design:retail - May 2019 - 38

Evans designed the
showroom and all the
mannequins at the
Goldsmith showroom
on West 26th Street
in New York.

with business partners Craig Marcroft and Barrie
Wests, he has expanded the company's offerings
of creative design, branding services, digital and
interface design, and full management consulting
services for the retail suppliers' chain globally.

THE RETAIL COMMUNITY

Alfredo Paredes

Ralph Pucci

Tom Beebe

2012

2011

2008

2007
Jack Hruska

designed and reopened Goldsmith in a new showroom in the historical New York Garment District.
This premier location is now home of Noa Brands'
New York showroom.
"I have to acknowledge what I learned from
Jean Marc Mesguich, founder of Window Mannequins, during this period of my career," Evans
says. "I had a 10-year partnership with him while
I was at Goldsmith. I learned a lot about the European mannequin business. He was an incredible
creative mentor."
When it comes to experiencing every side of the
retail business, Evans has played a key role in brand
launches and relaunches, the design and opening
of showrooms, as well as a number of sales, mergers and acquisitions. In 2009, Goldsmith joined the
Blue Sage Group, which was later acquired by Noa
Brands. This made him part of the world's largest
mannequin and visual merchandising company
with global manufacturing capabilities and facilities in Colorado, Mexico, Spain, Italy and China, as
well as showrooms in New York, Milan, Paris and
Barcelona. Evans served as president and creative director of Goldsmith and ambassador of Noa Brands.
Today, he is a managing partner and executive
vice president of marketing and business development for Wests Designs. In his new role, along

2009

In order to maintain his relevancy and find a
successful path forward in the industry he loved,
Evans transitioned to the manufacturing side of the
business. He held senior executive positions with
leading visual merchandising, store fixturing and
design companies, from New York and Chicago to
Ontario and Miami. This list includes organizations
such as Seven Continents, Ontario Store Fixturing
and Design Industries, as well as Leggett & Platt
companies, Edron Store Fixturing & Phase II Furniture, and Met Merchandising. This timeframe also
included his own entrepreneurial venture, a visual
merchandising company called Joint Collections
Inc. All these roads led him to Goldsmith.
From creative and marketing to sales, Evans held
significant leadership roles and was involved in all
aspects of these manufacturing businesses. At one
point, he moved back to the Midwest to oversee
a new factory project. When he merged Joint
Collections, and his long list of notable retail clients
to partner and refresh the Goldsmith brand, he
once again returned to New York. This is where he
knew Goldsmith needed to be, and he located and
designed its award-winning showroom in the nowfamous Starrett Lehigh Building. And after 11 years,
when rising rent costs necessitated a change, he

2010

CHANGING SIDES

Evans is a proud member of the retail community and is grateful for the opportunities it has
afforded him. He has been honored for his awardwinning showroom designs, and recognized for
product designs and mannequin collections (and
was named a Retail Design Influencer as part of
design:retail's Portfolio Awards). He also has been
an expert voice on national and international news
stories, contributed to trade publications and
given seminars and presentations in his related
fields internationally.
As he navigated his career and influenced every
aspect of the retail business, he has always found
time to support the growth of the industry and
colleagues through professional memberships
and leadership roles, including roles in the past
as International Retail Form Director of the International Interior Design Association (IIDA) and
as president of the Chicago Chapter of Institute
for Store Planners (ISP), now known as the Retail
Design Institute (RDI). He also served on the board
of The National Association of Display Industries
Inc. (NADI), which later became A.R.E,and then
Shop!, as president for more than 10 years.
"The years I spent as president of NADI is significant to me, because it was a time when showrooms
were closing," Evans says. "I am a big New York
showroom supporter, and we were committed to
keeping the visual industry alive in NYC at that time."
Evans continues to support the growth of the industry. He recently served on the board of Shop!,
and he commits significant time to mentoring
the next generation of retail professionals. He has
served on the Retail Fashion Advisory Board of the

Denny Gerdeman

Eric Feigenbaum

design:retail - May 2019

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