25 Hot Scenes From RetailVision Spring '09

RetailVision Spring 2009 brought vendors and consumer electronics retailers alike to the stunning Boca Raton Resort & Club in Boca Raton, Fla. Attendees got three-and-a-half days of cutting-edge market insight, a look at some of the best new products headed for the market later this year and, hopefully, some time to kick back by the pool.

Michael London, former Best Buy executive vice president of merchandising, brought "the case for change" to RetailVision, telling retailers that their ability to evolve as technology becomes more sophisticated and the competition springs up in new places is the only way to not only survive a down economy, but sustain growth.





London said that the consumer electronics retail landscape had never seen as much change as it had in the past five months. But the industry's history suggests the curious and the risk-takers are the ones who win.





"You don't have all the answers," London said. "Unless you are prepared to accept the unknown, you will not be able to make the changes necessary to prosper."

Shawn DuBravac (right), an economist and director of research for the Consumer Electronics Association, gave RetailVision attendees and Everything Channel Editor, News, Steven Burke (left) a look at the retail forecast for 2009. The numbers aren't pretty, he said, but new strategies are taking shape that will allow retailers to capture dollars once customers are ready to open their wallets again.





"We're getting close to the bottom," DuBravac said. "I think it's forming. Our expert insider panel sees the bottom coming in the second or third quarter of this year."

The RetailVision exhibit hall's Fresh pavilion was a popular destination for attendees to see some really cutting-edge products.

A few brave souls hit the dance floor at D&H Distributing's late-night party.

Everything Channel Senior Vice President and Editorial Director Robert DeMarzo implored a panel of retailers and vendors to share best practices, give their takes on an uncertain market, and offer advice to their peers and partners.

Regardless of backgrounds and business models, all six panelists at DeMarzo's session could agree on one thing: The key to success in one of the roughest retail climates in history is collaboration.





From left to right: DeMarzo; Ernesto Aguilar, Hewlett-Packard vice president of LaserJet Printers; Tekserve CEO Jason Wu; Bob Gregerson, Cisco's vice president for North American Retail and Channel Sales, Consumer Business; Michael Jester, 7-Eleven Category Manager; APC Director of North American Consumer Business Scott Beckmann; and Pamida Divisional Merchandise Manager Tracy Roloff.

A large contingent of retail executives at RetailVision came from Latin America, seen here getting caught up at a special Latin American Retailer Orientation.

As ultraportable sound generators that can be plugged into mp3 players and a host of other mobile devices, SurfaceSound Technology Tunebugs were popular in the RetailVision Demo rooms.

Back in the vendor pavilion, Gilsson Technologies was on hand with a range of GPS accessories.

The RecessionBusters, of course. The crew from IOGEAR donned Ghostbusteresque gear to present to retailers how their products can save a few bucks and help cut spending.

One of the final events at RetailVision was an opportunity for vendors to travel to a nearby CompUSA store in Deerfield Beach, Fla. CompUSA's assets were last year acquired by TigerDirect, which took over 16 stores in early 2008 and is looking to transform stores into what TigerDirect CEO Gilbert Fiorentino calls "Retail 2.0" locations.

Maybe not everything has to be 100 percent electronic yet: CompUSA still stocks plenty of "For Dummies" guides.

Stephen Baker (center), vice president of Industry Analysis for The NPD Group, was among those taking in the tour. In an earlier keynote at RetailVision, Baker offered attendees expert insight and commentary on consumer technology retail and e-tail sales, sales trends, PCs and related technologies, and printing and imaging markets.





"Brands that have longevity and an established place in their categories tend to outsell their market over time," Baker offered. "They build up brand equity."

Team Canson -- which earlier in RetailVision had wowed crowds at Fresh and impressed the Everything Channel Test Center with its Papershow interactive paper -- was also along for the CompUSA tour. At left, Robert Toth, vice president of Marketing, and at right, Giulia Giovanelli, product manager.

As much as e-tailing has completely changed the rules of consumer electronics retail sales, TigerDirect's Gilbert Fiorentino told Everything Channel editors and CompUSA tour attendees that customers still wanted to see actual products in stores. Hence, he said, a renewed emphasis on strategically placed, beautifully rendered displays throughout the location.

Fiorentino demonstrates in-store displays to tour attendees, explaining how every display is Internet-connected and can call up product information on screen at the touch of a button.

We took a stroll over to one of the product-viewing areas and picked up a Flip video camcorder ...

... and sure enough, the second we grabbed the device, its complete specifications and all the product information we needed came up on an Internet-connected display right above the viewing area.

A quick hello with Carl Fiorentino, president and a co-founder of TigerDirect. Carl and Gilbert, along with Daniel Brown, founded TigerDirect in 1987 as TigerSoftware.

Every aisle at CompUSA has bar code scanners that reveal not only a product's price, but also its full information, on Internet-connected displays.

With all that new and exciting technology, it's still good to remind customers what they need to make it run properly.

Vendor attendees got a chance to test out the scan stations and Internet-ready computer displays themselves.

Everything Channel Editor, News, Steven Burke (left) and TigerDirect CEO Gilbert Fiorentino.

Vendor attendees to the Retail 2.0 tour at CompUSA got some pretty decent goodie bags on the way out. What was inside? Hot sauce! And Everything Channel Editor, News, Steven Burke likes hot sauce.