November 9, 2023
How long have you been in the space management industry?
I have only been supporting floor plans and adjacencies roughly six months. However, prior to this I worked in store for a large hobbies and crafts retailer. There I spent ten years in sales, customer service, management, moving product, and setting planograms. I feel like this provided a good foundation for my career now.
What is your favorite part about being a floor planner?
I would say my favorite part about being a floor planner is the problem solving. Each floor plan involves investigation, and it is very similar to putting a puzzle together. Even better, you get to see the puzzle after its complete in the way of a real-life store!
What is the hardest part?
The hardest part in my case, is managing the amount of restrictions within categories. There are so many! I am thankful that I’m surrounded by a great team of leaders to navigate those challenges.
How do you explain your job to people outside our industry?
The best way I can describe what I do as a floor planner would be: I am responsible for the macro side of space planning. I am responsible for entire category adjacencies on the floorplan within the store. This can affect things such as flow of customers, overall appearance, and drive product sales.
What resources have you used within the Community resource library? What have you found most valuable?
As someone who is relatively new to this side of the industry I have found not only the blog to be helpful but some of the webinars as well. The blog helped me get a feel for what the industry is and how vast it can be. I would say the blog and the forums have been most valuable to me in this community. The forums have been super helpful and the feedback has been very beneficial.
What most excites you about the industry today?
Having gone to college for 3D environments and computer animation, I think the emergence of 3D virtual space in the industry has me most excited. I think it will be interesting how these two industries merge together and the amazing projects that will be created from it.
The Space Planning Community is a collaborative, non-competitive environment for retailers, consumer goods companies, and brokers to learn, connect, and advance the retail space management profession. Launched by the Association of Retail and Consumer Professionals, headquartered in Chicago, IL the community provides value to its members through networking, best practice sharing in visual merchandising, training, events, thought leadership content, and more. With both corporate and individual membership options, participating in a way that suits your needs has never been easier. Click here to learn more about membership options.