DDi - October 2010 - (Page 36)

36 | State of the Retail Design Industry 2010 State of the Retail Design Industry 2010 State of the Retail State of the Retail Design Industry DDI’s second-annual survey finds retailers and designers are seeing cautious signs of a slow recovery, and innovating to stay relevant By Alison Embrey Medina, Executive Editor hat a year 2010 has been already— and we still have a couple months to go yet. As consumers spent, then balked, then spent again, retailers have rolled with the punches, opening stores where they could and innovating with new concepts and strategies to attempt—from week to week, and even day to day—to appeal to today’s enigma of a consumer. Meanwhile, the retail design industry has continued to see contraction and staffing reduction, as we all try to do more with less, in every sense of the definition. Piggybacking off of the abundance of useful information we found last year, DDI conducted the second-annual State of the Retail Design Industry Survey for 2010, aiming to capture an accurate representation of exactly where the mindset of our industry currently lies. In addition to charts and data directly from those measurables, on the next W several pages we have included commentary from prominent industry leaders reacting to the findings. Growing slowly? While the nation’s leading economists continue to tell us that the Great Recession has been over for a year and a half, the retail industry is certainly still feeling the effects of cautious consumer spending. However, 50 percent of survey respondents said that America’s retail economy is now “growing slowly,” up from only 31 percent last year. A whopping 45 percent of respondents believe we are still “stagnating in a recession,” but that is down from last year’s 52 percent. So, if the retail economy is growing slowly, how long will we have to wait? When asked, “Where do you view the economic recovery occurring for your business?” nearly 36 percent of respondents said they were “already seeing signs When you think about America's retail economy today, do you think it is... Growing rapidly 0% Growing slowly Stagnating in a recession In a depression No opinion |ÊOc toberÊ2010 50% 44.4% 2.8% 2.8% of light”—up from 30 percent last year. However, the road ahead may still be a long one, as 42 percent of respondents don’t see a recovery in sight until “second half 2011” (24 percent) or “2012 or beyond” (18 percent). “Although there have been signs of improvement, the recovery in the retail industry cannot fully occur until consumer confidence gains real momentum,” says Danette Kroll, director of store planning for Foot Locker Inc. “That cannot happen until the unemployment rates decline in the United States from their current levels.” With so much up-and-down movement in sales figures and consumer confidence, how are retailers responding to the climate in the meantime? Respondents felt that department stores are the retail channel currently suffering the most from the economy, followed by softlines specialty stores. They also believe that supercenters, discount stores, warehouse and club stores will most likely rebound the fastest, followed closely by supermarkets, grocery stores, drugstores, convenience stores and fast-food service. “The change cycles seem to be on a ‘rapid oscillation’ cycle, with no clear direction emerging,” explains Justin Hill, senior principal at MulvannyG2 Architecture. “Improvement feels stalled as the industry deals with these quick ups and downs. The winners will be the ones who can pierce this cycle with a solid plan and successful implementation.” Job security held a bit steadier for the retail design industry in 2010 than we saw last year, with nearly 60 percent of respondents saying their

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of DDi - October 2010

Display & Design Ideas - October 2010
Contents
From the Editor
Newsworthy
Shopper Insights
Quick Tips
Greentailing
Editor’s Choice
Design Snapshot
Design Snapshot
Jets/Giants Pro Shop
Coming to America
DDI 2010 State of the Retail Design Industry
Channel Focus: Menswear
CB2
Right Light
In-Store Technology
Product Spotlight
Calendar
Advertisers
Ownership Statement
Classifieds
Shopping with Paco

DDi - October 2010