Challenging times, continued re-tuning, and celebrating the few successes. There were many key insights to learn from this group of industry leaders, gathered in Dallas recently for the International Retail Design Conference. New strategies for value and environmentally conscious consumers and brands, localization and regionalism, global retail development in markets like China, India, Middle East, Latin America, experience based retail design, and community connections were discussed in depth. Here is what some of them had to say during our 3 days in Dallas together.

From Burt Tansky, CEO of Neiman Marcus

“Once you acquire a taste for luxury it remains, it doesn’t disappear, though it may be dormant for a while”

Also “Trends come and go, quality and great design are always in style”

Keys to NM brand “Improve, Innovate, Improvise”

“Luxury never changes” – as part of a dialog that Neiman Marcus is not trading down (though they are broadening some of the merchandise ranges, and experimenting with midday dash sales)

He did admit “I can’t get out of Costco for less than 200$” and his fondness for shopping at Costco.. 

New Neiman Marcus Store at The Bravern, Bellevue

John Mulliken, VP Store Planning and Development, Louis Vuitton

“Louis Vuitton never goes on sale” and “We must create the highest level of customer experience”

On keys to LV brand — “Craftsmanship, Innovation and Technology”

Others, overheard

“Don’t plan 2010 budgets on today’s (20-25%) reduced construction costs – material and labor costs will rise”

“There is nothing like a good recession to get you to run a better business”

“Do more with less” – repeated by many…

Two days from today, Neiman Marcus celebrates the opening of their new store in Bellevue with a black tie gala, followed by opening of the new luxury collection of shops, restaurants and clubs at The Bravern.

The Seattle region has had an up and down relationship with designer brands in the past, yet the demographics continue to show that this market is ready. The Bravern is strategically located in close proximity to the wealthiest zip codes in this region. Microsoft has already moved in to the 2 office towers, and the luxury residential towers designed by NBBJ are nearing completion.  

Residential towers, under construction this summer

The shop collection has been carefully curated with a mix of both first to the market and well-loved Seattle area establishments expanding to the east-side – like Wild Ginger, the Southeast Asian inspired restaurant, whose Seattle flagship we designed in 2000, along with the new Bravern location opening over this weekend.

Wild Ginger's Seattle location, photo by Eduardo Calderon

Bellevue Square, the highly successful regional retail center is just a few blocks down the road, offering a broad range of retail, entertainment and restaurant venues like Nordstrom, Macy’s and more than 200 stores. We are about to discover if this market is ready for the next level up, in a limited edition - Hermes, Louis Vuitton, Piazza Sempione, Salvatore Ferragamo, Tory Burch, David Barton Gym, and more..

 This is not a new concept, but often overlooked in property development strategies, and in the organizational models that drive those development strategies.  As architects, we are experiencing fundamental shifts in practice – from climate change, major technology shifts, energy usage and costs, and the tools with which we practice. It is imperative that we develop deeper understanding of sustainable design principles, and as many jurisdictions and business leaders are instituting environmental, energy, and health related initiatives, we must raise the bar every day on our work. 

When I took on the study of the USGBC’s LEED accreditation program a few years ago, I didn’t expect this US developed system to be directly relevant to the projects I was working on around the world – in fact, at the time all of my work was out of the country. I was just interested in learning more about our approach to sustainable design strategies.  I was so amazed when the first comment from the chairman of a development company in Dubai after a major development strategy presentation was “it must be LEED certified”. 

The basic system is simple – good fundamental design principals that carefully balance and consider the use of energy and environmental resources, along with the health of the people we design for. For anyone who hasn’t gone onto the USGBC website a basic exploration is well worth the time, and to develop an understanding of the basic systems of values is one of the best ways to begin.

At TEDGlobal in Oxford a few weeks ago, I met with a number of brilliant industry changing business leaders who are developing new models – not just the buildings that represent their values, but a complete shift in re-connecting values to business and economic models.  Great innovations are in development and the opportunities to reflect those innovations into the built environment have never been more exciting. Here is an excerpt from the minister of the environment of Sweden on this concept, sustainable resilience – the concept behind great new innovations underway.

Resilience, for social-ecological systems, is related to

(a) the magnitude of shock that the system can absorb and remain

within a given state, (b) the degree to which the system is capable

of self-organization, and (c) the degree to which the system can

build capacity for learning and adaptation. Management can

destroy or build resilience, depending on how the social-ecological

system organizes itself in response to management actions.

More resilient social-ecological systems are able to absorb

larger shocks without changing in fundamental ways. When

massive transformation is inevitable, resilient systems contain the

components needed for renewal and reorganization. In other

words, they can cope, adapt, or reorganize without sacrificing the

provision of ecosystem services. Resilience is often associated with

 diversity – of species, of human opportunity, and of economicManagement that builds resilience can sustain 

options – that maintains and encourages both adaptation and

learning.

social-ecological systems in the face of surprise, unpredictability,

and complexity. Resilience-building management is flexible and

open to learning. It attends to slowly-changing, fundamental

variables that create memory, legacy, diversity, and the capacity to

innovate in both social and ecological components of the system. It

also conserves and nurtures the diverse elements that are necessary

to reorganize and adapt to novel, unexpected, and transformative

circumstances. Thus, it increases the range of surprises with which

a socio-economic system can cope.

A powerful concept to consider in both the design and business strategies we now have the opportunity to develop.