Agenda

NETWORKING BREAKFAST

Rise and shine—IRDC style. Join us for the Networking Breakfast and kick off Day One with good food, strong coffee, and energizing conversation with peers from across the retail design community. Open to all attendees. Just show up hungry and ready to connect.

OPENING KEYNOTE

LESSONS FROM THE FIELD: CASE STUDY

Go beyond the finished project and explore the story behind it. Through a real-world case study, you'll learn about the challenge, the strategy, the obstacles encountered, and the solutions that brought the vision to life. Walk away with practical ideas and lessons you can apply to your own projects.

SENSE ABILITY: THE UNTAPPED ADVANTAGE HIDING IN PLAIN SIGHT

Retail spaces are full of sensory stimulation and a lot of it is unintentional. It has been this way for a long time, but that does not mean it has to stay that way. Meg Lefeld, Director at ZenGenius, has spent her career in the world of visual merchandising. When a traumatic brain injury in 2022 changed the way she experienced the retail spaces she had always loved, she started asking a question she couldn't shake: why? That question led her to start researching how the brain processes sensory information and a deeper look at the sensory demands retail places on every shopper, whether they realize it or not. In this general session, Meg will share what she has learned, what she is still learning and why it matters to everyone who contributes to retail environments. Through emerging research, real-world examples and practical strategies, attendees will discover how thoughtful sensory design can reduce unnecessary cognitive load, improve the customer experience and become a competitive advantage. Fair warning: you'll never walk into a store the same way again.

Takeaways:

• Discover how sensory stimulation impacts the shopping experience

• Learn how neurodivergent experiences differ in store

• Understand the importance of designing with all customers in mind

HERITAGE TO HERE AND NOW: DESIGNING THE L.L.BEAN FLAGSHIP REMODEL AS A BRAND EXPERIENCE

As retail continues to evolve beyond transactional spaces, flagship environments are being redefined as brand infrastructure: places where heritage, community and customer experience intersect. This session will explore how the Freeport Experience – the multi-year reimagining of L.L.Bean’s iconic Freeport Flagship – is designed not simply as a remodel, but as a campus-scale, customer-centric journey that honors legacy while building relevance for the future. Drawing inspiration from hospitality and placemaking, the session will also examine how outdoor space, food, events and community interfaces can transform a flagship from a “big store” into a destination. Attend this presentation to discover how to protect customer trust and brand experience during disruption.

Takeaways:

• Understand how flagships are sequenced customer journeys, not a collection of departments

• Learn ways to translate heritage into modern, experiential storytelling

• Discover strategies for using placemaking and hospitality principles to expand relevance

VMSD AWARDS LUNCHEON

Join us for a celebratory luncheon recognizing the winners of VMSD's 2026 competitions and industry awards. During this special event, we'll honor the recipients of the Designer Dozen, International Visual Competition, Retail Renovation Competition, and the prestigious VMSD/Peter Glen Retailer of the Year Award while celebrating excellence across the retail design and visual merchandising community.

LESSONS FROM THE FIELD: CASE STUDY

Every great retail environment has a story. Join us for a deep dive into a real-world project as we examine the client's goals, design decisions, implementation challenges, and the innovative solutions that led to success. Expect honest insights, practical takeaways, and lessons learned along the way.

LESSONS FROM THE FIELD: CASE STUDY

Take a behind-the-scenes look at an innovative retail project through an in-depth case study presented by the team who helped bring it to life. Explore the objectives, design process, unexpected challenges, and key lessons learned—all with an emphasis on practical insights rather than theory.

VMSD OFFSITE INSPIRATION TOUR: LAS VEGAS ARTS DISTRICT TOUR, HOSTED BY HANS BOODT

For this unique excursion, attendees will be invited to take a guided tour of the Las Vegas Arts District. Take in the sights and sounds of this unique area: A cultural hub filled with indie art galleries, shops and bars, set against the backdrop of a bohemian vibe. Hosted and sponsored by IRDC's City Host sponsor, Hans Boodt, attendees will also get to view the company's latest Las Vegas showroom experience. Wear comfy shoes and get ready to explore a part of Vegas you didn't know existed!

IRON MERCHANT CHALLENGE RECEPTION

NETWORKING BREAKFAST

LESSONS FROM THE FIELD: CASE STUDY

Start your morning with breakfast and coffee while taking a behind-the-scenes look at a real-world retail project. Learn directly from the team behind a featured project as they share the journey from concept to completion. Discover how they approached complex challenges, balanced competing priorities, collaborated across disciplines, and delivered measurable results.

LESSONS FROM THE FIELD: CASE STUDY

Continue your morning over breakfast and coffee as we dive into another featured project. Go beyond the finished space to explore the design process, collaboration, challenges, and problem-solving that brought the project to life. Hear lessons learned from the team behind the work and gain ideas you can put into practice.

LESSONS FROM THE FIELD: CASE STUDY

Wrap up breakfast with one final project spotlight as we explore how bold ideas became successful outcomes. Learn how the project team balanced creativity, collaboration, and business objectives while navigating unexpected challenges. Gain fresh inspiration and practical insights you can bring back to your own projects.

GENERAL SESSION

GENERAL SESSION

INFLUENCER GENERAL SESSION PANEL

IRON MERCHANT CHALLENGE WINNER UNVEILING

OFFSITE EXPERIENCE: AREA15

Take the afternoon of the second day of IRDC, prior to our closing keynote session, and explore Area 15. This multi-building complex, spanning 35 acres, houses interactive experiences, dining, exhibitions, art installations, retail stores, games and one-of-a-kind activations like Meow Wolf's OmegaMart. (The Museum of Ice Cream launched its latest attraction here in July.) Attendees will get to spend an afternoon learning about the site's design, straight from the people who created it, and explore the compound. Wear your most comfortable shoes and get ready for an afternoon of discovery.

CLOSING KEYNOTE: HANGING BY A THREAD

In this deeply personal and emotionally resonant keynote, attendees will explore resilience, uncertainty, transition, identity, and the reality that our personal and professional lives are but a single interconnected thread. Drawing from Bevan’s own journey through leadership, change, pressure, reinvention and moments of vulnerability, the keynote examines what happens when life stretches us beyond certainty and how support, trust and human connection can help hold us up during those moments. At a time when so many individuals and industries are navigating pressure, disruption, burnout and change, the keynote challenges audiences to consider how we show up for one another and why lifting each other up matters now more than ever. Through powerful participatory experiences, including moments where audiences physically and emotionally lift others up together, this closing keynote will transform the idea of support and connection into lived experience.

Takeaways:

• Discover how our personal and professional lives are interconnected

• Learn how support, trust and connection can help during moments of uncertainty

• Understand how to physically and emotionally lift one another, creating connection

CLOSING PARTY

Raise a glass to another successful IRDC! Join us for an evening of celebration, great conversations, and memorable moments as we wrap up two inspiring days together. Additional details, including the offsite venue, will be announced soon.