Every year,
the Retail TouchPoints editorial team
travels to the NRF Big Show in New York City, and this year’s event, held Jan.
13-15, 2019, will really live up to its name: the conference is projected to
host 37,000 attendees, 16,000 retailers and more than 700 exhibitors.
Top names
speaking at the event will include Marvin Ellison, President and CEO of Lowe’s; Jamie Nordstrom, President of
Stores at Nordstrom; Brian Cornell,
CEO of Target; Heidi Zak, Co-Founder
and Co-CEO of ThirdLove; Rebecca
Minkoff, Co-Founder and Creative Director of Rebecca Minkoff; and Neil Blumenthal, Co-Founder and CEO of Warby Parker.
In this
Q&A, the editors explain what they’re most looking forward to at the 2019
Big Show. Let us know what you’re interested in via the comments below!
Debbie Hauss, Editor-in-Chief: Every year I look forward to
reconnecting with my friends and colleagues in retail, media and PR. NRF brings
all of us together every year and I am thankful for that. We share insights that
we’ve gathered throughout the year traveling to a variety of different events,
and it’s enlightening to share what we’ve seen as transformational in the
industry during the past year. I’m also always impressed by the effort and time
put into creating the booths for the event and how they are highlighting the
latest technology innovations. This year I expect to see more of the “sexy”
tech, like AR and VR, but I’m also expecting to see a strong showing of
foundational solutions that will enable retailers to create the efficiencies
that allow them to take the time to actually consider the cool new ideas.
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Adam Blair, Executive Editor: The NRF Big Show is the industry’s
most frustrating event (and no, it’s not just because the Javits Center’s
aisles get so crowded that it’s hard to get from one end of the exhibit hall to
the other). It’s frustrating because there are so many amazing sessions to
attend that I’d have to clone myself to attend every one that sparked my
interest. Here are just a few of the titles that tickled my fancy: Power Of The Pack: Women Alone Can Be
Powerful But Together Have Tremendous Impact; How Fashion Retailers Use Data To
Improve Everything; Is Sustainable The New Sexy?; Why Is There A Robot In My
Store?; and, Redefining Masculinity In the Retail Industry For A More Equal
World. The entire NRF lineup demonstrates yet again that retail is an
exciting, ever-changing industry to cover.
Glenn Taylor, Senior Editor: This year, I’ll be attending the
press tour of the NRF Innovation Lab, which is featuring nearly 50 emerging
tech companies in categories such as virtual reality, AI, facial recognition
and robotics. While I have walked through the Innovation Lab in previous Big
Shows, I never got to take the full press tour, allowing me to take in every
company first hand and learn more about what all of them are trying to
accomplish. Additionally, it will be great to pick the brains of execs in these
fields to see how they think the industry will shake out within the next year.
If anything, I think the Lab experience will benefit me the most by giving me
ideas for coverage throughout 2019. If the biggest retail show of them all is putting
these technologies up for display, it’s safe to say that there will be a lot of
value from all the parties that are included.
Bryan Wassel, Associate Editor: This
will be my first NRF Big Show, so I’m looking forward to seeing the industry’s
major players in person during the event. The sheer number of executives and
experts, from those I’ve interviewed over the phone to those I’ve only heard
of, is intimidating, but I’m excited to finally make the rounds and meet people
face-to-face. This also will be a golden opportunity to really immerse myself
in the world of retail in general — I’ve been to other industry events
(including our own Retail Innovation Conference),
and each has provided more insight into the latest developments and top issues
facing the industry. From the tours to the interviews to the panels, I’m ready
to take it all in.
