The winning team was competing for their concept to appear in a Columbus space next year, as announced by Columbus Fashion Council Founder and Executive Director Thomas McClure.

After the introduction of the Challenge, teams split up to get to work, across the site of the conference — the Hilton Columbus Downtown — and the Greater Columbus Convention Center.

Teams were made up of a mix of professionals from the retail community. They only had seven hours to develop their concept before presenting it to a panel of colleagues for judging — so collaboration and focus were key.

Each team took the stage with a visual presentation to pitch their concept, in addition to whatever stylistic touches they made to get their point across — pitches included everything from audio tracks to newly-created social media accounts.

The evening’s Retail Challenge Winner Reception and Dinner revealed that Robyn Novak of AGAR led the winning concept. Click through to see the rest of the teams!

Team #1

Coach – AJ Montero, National Design Leader Nelson Worldwide
Jerry Schiro Marketing Manager OPTO International, Inc
Cord Martin, Development & Marketing, JGA
Devin Dardanes, EVP Business Development, B+N Industries
Tim Allen, Creative director, Innomark
I Chen Yen, Student, Ohio State University
Stephanie Bair-Garant, Direcytor of Visual Merchandising, ZenGenius
Jonathan Glanz, President, Epidaur Digital

Note: The team rosters listed in this gallery were set before the Retail Challenge, and may not exactly match those attendees pictured.

Team #2

Coach – James Farnell, Partner, Retail Practice Little
Jamie Poulos, SVP Marketing & Design OPTO International, Inc
Jeff Hastings, Chief Strategy Officer, Visual Creations/Rose Displays
Emanuela Barzaghi, CEO, LS Lighting Corp
Diane Archibald, VP Store Design & Development, Reitmans Canada LTD
Melissa Molyneaux, Marketing Director, Innomark
Christina Nguyen, Student, Ohio State University
Marco Ferrari, Creative Director, Ensemble
Jennifer Cohen, Visual Merchandising Manager NYC, ZenGenius

Team #3

Coach – Garrison Latimer, VM Lead Green Thumb Industries
Rob Northrup, Director of Marketing, Siffron
Jay Long, CEO Visual Creations/Rose Displays
Danielle Marzarella, VP Business Development, Visual Elements
Bernice Johnson, Channel Marketing manager, Brother International Corp
Trey Cosler, Sr Account Executive, Innomark
Carmen VanWalsen, Student, CCAD
Gabriela Jagodnik, LATAM Design Production Director, Ensemble

Team #4

Coach – Beth Harlor, Director Regional Design Bayer Corp
Shane Obitts, Director of Engineering, Siffron
Stephen Vitello, Sales Executive, Visual Creations/Rose Displays
Pamela Demarest, VP Business Development & Supply, Visual Elements
John Carvajal, Creative Services Manager, Brother Interrnational Corp
Fvelipe Lopez, Design Development Engineer, Innomark
Amy Magnus, Student, CCAD

Team #5

Coach – Robyn Novak, National Design Leader AGAR
Jeremy Martin, VP of Sales & Marketing, Siffron
Jessie Sanders, Design Team Leader, ArcVision
Stephanie Lewis, Assoc Project Manager, Little
Anthony Vitiello, Sr Director Business development, Innomark
Mari Miura, Senior Interior Designer, Nelson WW
Jalpa Patel, Interior Architect, ZenGenius, Inc

Team #6

Coach – Brad Stewart, EVP Sales Hera Lighting
Jennifer Tucker, Director of Retail Environments, OCTONORM NA
Thomas Pratt, Vice President, Marketing Alliance Group
Chris Rozman, Design Director, Lando & Fitch
Petr Simek, Managing Director, WELLEN a.s.
Cynthia Ortiz, President, Collaborative Design Strategies
Vincent Tricomi, Vice President, PFI

Team #7

Coach – Rebekah Sigfrids, SVP Design/Innovation Bank of America
Nadine McLearon, Executive Vice President, D|FAB
James Scarpone, Director of Business development, Sahawmut Design & Construction
Ryan Brevda, Vice President, Ryan Scott
Suling Hsu, Design Director, Landor & Fitch
Madison Keyse, Student, Ohio State University
Joshua Kingsley, National Sales Manager, Bearwood Concepts
Kevin Tierney, Tarkett USA Inc

Team #8

Coach – Meredith Seeds, Sr Director, Retail Studio Nelson WW
Raj Khosia, National Account Executive, DlFAB
Martin Kindon, Sustainability Director, POPAI UK & Ireland
Scott Carter, SVP Sales & Marketing, In-Store Experience
David Weinmann, VP of Sales, Acchroma
Brooke Koch, Student, Ohio State University
Brendin King, Director Analytics & Operations, Express

Adimika Owens, Senior Director, Visual Merchandising and DesignFloor & Decor

Hannah Grady Williams, Founder, Analog Academy

Team #9

Coach -Amber Bazdar, Director Global Retail Design Timberland
Julie Day, Client Leader, DlFab
Kyle Seabolt, Director of Sales, LEDConn
Christian Bollrath, President, Hera Lighting, L.P.
Nomar Abdullah, CEO, FMF Stores
Candie Bozzard, Interior Design Student, Ohio State University
Madeline Baumgartner, Marketing Manager, Vanguard Packaging
Mardi Najafi, Vice President, Retail Strategy & Design, Figure3
Eric Feigenbaum, New York Editor, VMSD magazine

Team #10

Coach – Alejandro Alvarez Correa, CMO American Signature Inc.
Kathy Tedorski, Design Director, Landor &  Fitch
Ann Marie Dela Cruz, Creative Director, The Bernard Group
Fabian Perez, Student, Ohio State University
Michelle Isroff, Design Leader, Nelson WW

For our Shop! Ideation 2022 Recap Photo Gallery, click here.