LAS VEGAS, NV - GlobalShop, the world's largest annual event for retail design and shopper marketing, concluded yesterday by announcing continued growth in attendance for its 22nd show.

More than 12,000 professionals from all 50 states and 64 countries traveled to the Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas to see the latest innovations in retail display and design.

Kip Tindell, Chairman and CEO of The Container Store, delivered the show’s opening keynote and encouraged the group to focus on the store environment as well as the people inside its four walls. Tindell reported that the company is focused on mutually beneficial relationships and abundant communication between all of the people that make up The Container Store, from its employees to its vendors, customers, executives and shareholders.

“Business is not a zero-sum game. It’s about synergy,” he said. “We communicate up, down, sideways, all around.” Retailers and marketers visited the 200,000-sq.-ft. exhibition hall to visit each of six individual pavilions, including the Visual Merchandising Show, Store Fixturing Show, Store Design and Operations, the At Retail Marketplace, Digital Store and Retail Marketing Services.

Among the themes that attendees reported at the show were a proliferation of “faux” and reclaimed materials, in addition to the continuing focus on new store technologies and digital signage. Retailers also cited a focus on creating environments that tell their unique brand stories.

Twenty-three conference sessions gathered worldwide talent to discuss topics ranging from pop-up retail to sensory experiences. The third year of the Retail Roundtable, sponsored by Reeve Store Equipment and moderated by Alison Embrey Medina, Executive Editor, design:retail, brought together industry peers and retail VIPs to engage in candid dialogue. Individual store evaluations were conducted by certified retail designersfor independent retailers who attended the show this year. In addition, for the first year ever, nearly half of the 677 show exhibitors raised their hands as Independent Retailer Friendly, indicating that they serve the small as well as large retailers.

“More than 90 percent of this country’s retail storefronts are independent retailers. While GlobalShop continues to serve the global retailer as well, it was important to us to create programming that also targets Main Street,” said Doug Hope, Founder and Show Director, GlobalShop.

“In this, the 22nd year of GlobalShop, we continue to see exhibitors push the boundaries of creativity and innovation to bring the cutting edge of retail design to the show. In 2015, as we explore the Path to Purchase in our show Centerpiece, we will continue to provide insight into cracking the in-store code,” added Hope. A

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is the largest annual store design and at-retail marketing show in the world, bringing together retailers, brand marketers and industry suppliers each year since 1993. GlobalShop’s conference program is led by top retail experts, who provide insight, advice and best practices on how to create sustainable brands that resonate with consumers. GlobalShop is produced by Emerald Expositions, presented by design:retail magazine (formerly DDI) and sponsored by A.R.E., the Association of Retail Environments. For additional information contact: Rachel Honig, [email protected], 646.322.1242