011
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/STMG/sp_20180809
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/STMG/sp_20180607
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/STMG/sp_20180405
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/STMG/sp_20180203
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/STMG/sp_201712201801
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/STMG/sp_20171011
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/STMG/sp_20170809
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/STMG/sp_20170607
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/STMG/sp_20170405
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/STMG/sp_20170203
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/STMG/sp_201612201701
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/STMG/sp_20161011
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/STMG/sp_20160809
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/STMG/sp_20160607
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/STMG/sp_20160405
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/STMG/sp_20160203
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/STMG/sp_20161201
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/STMG/sp_20151011
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/STMG/sp_20150809
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/STMG/sp_20150607
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/STMG/sp_20150405
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/STMG/sp_20150203
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/STMG/sp_20151201
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/STMG/sp_20141011
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/STMG/sp_20140809
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/STMG/sp_20140607
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/STMG/sp_20140405
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/STMG/sp_20140203
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/STMG/sp_20141201
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/STMG/sp_20131011
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/STMG/sp_20130809
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/STMG/sp_20130607
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/STMG/sp_20130405
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/STMG/sp_20130203
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/STMG/sp_20131201
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/STMG/sp_20121011
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/STMG/sp_20120809
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/STMG/sp_20120607
https://www.nxtbookmedia.com