Mumbai India
Sprinteriors
Nitin brings more than 18 years of expertise in Visual Merchandising within diverse industries including Fashion, lifestyle, FMCG, and CDIT
Mokobara
AmorePacific India – Sulwhasoo, Laneige, Innisfree & Etude
The One Off, India
Lumocast Digital Signage Pvt Ltd.
Blackberrys
Reliance Trends
The One Off
With 30+ years in the creative industry, Adam founded The One Off in 2003, now in London, Derbyshire, and Mumbai. Additionally, he is the driving force behind two other ventures: the London-based research firm Unturned Stone and RetailSafari.com.
He has worked on global strategies with leading brands Nike, Walmart, Skoda, Samsung, Sky and Frasers Group.
Adam has worked and presented at events with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office on trade missions to Asia and is a guest lecturer at Nottingham Trent University on Brand Communication and Retail.
Landmark Group
Akash is an award-winning designer and a seasoned retail professional with 15 years of experience in merchandising, buying, visual merchandising and store design. A graduate from NIFT, he went on to study business from IIM Kozhikode. With Landmark group he has worked closely on the brand imagery of licensed and private label brands. And now oversees the visual merchandising and store experience of the fashion department format – Lifestyle.
In the year 2019 – he was Awarded Designer Dozen, and recognized as a retail revolutionary by VMSD/ ST media during International Retail Design Conference (IRDC) in Boston. The first such recipient of the award of Indian nationality. Amongst others he was also recognized as the Leader of the Year at Lifestyle in 2020. Which speaks of the way he has developed, enabled and empowered the team working with him.
He is currently working on innovate projects and infusing digital/ interactive elements to enhance customer experience.
Honasa Consumer Ltd.
Ankur Chaudhary is a seasoned professional with over a decade of experience in the retail industry. Currently, he serves as the VP, Retail Head at Honasa Consumer Limited (Mamaearth) and oversees the overall EBO business of the company. Ankur's expertise in the retail industry is the result of his extensive experience with reputed organizations such as Landmark Group-Max Fashion, Aditya Birla Fashion Ltd, Dabur International, and Accenture. An alumnus of IIM Calcutta, Ankur has a strong educational background to complement his industry experience. His leadership skills and strategic thinking have been instrumental in driving growth and profitability for the companies he has worked for.
Dufry India Pvt Ltd
Experienced Global Team Lead with over 12 years of expertise in the retail industry, specializing in trend analysis, user journey mapping, visual merchandising, marketing, and brand strategy. Currently serving as the Country Marketing Manager at Dufry Group, I have a demonstrated history of driving brand growth through strategic planning, market research, and innovative marketing campaigns. My roles at Decathlon Sports India honed my skills in video production, creative direction, and the execution of comprehensive marketing strategies across various channels. From developing brand communication strategies to managing product launches and leading global marketing efforts, my career is marked by a commitment to delivering user-centric solutions and enhancing customer engagement.
My retail-centric experience has been instrumental in understanding consumer behavior and creating strategies that improve in-store experiences and drive sales. I am truly passionate about understanding users, identifying their pain points, and finding behavior patterns to create impactful campaigns that delight and engage. My approach combines creativity with analytical thinking, ensuring that every marketing initiative not only meets business objectives but also resonates deeply with the target audience. I thrive in dynamic environments where collaboration and innovation are key, and I am dedicated to driving measurable results that contribute to sustained brand success.
Beyond Squarefeet
Chandershekhar Kaul, is an architect and urban planner with over 18 years of experience behind him. Kaul has carved a niche as a Shopping Mall Specialist, with a remarkable track record in Retail Planning, Designing, Leasing, Marketing, and Fit-out Management.
Kaul graduated from Sir JJ College of Architecture, Mumbai, and further honed his skills with M.Arch. in Urban & Regional Planning & a Post Graduate Programme in Infrastructure Development & Management from NICMAR.
His tenure with renowned real estate developers like R. Raheja & Phoenix Group, along with consulting firms like Madison World, underscores his rich experience and versatility within the industry. Notably, his involvement in renowned projects such as Palladium, a luxury mall in Mumbai & Chennai, and the expansive mixed-use development of Chennai Market City highlights his instrumental role in shaping iconic retail spaces.
Kiwings
Dhwani brings over 15 years of global and diverse industry experience spanning Retail, IT and, Management consulting. As a recognized growth consultant, learning strategist, and Director Kiwings, she's committed to problem-solving and business transformation. Honoured as one of India's top 25 young women entrepreneurs by CEO Insights in 2019, Dhwani has collaborated with renowned organizations like Aditya Birla Group, Tata Group, Reliance, Landmark Group, ITC, Future Group, and StoreForce. She has also shared her insights as a Speaker at the Middle East Retail Forum, Dubai, discussing "Creating buying environment" alongside Michael Yacobian. Dhwani demonstrates editorial leadership as a published author with Tata McGraw Hill since 2011, while concurrently serving as Chief Editor of the bi-monthly newsletter "Kiwings Times," where she focuses on various learning methodologies. With more than 50 global publications, she has also published podcasts simplifying business concepts. Her expertise extends to academia, having served as a visiting faculty member at esteemed institutes like NID and NIFT. Poised to drive lasting impact, Dhwani is dedicated to contributing to business growth strategy, start-ups, learning and development, and visual merchandising with an empathetic and sustainable approach.
Bangalore International Airport Ltd
Strategy & Insights business leader | Consumer Growth Expert | Entrepreneurial Mindset | Functional Wellness Enthusiast
Delivering business-winning strategies through the lens of the consumer for over 20 years. Currently bringing in the rigour of performance marketing and building the framework with data driven analytics at Bangalore International Airport.
Award-winning & entrepreneurial, with success in building brands, strategic planning, research & analytics capabilities across FMCG, consumer healthcare, retail infrastructure & aviation, with experience across the Middle East, Europe, & India.
Reliance Retail
Hari has over 2 decades of experience in visual merchandising and brand experience design in India and overseas. Having started his career as a sales associate in Globus, he went on to be instrumental in leading the function of visual merchandising for leading fashion brands and companies like Central, Shoppers stop, Apparel group (for GCC) and Reliance Retail across over a million square feet of space in the domain of fast fashion to luxury. He was instrumental in conceptualizing award winning concepts in creative window display, innovations in sustainable VM concepts using recyclable materials and integration of visual tech in visual merchandising. His latest achievement is playing a lead role in the conceptualization and realization of Azorte, a futuristic first-of-its-kind tech enabled fashion store from Reliance Retail. He derives his energy from fitness training, dancing and indulging in music.
InSync
Huzefa Merchant is the founder & CEO of INSYNC Shop Fittings. He spearheads the research & development of the innovative shop fitting technologies that INSYNC is renowned for. His vision to “ Empower The Future Of Retail”, has left an indelible mark on the global retail design landscape. His innovative approach and commitment to excellence have significantly impacted the way we experience retail spaces. He’s won multiple national & international awards for his FIT N LIGHT Electrified Shop Fittings solution, That Seamlessly integrate digital technology into physical retail spaces, Besides all this, he also guides young retail design minds at institutes like NID & RAFFLES design school.
He’s achieved all of this inspite of being 95% blind!
In a nutshell, Huzefa’s vision and expertise are taking “Indian Innovation to The World”. The Shop Fittings designed by him, have elevated retail design, making it more than just aesthetics—it's about creating memorable experiences for shoppers.
Studio J
Hello and welcome! I'm Jenny Andrews, an award-winning experiential designer and the driving creative force behind Studio J. Here, innovation meets imagination, transforming abstract ideas into striking realities.
My passion for design encompasses various domains, including retail design, visual merchandising, architecture, and interior design. I've had the privilege of partnering with renowned brands, providing strategic design consultancy and crafting compelling visual narratives.
ChaseDesign company
Ken’s resume includes brands big and small, local and global - with an award list to match. His consumer knowledge and entrepreneurial insights have been an integral part of the conceptual development and strategic image positioning for many retail operators, manufacturers and brand marketers in multiple verticals for more than 40 years. Ken has been named a “Retail Luminary” and “Retail Influencer” by design:retail Magazine and currently serves on their Editorial Board. He was Inducted into the Retail Design Institute Legion of Honor, recognizing his outstanding career achievement in the field of retail store design and also presented with the Asia Retail Leadership Award at the Asia Retail Congress in Mumbai, India.
IRHPL
Transformational Leader with over 30 years of diverse experience in Retail, Aviation and Consumer Products. A hands-on leader who has macro strategic vision and micro ability to execute plans. He has founded businesses and brands across his roles at Landmark Retail (Saudi Arabia, Oman), Reliance Retail, Mumbai Airport, Adani One Super App and United Spirits.
Kaya Limited
With over 3 decades of retail experience Rajiv Nair is the Group CEO of Kaya Limited, the largest and most trusted chain of skin, hair, and body clinics in India. He has a proven track record of delivering customer value propositions, managing P&L, expanding store networks, developing new products and services, and implementing digital and AI solutions in the skin and hair care industry. He is an avid student of retail and loves to spend time in stores around the country and reading up on the trends in retail.
His core competencies include strategic leadership, general management, operations management, brand management, product management, and merchandising. Rajiv is also passionate about digital and AI trends and how they can enhance customer experience and business performance. His mission is to make Kaya the preferred choice for skin and hair care services in India, with a diverse and talented team of over 100 certified dermatologists, a 95% women workforce, and a culture of excellence and innovation. Kaya has been recognized as a great place to work, a top 100 employer for women, and a best-in-class service provider, with an NPS score of over 85.
Prior to Kaya, Rajiv was the CEO of Celio Future Fashion Limited. Celio with its motto of "Le elegance pour tous" (Elegance for all) is a brand with a presence in over 70 countries globally with over 1000 stores. Rajiv spearheaded the expansion of the brand through Celio stores, in modern trade, Ecom, D2C in India.
Rajiv Started his career as a Graduate Management trainee at Shoppers Stop and rose through multiple roles to become the Head of Women’s wear and Kidswear at Shoppers Stop .He was also responsible for developing private labels and the branded segments in Menswear at Shoppers Stop over the years. He also launched Mothercare in India as its first Business Head and this was a JV between Shoppers Stop limited and Mothercare plc UK.
Rajiv was also part of the leadership team at Hypercity Retail limited as its Business Head for General Merchandise at the Big Box retail format Hypercity which was one of a kind lifestyle Hypermarket in India with the largest assortment of merchandise across a broad spectrum of categories.
Rajiv has a Masters Degree in Management from NMIMS and a PGPMAX (Senior Executives program) from the Indian School of Business , Hyderabad.
Elemental Fixtures
Rahul Khetan is the co-founder of Elemental Fixtures that provides shop fit solutions to retailers.
He holds a Masters in Business Administration from Drexel University in Philadelphia USA, with a specialisation in Finance. After graduating in the year 2000, he held business strategy positions with Bristol Myers Squibb and Synygy Inc in US for three years. He returned to India to set up a greenfield steel plant, which he ran for seven years.
Since diving headfirst into the retail fixture industry back in 2013, he has become intimately familiar with over 100 brands, helping them smoothly expand their stores across the globe. Shine he hold a Masters degree in finance and practical Today he is known in his industry as a go to person for any help in retail design evaluation in terms of fixture practicality and cost economics.
Samsonite South Asia
Mr. Robin Mathew currently holds the esteemed position of Head of Design & Retail Experience for Samsonite South Asia, where he oversees the branding strategies of prominent labels such as Samsonite, American Tourister, and other esteemed brands within the Indian market. With a solid academic foundation in Design & Marketing, Robin has cultivated a distinguished career marked by versatility and ingenuity.
In his capacity as Head of Design & Retail Experience, Robin has been instrumental in crafting comprehensive design and experience strategies for leading global brands operating within the South Asian market. His astute understanding of consumer behaviour and market dynamics ensures that our brands remain at the forefront of innovation and resonance.
Raymond Ltd
Shradha is the General Manager & Head- Retail Marketing & VM at Raymond. She has an experience of over 18+ years, in the field of retail marketing and visual merchandising. She has worked in major brands such as Aditya Birla Retail Ltd., Future Group, Shopper’s Stop and Opus Planet. She has received various prestigious accolades over the years. She also serves as a Mentor with Light House, a Akanksha based NGO, since 2016.
FlatPackCo
With a robust foundation of over 25 years in the industry, I am a seasoned expert specializing in the design, planning, execution, and delivery of F&B, retail, commercial, and hospitality projects across India and the sub-continent. My journey encompasses the successful delivery of more than 1200 retail/F&B outlets, translating to over 4 million sq. ft. of premier workspaces. These projects have propelled numerous brands to achieve their market goals with an unwavering commitment to quality, safety, and sustainability.
Apparel Group India Pvt Ltd.
Seasoned professional in retail industry with an experience of more than 18 years handling various format projects from small to large format stores across India and abroad too. And worked with Major international brands like Barista coffee, Cheil worldwide, Benetton india pvt ltd, House of Anita Dongre and currently with Apparel group india pvt ltd
MBH Planning
Saritha Gopalkrishnan has over two decades of experience, having designed and executed many niche residential interiors and commercial projects. In 2022, Saritha proudly joined the team at MBH Architects as Project Manager & Head of Business Development for India. MBH’s core areas of expertise encompass the retail, hospitality, commercial, life sciences and mixed-use markets. With over 34 years of experience collaborating with some of the world’s most recognizable brands, the MBH team combines design and retail planning strategy to create memorable experiential designations and facilitate global growth. With a relationship driven approach, MBH continues to imagine and reimagine architecture for brands like Bucherer, Allbirds, Tiffany & Co., and Target. MBH Architects was ranked #6 in Building Design + Construction's Top Retail Architecture firms for 2023. Spanning the United States and India, and bolstered by strategic design partnerships worldwide, MBH Architects offers the unparalleled client service of a mid-sized firm on a global scale with a portfolio of over 10,000 projects spanning 96 countries.
Prior to joining MBH, Saritha was Deputy General Manager at Oberoi Realty Limited, Mumbai, handling the MD’s Luxury villa development spread over 16 acres in Albaugh and Thane Garden City - an ambitious 20 million sq. ft premium residential development with Retail and Commercial Development within a mixed-use land parcel located in Thane. Additionally, she was a professor at NMIMS University, Mumbai, teaching design, building technology and visualization subjects.
Tata Starbucks
Project Management professional with 20 plus years of experience in construction (base building) and fit outs projects. Specializing in Lifestyle retail, Prestige Beauty Formats, Luxury retail formats, Food courts, Café, Travel Retail, Gaming Zones, Bookstores; Baby & Infant care stores, Home Stores, and corporate offices.
FRDC
Architect & Retail Designer Sanjay Agarwal has been associated with the Indian Retail industry since 1997. Mr. Agarwal is an alumni of CEPT, Domus Academy, Milan and a fellow at CSIS, Penn University, Philadelphia. His wide network with international design fraternity, and experience in end to end service for retail design strategy and projects, led him to co-found FRDC in 2007. The award-winning design agency has now grown to become a recognised global retail brand strategy and design firm with works in India and abroad.
Nurture Ideaz
Sudhir Soundalgekar is an Architect, a visionary leader, a sustainability trailblazer, and an artistic maestro. With 3 decades of unparalleled experience in the projects industry, Sudhir has orchestrated 1,800 plus design-executions across Retail, Hospitality, Commercial, Industrial sectors, bringing efficiency, cost-time reductions, and quality enhancements to organizations.
As a sustainability champion, he has demonstrated remarkable results in reducing CO2, water, and waste footprints. His accolades, industry recognition, and captivating speeches make him a sought-after speaker on Retail Management, Design Management, Sustainability, Circular Economy, Innovations, and Project Management for Business and Fashion schools. His contribution covers esteemed organizations like Raymond, Shoppers Stop, Tata AIG, Bovis Lend Lease, Sophia Polytechnic and School of Fashion Technology.
With a decade of experience in retail design spanning both Middle East and India, Suhana has established herself as a distinguished figure in the industry. She is an alumna of Department of Architecture at CET and has an award in Leadership & Management from ILM, UK. Her extensive portfolio showcases her expertise in creating compelling retail environments that enhance brand identity and consumer experience.
Suhana has successfully spearheaded large-scale flagship store designs for prominent brands such as Swadesh and Uniqlo. Her innovative approach to spatial planning and brand concepts has been instrumental in the success of these stores.
During her tenure in Dubai, Suhana worked with several high-end international luxury brands. Her projects included Ralph Lauren, Level Kids Department Store, Baccarat, Christofle, Swarovski, Tanagra, and Tag Heuer.
In 2023, Suhana was honoured with the prestigious Designer Dozen VMSD Award, recognizing her exceptional contributions to the field of visual merchandising and store design globally.
Suhana’s career reflects her dedication to excellence in retail design, her ability to manage and execute large projects, and her commitment to staying ahead of industry trends. Her contributions continue to drive the company's success and innovation within the retail design industry.
Tata Motors Ltd.
State-level Table Tennis player as a child,
Fashion Designer by Education,
Visual Merchandiser by choice, since last 21 years,
And now Showroom Set up and Visual Merchandising Head by passion, at Tata Motors Ltd.
Loves to experiment with new ideas, explore innovations and to interact with Gen-Zs.
FutureBrand, India
Tasneem brings on board 25+ years of experience and learnings from advertising, branding and design. She has worked in Mumbai, Bangalore and Singapore across categories to create impactful multimedia advertising campaigns and enduring brand design.
In her previous roles as Executive Creative Director - Lowe Lintas and as Regional Director - Brand Union, Tasneem led award winning ad campaigns for a variety of brands and worked branding projects on large scale projects across industries including banking, hospitality, mass transit, healthcare, airports. Of these, one of the most noteworthy was the creation of the brand Vistara Airlines.
In her current role as Chief Creative Officer of FutureBrand in India, the reimagined Air India brand has been the biggest and most anticipated brand relaunch in the country. Along with the complete makeover of budget carrier Air India Express, and redesign of the ground handling services, Air India Sats, the team remains engaged with Air India on several other projects like the loyalty programme and Air India Cargo.
Her varied experience has helped to develop a broad, cross-cultural perspective on brand led solutions.
Lifestyle International India Pvt Ltd
A qualified Civil Engineer with about 25 years of extensive experience in Project Planning, scheduling & comprehensive management encompassing Conceptualizing, Properties identification, Design, Planning, Procurement, implementation, commissioning with maintenance & facilities in Corporate and Private office sector/ Aviation / Retail / QSR/ Architecture & Construction / Interior Design & interior Decoration/Fit-out Industry.
Currently with Lifestyle International Pvt Ltd, Landmark Group as a Vice President – Projects for their Max & Easybuy brands retail stores properties fit out and roll outs across India
Kaya Ltd.
Six Sigma Master Black Belt Recognised as Top 100 Great People Managers India 2020 – Published by Forbes India (Oct’20)
25+ years of experience in leading customer service assurance in banking, hospitality, mutual funds, manufacturing, health care and airline industry. Experience in creating Quality, Customer Centric & Process oriented Culture across the organization. Create customer service strategy and review customer experiential elements in the clinics.
Analysing Customer Insights - Monitoring, measurement and reporting of Net Promoter Score (NPS), Customer Satisfaction (CSAT) and Customer experience metrics. Improving customer feedback received through NPS and Google Review scores.
Experience in various Business Process Reengineering and Quality assurance projects using the Six sigma, Lean Methodology. Conducted training sessions on Six Sigma, Lean, Cost of Poor Quality, Kaizen, Design of Experiments and ISO 9001.
Zahida is currently heading Customer Services for Kaya ltd., leading dermatological and specialized skin expertise services.
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