Who am I? Do you ever
wake up in the morning and ask yourself this question? I
do, and sometimes I have to remind myself just how I got from
there to here, especially when asked how I got into retail consultancy.
The fact is I don't have a clear cut answer and I certainly didn't start out
thinking this is what I want to be when I grow up! What I
do know is that I love my job, I'm passionate about
what I do and I realise it’s the combination of many things that have
got me to where I am today. So if you're wondering, here's how it all began.
It all started back in
the eighties after graduating in three dimensional design and
landing my first job with a commercial interior design consultancy
located above three floors of retail store in Rugby, Warwickshire.
Within a few months of starting my new job I was literally thrown into the deep
end. My boss was taken ill and being a relatively small company we all had to
pull together. It wasn’t long before I was drawn into the retail side of the
business and even though it was a steep learning curve and, there were many
periods when I felt I didn’t know what I was doing, they were exciting times.
Inevitably, the buying trips, business plans, design concepts and visual
merchandising and marketing campaigns, coupled with my passion for good design
and a flair for business led to me opening my own retail shops and design
studio.
It was following the design and
refurbishment of a collection of retail stores for a tourist attraction and a
subsequent conversation with the managing director that set me off on another
career path. I was asked if I could devise and deliver a visual merchandising
workshop for the sales teams, so I did! I wanted the staff to understand
the reasoning behind the practical aspects of visual merchandising and it soon
became clear to me there was more to this than I first thought. I’d briefly
studied psychology as part of my degree course but I needed to learn more about
customer behaviour and how this impacts on design and the success of a
business. Needless to say I read everything I could get my hands on,
books, research papers and consumer data. The combination of this
knowledge with my design skills had a big impact on future projects and it
still does! Sharing this knowledge with other businesses and the people
working in these environments has been a whole new skill set that has been both
challenging and rewarding in equal measure. Today, I think these skills are more
important than ever as technology continues to influence consumer
behaviour and attitudes.
Looking back over twenty
five years of working in this challenging but highly invigorating business,
apart from the many design projects and development of my own successful
retail business there have been creative training programmes for both business
and higher education, product development resulting in new business
opportunities, the creation of many innovative marketing campaigns, a few
awards and the personal satisfaction that comes from helping businesses and
individuals to achieve success.
Along the way there have been
many highs and a few lows but the best bit has been working with the many
businesses and people from very diverse backgrounds. Whether I’m project
leader or freelancing as part of the team I know this not only strengthens my
own skills but provides me with an opportunity to learn from others experience
and share information that contributes to the success of other businesses and
individuals alike.
Not quite the end...
Not quite the end...
All the best
Peter
#retail -consultant -designer -communicator -mentor
tel 07907 691711
email info@artysmith2.com
No comments:
Post a Comment