Retail strategist Connie Post and her Affordable Design team have been chosen to re-imagine the Home Furnishings Association (HFA) Retail Resource Center. The new, expanded space will be unveiled at the April 2020 High Point Market as part of the retail association’s 100th anniversary celebration.
“As the industry’s trade association for retailers, we need to be a destination at market, not only a gathering place where vendors and retailers can meet and interact, but a space that is all about best practices and forward thinking,” relates Mark Schumacher, Executive Vice President, HFA.
“It’s time to raise the bar,” says Post, well-known throughout the industry as the standard bearer of visual marketing, responsible for the look of more than 25 million square feet of retail and wholesale space around the globe. “The Retail Resource Center (RRC) is where retailers look for help, information and education. It needs to be a professional environment that inspires, and it needs to reflect the fact that home is a fashion business. It’s vital to change the dated, trade-show image of the RRC, in the same way that it’s critical for a retailer to update their store environments every five to seven years. My team and I are very excited to be putting all of my skill sets to use in this reinvention.”
Simply put, “this is not a renovation for renovation’s sake,” Schumacher sums. “We’re expanding our role as a facilitator and leader of the industry and we’re taking that very seriously, and why we’ve engaged Connie as our design partner. Her position in the industry and her strengths just made sense for what we’re trying to do.”
When the RRC opens next spring, the space will encompass some 10,800 square feet on the first floor of Plaza Suites. Post says the new space will change the look and the feel of the guest experience. Most important, “we expect to reinforce the sense of community. At a time when the land on which a business sits can be more valuable than the business itself, independents are facing difficult choices. Those family-run operations that are fortunate enough to have family members who want to move forward need support to battle the increasing competition. They need a comfortable place at market where they can come and share and learn, a safe haven if you will that is conducive to thought-provoking conversations and interaction with like-minded retail executives.”
