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LEADING EDGE: A THINK TANK ON THE FUTURE OF RETAILING

By Donna Mitchell

Prominent figures from retail, development, architecture and other disciplines will convene at the 2006 Leading Edge Conference in Québec in February to explore trends in retail development. Attendees will find the range of discussion far-reaching, organizers say, including the impact of human behavior on architectural design, the nature of commercial culture and the future of the travel industry.

“Retail is a unique dynamic influenced by unrelated factors such as media, fashion, graphics … and the increasing mix of sports and recreation within retail formats, to name a few,” said Roy H. Higgs, CEO of Baltimore-based Development Design Group, who is this year’s conference chairman. “It’s our job to challenge preconceived notions by looking at other endeavors, seemingly unrelated, that can and probably will have some bearing on our future.”

In the keynote address, titled “What I Learned From Sam Walton,” motivational speaker Michael Bergdahl, who runs a consulting firm in Ingomar, Pa., will share some of the business insights and strategies he picked up while working with the legendary Wal-Mart founder. At a dinner session, Terrell B. Jones, founder and former CEO of online travel services provider Travelocity.com, will discuss the ways Internet commercial models have revolutionized travel.

Roundtable groups will give delegates the chance to mull the issues over among themselves. Faith Hope Consolo, Prudential Douglas Elliman’s chairman of retail leasing and sales, will lead a panel discussing ways retailers stay competitive and things the shopping center industry should expect from them going ahead.

The conference will be held Feb. 20-22 at the Fairmont Tremblant Resort.