Retail design is one of those fields where the details really matter. A storefront, a display, the way materials meet, even the space left between products can change how a store feels.
The designers on this list approach work in different ways. Some are known for bold visual concepts, others for thoughtful interiors, brand storytelling, or creating retail spaces that simply feel good to be in. What they have in common is a clear point of view, and a knack for turning a store into something people remember.
This is a look at the people worth knowing if you follow where retail design is heading, whether you’re looking for inspiration, fresh ideas, or simply want to see what’s happening in the industry.
Choose Signs and Fixtures for Your Retail Design
When planning a retail interior, the right signage, furniture, and display pieces can help bring the overall design together. Consider Signs and Mirrors for stainless steel, mirrored, and acrylic pieces that complement different retail styles and spaces.
The collection includes:
- A-frame and sidewalk signs for storefronts and promotions
- mirrored, stainless steel, and acrylic signage
- wall-mounted and upright signs for retail interiors
- stainless steel furniture and display pieces
- made-to-order desks, shelves, and tables
If you’re looking for signage and fixtures that fit your retail concept and brand, contact Signs and Mirrors to discuss your project and explore custom options.
Signs and Furniture Available from Signs and Mirrors
Signs and Mirrors offers a range of signage, furniture, and display pieces for Pilates studios, wellness spaces, and other modern interiors. The collection includes dimensional wall signs, statement mirrors, stainless steel furniture, and several A-frame options for storefronts and studio entrances.
1. #040 - Solid Cast Metal Letters & Signs
The #040 - Solid Cast Metal Letters & Signs provide dimensional branding with a durable architectural look.
- solid cast aluminum construction
- dimensional letterforms
- multiple finish options
- suitable for interior and exterior branding
- mounting hardware included
2. #023 - Stainless Steel Circular Coffee Table
The #023 - Stainless Steel Circular Coffee Table adds a sculptural element to reception, lounge, and waiting areas.
- seamless circular stainless steel construction
- brushed metal finish
- low platform-style profile
- available in multiple sizes
- suitable for lounge and reception spaces
3. #018 - Round Dimensional Wall Sign
The #018 - Round Dimensional Wall Sign creates a dimensional focal point for entrances, branded walls, and studio interiors.
- circular dimensional profile
- stainless steel construction
- multiple finish options
- suitable for interior and exterior walls
- customizable display surface
4. #005 - Mirrored Acrylic A-Frame Sandwich Board Sign
The #005 - Mirrored Acrylic A-Frame Sandwich Board Sign offers a lightweight option for entrances, promotions, and events.
- mirrored acrylic surface
- lightweight wood-backed construction
- foldable A-frame design
- suitable for indoor and outdoor use
- customizable display surface
5. #032 - Stainless Steel Mood Board Floor
The #032 - Stainless Steel Mood Board Floor is a freestanding display piece for large-format visuals and branded environments.
- oversized stainless steel panel
- brushed metal finish
- freestanding vertical design
- suitable for interiors and brand activations
- custom sizing available
6. #013 - Cream Stainless Steel A-Frame Sidewalk Sign
The #013 - Cream Stainless Steel A-Frame Sidewalk Sign pairs a soft cream finish with a durable stainless steel frame.
- cream powder-coated finish
- stainless steel construction
- available in two sizes
- designed for storefront visibility
- customizable display surface
7. #042 - Rectangular Forma Mirror
The #042 - Rectangular Forma Mirror features a round mirror inset within a brushed stainless steel frame for a sculptural interior look.
- circular mirror inset
- rectangular stainless steel frame
- brushed metal finish
- tabletop or wall display options
- suited to modern interiors
8. #067 - Low-Profile Stainless Steel Menu Holder
The #067 - Low-Profile Stainless Steel Menu Holder is a slim tabletop display made from 304 stainless steel, designed for menus, wine lists, table numbers, retail signage, and promotional materials.
- available in brushed stainless steel or mirrored finish
- three sizes for different paper formats
- includes magnets to keep printed materials in place
- available blank or with custom printing
- additional custom sizes available
- suitable for restaurants, retail spaces, events, and hospitality settings
9. #017 - Bone Stainless Steel Handlebar Sidewalk Sign
The #017 - Bone Stainless Steel Handlebar Sidewalk Sign uses a curved frame and soft bone finish for a more distinctive storefront display.
- tubular stainless steel frame
- bone powder-coated finish
- handlebar-style design
- suitable for studio entrances
- customizable display surface
10. #001 - Mirrored A-Frame Sandwich Board Sign
The #001 - Mirrored A-Frame Sandwich Board Sign combines a polished mirrored surface with a foldable format for storefront and interior displays.
- mirrored stainless steel finish
- foldable A-frame construction
- suitable for indoor and outdoor use
- available in multiple sizes
- customizable display surface
1. James Sundstad
James Sundstad combines brand strategy, retail design, store design, architecture, and project management. His work spans fashion retail, hospitality, convenience stores, grocery, drug stores, quick-service restaurants, and culinary spaces. Over the course of his career, he has worked with architects, interior designers, graphic teams, agencies, strategists, writers, and other creative specialists across international markets.
His approach brings branding, architecture, and the build process closer together. Brand storytelling is an important part of that work, with physical environments used to communicate what a brand stands for and shape the way people experience it. He also has experience leading creative teams and developing retail and restaurant concepts from early ideas through to physical execution.
Key Areas of Focus:
- Retail design
- Brand strategy
- Store design
- Branded architecture
- Environmental brand storytelling
- Hospitality design
- Restaurant design
- Project management
Core Expertise:
- Brand development
- Creative direction
- Retail concept development
- Architecture and build coordination
- Customer experience design
- Team leadership
- Cross-disciplinary collaboration
- Physical brand environments
Contact Information:
- Website: graphitedesigngroup.com
- Email: info@graphitedesigngroup.com
- LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/sundstad
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/graphitedesigngroup
- Address: 1809 Seventh Avenue, Suite 700, Seattle, WA, 98101
- Phone: 206-224-3335
2. Lindsay Henningfeld, RDI
Lindsay Henningfeld works across retail and residential design, with a focus on space planning, organization, and environments built around the way people actually use them. Her background covers retail design, visual merchandising, customer experience, and large-scale program leadership, giving her experience with both the visual and practical sides of design.
Space planning is a common thread in her work. Retail environments, home offices, storage areas, and other multifunctional spaces all benefit from careful thinking about flow, organization, and everyday use. Her areas of expertise include store design, visual merchandising, custom storage solutions, residential design, client management, and cross-functional leadership.
Key Areas of Focus:
- Retail design
- Space planning
- Store design
- Visual merchandising
- Customer experience
- Residential design
- Organization
- Custom storage solutions
Core Expertise:
- Retail space planning
- Store design
- Visual merchandising
- Customer experience design
- Residential space planning
- Custom storage planning
- Client management
- Cross-functional leadership
Contact Information:
- Website: www.retaildesigninstitute.org
- Email: info@retaildesigninstitute.org
- LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/lindsayhenningfeld
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/lindsayhenningfeld
- Address: 8570 Stirling Rd, Ste. 102-227, Hollywood, FL 33024
- Phone: (954) 551-9234
3. Quentin Blanchard
Quentin Blanchard leads global architecture, retail design, and visual merchandising for L'Oréal's Carita brand. His experience spans Paris, Hong Kong, Shanghai, and the United States, as well as different levels of retail work, from local operations and regional planning to global creative and innovation projects. This gives his work a strong international and cross-market perspective.
Retail strategy is closely connected to business goals and local market conditions in his work. Customer journeys, online and offline experiences, process improvement, team development, sustainability, and testing new ideas all form part of his approach to retail design. His areas of expertise also include industrial design, product design, design thinking, user experience, and multicultural team management.
Key Areas of Focus:
- Global retail design
- Architecture
- Visual merchandising
- Retail strategy
- Customer journey design
- Online and offline experiences
- Retail process development
- Sustainable design
Core Expertise:
- Design thinking
- Industrial design
- Product design
- User experience
- Multicultural team management
- Strategic process implementation
- Retail operations
- Complexity management
Contact Information:
- LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/quentinblanchard
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/lequentin
4. Michael Hurst
Michael Hurst brings together retail design, creative strategy, experiential design, and visual storytelling. His work focuses on how brands are communicated through physical environments, with experience working across both larger corporations and smaller businesses. His background also includes work connected to brands such as Vans and Fox.
His design practice covers both concept development and visual communication. Alongside retail design and brand strategy, his areas of work include 3D design, visual design, presentation design, interior design, and brand marketing. This combination allows him to move between the spatial, visual, and strategic sides of a retail project.
Key Areas of Focus:
- Retail design
- Experiential design
- Visual storytelling
- Brand strategy
- Brand experience
- Interior environments
- Visual communication
- Creative strategy
Core Expertise:
- 3D design
- Visual design
- Presentation design
- Interior design
- Brand marketing
- Retail concept development
- Environmental storytelling
- Creative direction
Contact Information:
- LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/michael-hurst-95a16014
5. Caroline Wertlieb
Caroline Wertlieb is a Global Retail Designer at New Balance, combining retail design with a background in graphic design. Her work focuses on creating branded environments where the visual identity of a company carries through into the physical retail space. Visual storytelling and brand communication are central to the way she approaches these environments.
Her work also connects retail design with broader marketing and brand communication. Working across teams, she develops design solutions that keep the visual language of a brand consistent across different formats and touchpoints. The result is a retail environment that connects with the wider brand system while still working as a physical space for customers.
Key Areas of Focus:
- Global retail design
- Graphic design
- Branded environments
- Visual storytelling
- Brand communication
- Retail marketing collaboration
- Store experience
- Cross-functional design
Core Expertise:
- Retail concept development
- Graphic communication
- Visual identity
- Brand storytelling
- Environmental graphics
- Spatial communication
- Creative collaboration
- Consumer-focused design
Contact Information:
- LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/carolinewertlieb
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/carolinewertlieb
6. Cynthia Srour
Cynthia Srour is a Retail Store Designer at American Eagle Outfitters, where she creates store environments for Aerie and OFFLINE. Her work brings together concept design, spatial planning, and execution, with close coordination across design teams, vendors, construction, and operations. Before moving into her current role, she worked in architectural project management, overseeing retail and commercial projects from design through construction.
A practical side of retail design runs through her work. She has worked on spaces where existing columns, neighboring stores, and different brand identities all had to fit into one customer journey. Her background in interior design, along with skills in 3D modeling, AutoCAD, and construction drawings, helps connect the early design idea with what actually gets built.
Key Areas of Focus:
- Retail store design
- Concept development
- Spatial planning
- Storefront design
- Customer journey planning
- Brand environment design
- Retail project coordination
- Design execution
Core Expertise:
- Interior design
- 3D modeling
- AutoCAD
- Construction drawings
- Adobe Illustrator
- Vendor coordination
- Cross-functional collaboration
- Architectural project management
Contact Information:
- LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/cynthia-srour-3ab580171
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/cynthia.srour
7. Michael He
Michael He works across retail space design, visual merchandising, and retail design strategy, with experience in international fashion and beauty retail. His work covers physical store environments as well as pop-ups and window displays, bringing together the visual side of retail with the practical work needed to take a concept into a finished space. Retail project management is also part of his background, giving his work a strong connection to the delivery side of store design.
A notable part of his work is the development and use of retail design standards. This includes adapting standards for different environments and supporting teams through training, which connects design direction with how it is applied across physical retail locations. His recent work also touches beauty and travel retail, including project execution for Valentino Beauty and support for a Miu Miu pop-up in Singapore.
Key Areas of Focus:
- Retail space design
- Visual merchandising
- Retail design strategy
- Store design
- Pop-up design
- Window display design
- Retail design standards
- Retail project management
Core Expertise:
- Retail concept development
- Visual merchandising strategy
- Design standard creation
- Design standard adaptation
- Retail fitting-out projects
- Project coordination
- Team training
- Fashion and beauty retail environments
Contact Information:
- LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/michaelhexi
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/mxchaelhe
8. Caridad Caceres
Caridad Caceres works in retail design and merchandising for Travel Retail Americas at L'Oréal, with a focus on luxury environments. Her work brings together design implementation and team leadership, with retail projects connected to beauty, fragrance, and travel retail. The role sits at the point where brand presentation, physical space, and the needs of travelers come together.
Luxury retail activations are another part of her work, including projects involving brands such as Prada, Lancôme, and Perrier-Jouët. These environments require coordination across design, retail, and local teams, particularly when a concept needs to work within an airport or other travel setting. Her experience also covers CAPEX-related retail design projects and the management of design teams.
Key Areas of Focus:
- Retail design
- Travel retail
- Luxury retail
- Merchandising
- Beauty and fragrance environments
- Retail activations
- Design implementation
- Team leadership
Core Expertise:
- Retail design execution
- Merchandising
- Luxury brand environments
- Project management
- Team management
- Design coordination
- Retail activations
- CAPEX project management
Contact Information:
- LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/caridad-caceres
9. Denise Lai
Denise Lai combines project management with retail store design and construction. Her work covers new store openings, branded environments, design guidelines, and the coordination of teams involved in bringing a retail space from planning into construction. Marketing, visual merchandising, and construction teams all form part of that process.
There is a strong practical side to her work. Creating 3D models, managing RFP processes, working with vendors, and coordinating different disciplines all sit alongside the creative work. Her background in fast-paced team management also carries into retail projects, where timelines, communication, and construction details need to stay aligned.
Key Areas of Focus:
- Retail store design
- Retail construction
- New store openings
- Branded environments
- Design guidelines
- Project management
- Vendor coordination
- Cross-functional collaboration
Core Expertise:
- SketchUp
- Revit
- 3D modeling
- Adobe Creative Suite
- Smartsheet
- RFP management
- Project coordination
- Construction coordination
Contact Information:
- LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/deniserenelai
10. Tim R.
Tim R. leads global retail design and brand experiences at Nike, bringing together retail environments, experiential design, events, packaging, and wider brand design. His work covers both everyday retail and larger moments such as product launches, cultural events, future retail concepts, and immersive brand activations. The role combines creative direction with the coordination of multidisciplinary and geographic teams.
Architecture forms an important part of his design background, but his approach extends into storytelling through space, technology, and local and human insights. Physical and digital experiences are closely connected in this work. Earlier projects include NikeLab and Nike House of Innovation, while his current focus includes global retail strategies, seasonal design, consumer journeys, and brand experiences.
Key Areas of Focus:
- Global retail design
- Brand experiences
- Store design
- Experiential design
- Retail concepts
- Product launches
- Cultural activations
- Physical and digital experiences
Core Expertise:
- Creative direction
- Retail strategy
- Architecture
- Consumer journey design
- Storytelling through space
- Team leadership
- Brand design
- Cross-functional collaboration
Contact Information:
- LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/tim-r-a2138129
11. Suri Lee
Suri Lee is a Design Director in Brand Creative Retail Design at Nike, with experience in store design and retail environments. Earlier work with AllSaints focused on developing store concepts while working closely with Retail Operations, Product, and Visual Merchandising teams. That process placed practical store needs alongside the visual direction of the brand.
One interesting part of her retail design approach is how existing spaces can be updated without losing what already works. A Bluewater store project kept existing finishes and flooring while introducing new furniture, a perimeter system, facade changes, and updated signage. This kind of right-sizing connects brand development with the realities of adapting an existing retail space.
Key Areas of Focus:
- Retail design
- Store design
- Brand creative
- Store concepts
- Retail environments
- Space adaptation
- Visual merchandising collaboration
- Global retail design
Core Expertise:
- Store concept development
- Spatial design
- Retail planning
- Brand integration
- Existing store adaptation
- Furniture and fixture planning
- Cross-functional collaboration
- Design development
Contact Information:
- LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/surilee
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/suri___lee
12. April Gallant
April Gallant has worked across retail design, creative leadership, and project management, with a strong connection to IKEA and large-scale store development. Her work includes developing retail concepts and layouts, supporting new store locations, guiding creative teams, and maintaining design standards across different markets. She also brings an interior design perspective to retail environments, with attention to brand identity and the way spaces work for everyday customers.
The project side of retail design is an important part of her experience. Budgets, contractors, vendors, timelines, and phasing plans all sit alongside the creative work. She has also developed training workshops and implemented country guidelines, connecting design decisions with the teams responsible for carrying them into practice. Her focus on locally inspired design adds another layer to the way she approaches retail environments.
Key Areas of Focus:
- Retail design
- Store concepts
- Store layouts
- Interior design
- Creative team leadership
- Retail rollouts
- Brand identity
- Locally inspired design
Core Expertise:
- Concept development
- Space planning
- Design critique
- Project management
- Budget coordination
- Vendor and contractor coordination
- Training and workshops
- Design guidelines
Contact Information:
- LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/april-gallant-murasky
Conclusion
Retail design sits somewhere between creative work and practical problem-solving. A good store has to look right, but it also has to guide people through the space, support the brand, make products easy to understand, and work in the real world. That is why retail designers can come from quite different backgrounds, from interior and graphic design to architecture, visual merchandising, and project management.
The people featured in this list show how varied the field has become. Some focus on store concepts and spatial planning, while others work more closely with brand experiences, visual merchandising, retail standards, or the delivery of projects across different markets. What connects them is a focus on physical environments and how people experience them. For anyone looking at retail design today, that mix of creative thinking and practical knowledge is probably the most useful thing to take away.
