Ron Brunette

1110 Jackson Avenue River Forest, IL 60305 (C) 708-567-8514 (H) 708-689-0452
rba46200@westpost.net
With a solid career in retail environments, I am a recognized leader in the crea
tion of collaborative, informed and brand-right design, credited with nationally
-recognized concepts, shops, and fixtures being used today. I am adept at delive
ring focused, strategic retail spaces that work for the customer, product, assoc
iates, and the company, with design leadership that delivers brand promise, on t
ime, on budget and on strategy.
This experience has led to work in department store, mall-based, strip center an
d big box formats, creating environments delivering sales results. I have also b
een a keynote speaker on visual merchandising, store design and retail industry
trends in the United States, Canada and Latin America.
My objective is to secure a leadership position in retail environments with a su
ccessful branded company, and help that company grow sales and profit through ta
rgeted, informed, world-class design.
Experience:
Sears Holdings 3330 Beverly Road Hoffman Estates, IL 60176
Vice President of Visual Creative Design 1/08 to 5/10
Design Committee Member. Responsible for directing design for over 3700 stores i
ncluding the creation of fixtures, signage, graphics, concept shops, vendor-supp
orted marketing, point of purchase collateral, store layouts, visual merchandisi
ng and new concept development. Formats include: Sears, Sears Auto, Appliance &
Hardware Stores, The Great Indoors and Kmart. Brands include Lands End, Joe Boxe
r, Craftsman, Kenmore, Jacqueline Smith, Structure, and Diehard.
Designed renovation for 500 Sears & Kmart Stores, new Sears Auto Franchise Cente
rs for national roll-out, an overhaul of a sign system based on digital delivery
, and new fixture and shop concepts, working in hard and soft lines, health & be
auty, and consumables.
Led a staff of 50 including: 3 Directors, an interior fixtures & graphics design
studio, new concept development, a digital signing team, and an off-campus faci
lity. Collaborated with merchant, marketing and sales development, procurement
& finance for cost improvement, construction & store operations for implementati
on of key initiatives, and outside vendors & consultants on new concept developm
ent.
Delivered $5M in cuts through digital signing program for 2010. Cut $2.1M in 08
, an additional $3.2M in 09, by gaining signing efficiencies between brands.
Created a corporate signage brand book with signing standards and practices def
ined by format, for use internally and with vendor partners, working with mercha
nts and marketing to define and align around pricing & promotional activity. Rol
led out of multi-year signing initiative with a system that interfaces with prod
uct pricing & plan-o-gram systems for automatic promotional printing.
Created, designed, sourced and negotiated funding for a roll-out of permanent d
irectory, departmental and other signing for all Sears and Kmart stores, current
ly in national roll-out.
Created award-winning campaigns aligned with marketing and merchants for point
of purchase seasonal collateral, in-store marketing collateral, and vendor colla
borative POP change-out.
Circuit City Stores, Inc. 9950 Mayland Drive, Richmond, VA 23233-1464
Vice President of Store Environments 4/06 to1/08
Supervised staff of 68 including: interior, exterior, fixtures & graphics design
ers, procurement, project management, finance & clerical support, store layout &
planning. Worked with buying, marketing & sales for revenue improvement, procur
ement for cost improvement, and construction & operations for on-time delivery o
f new and renovated stores.
Created new concept The City stores, and other new concept stores in large & sm
all formats for national roll-out. 47 stores built, 3 weekly throughout 07. Deli
vered initial concept, interior and exterior design, layout, fixtures, graphics,
signage and displays, budgeting proposals, presentations, and project planning.
Created in-store Firedog services department branding for national roll-out
Designed and executed capital projects: Connect, a joint Comcast/Circuit City s
tore, Florida Design Studio, an internal design space, The EA Store, a partnersh
ip with Ethan Allen, and The Verizon Store, a partnership booth with Verizon, su
ccessfully negotiating a national rollout.
Delivered year-long re-branding national roll-out in conjunction with marketing
, including interior directory signage, in-store marketing collateral, layout an
d plan-o-gram changes, and vendor POP. Projects included store analysis and rede
ployment of assets, visual merchandising, collateral design, sourcing, point-of-
purchase material fabrication, and instruction manuals.
Created a new format graphics manual for use in-house and with vendors to estab
lish and maintain standards for point of purchase collateral, signs and graphics
, working with Panasonic, Sony, Verizon, Samsung, Comcast, Mitsubishi.

Modells Sporting Goods 498 Seventh Avenue, New York, NY 10018-6701

Vice President of Visual Merchandising & Store Design 8/03 to 4/06 Delive
red new concept research and development, layouts, fixtures, graphics, finishes,
point-of-purchase collateral, in-store marketing, visual merchandising, floor p
lans, plan-o-grams and store communications. Successfully managed the design, pr
ototypes, mechanicals, budgets and sourcing for fixtures, graphics and other in-
store elements.
Led growth for expanding northeast-based family sporting goods retailer with ne
w prototype still being used, a fully proprietary branded retail space at $38 pe
r sq., with a 10-day decrease in construction time. Created imported fixture pro
gram, lowering overall costs by 30%. Designed 13 stores in 05 and 22 new stores
in 06.
Rolled-out in-store printing system for rack top signage, for savings of $300K
in 06, $500K in 07. The new system made possible sign printing in-store. Wrote s
porting goods industry vendor POP standards, resulting in all in-store marketing
elements including banners, wall graphics, fixture signage and posters being st
andardized to support proprietary store brand. All sporting goods vendor partner
s participated. Created successful retail fixtures, POP and environments for Nik
e, Reebok, Under Armor, adidas, Champion, Russell.
Created two successful private-label in-store marketing strategies (Smiths Work
wear & Everlast), with design criteria, POP and shops for rollout to other retai
lers.
Created and negotiated vendor-supported POP and fixture shop program resulting
in $1.2M (fixtures) and $800K (POP) a year in partner investment in 05 and $1.8M
& $1.2M in 06. All 11 brand partner programs had sales increases from 3% v/s (-
2%), (Penguin) to 56%. (Underarmour). This resulted in a capital budget cut of
$600K, while increasing investment in stores.

Musicland / Best Buy 10400 Yellow Circle Drive, Minnetonka, MN 55343

Vice President of Visual Merchandising and Category & Concept R&D
3/02 to 6/03
Executive Committee Member. Led visual merchandising, store design, store planni
ng and research & development for 1400 Musicland stores in Sam Goody, Suncoast a
nd Media Play formats, also created R&D opportunities for Best Buy.
Directed store capital programs, working with mall, marketing & vendor partners
hips. Designed and completed 49 Sam Goody stores, (Build-out cost under $100 pe
r sq., decrease of construction time by 21 days). Created a modular store format
, completing 11 Suncoast stores resulting in a different branded look through th
e use of product placement, marketing elements and finish changes only.
R&D directed relationship with vendor community and projected market needs thro
ugh analysis, developing enterprise-wide categories and concepts to broaden mark
et scope. Created store/shop concepts including: "Atomic Living", "Game Store",
& "Rising Sun", "Super Heroes", and "Fast and Furious".
Cut overall printing costs by $2M and created an import program, cutting fixtur
e costs by 39%.
Kids / Babies / Toys R Us 461 From Road, Paramus, NJ 07652
Corporate Director of Apparel Planning & Presentation 1/96 to 2/02
Executive Committee Member. Store planning and visual merchandising for Kids R
Us, Babies R Us, and Toys R Us soft lines. Directed store design, interior layou
ts and fixtures, signage, display, seasonal shops, decor and new prototypes. Sup
ervised CAD designers, an in-store marketing staff, visual merchandisers, store
opening and field instructors.
Designed and executed new concept stores for Babies R" Us, designed Toys R Us C
ombo and Kids R Us new concept, rolling out over 100 stores in each format natio
nwide per year. Designs were inclusive of fixtures, layout, signage, graphics,
hardware, custom finishes and carpet.
Successfully negotiated liaison with outside vendors including Motherworks, led
vendor-supported program resulting in 3M of funding per year, with Nike, Reebok
, Levis, Oshkosh, Carters, Disney, Lee.
Lady Foot / Kids Foot Locker (Kinney Athletic Corp.) 233 Broadway, NY, NY 10279
Senior Brand Manager of VM/Director of Retail Environments 2/91 to 1
/96
Created Visual Merchandising for Lady Foot Locker, adding responsibility for the
following Kinney companies: Foot Locker, Kids Foot Locker, Champs Sports, Going
to the Game!, Kinney Shoes, Basics, & Footquarters.
Managed multi-million dollar budget supporting vendor marketing, signage, fixtu
res, store design & layout, seasonal merchandising programs, VM philosophy and e
xecution for approximately 2400 stores in 7 formats.
Negotiated multiple vendor-supported monthly programs with major vendors includ
ing Nike, Reebok, Keds, adidas, Puma, Champion, Jogbra, with over 100 programs n
egotiated.

Abraham & Straus (Allied-Federated) 422 Fulton Street, Brooklyn, NY 11201

Director of Visual Presentation 1/89 to 1/91 Executed window and interior
display shops, cosmetic promotions & special events. Managed the restoration for
the flagship location with the Brooklyn Downtown Preservation Committee, receiv
ing Best in Brooklyn award.
Supervised renovations, floor plans, fixture design, sourcing, buying, & budget
s. Managed vendor-supported marketing, signage, fixtures, store design & layout,
seasonal merchandising programs.
Lord and Taylor (May Company) 424 5th Avenue, New York, NY 10018
Director of Production for Visual Merchandising 1/86 to 1/89 Directed vis
ual displays for the 5th Avenue store, including window and interior display & c
apital projects. Managed weekly 30 window changes, and seasonal shops throughout
the store, including Lord & Taylors famous Holiday windows, including budgeting
, staffing, design and execution, working with in-house, and consultant staff. W
on Best Windows in NYC 2 years running.
 Managed vendor-supported marketing, signage, fixtures, store design and layout,
as well as seasonal merchandising programs, VM philosophy and execution.
Created, in partnership with Ralph Lauren Home and DKNY, the first ever shop co
ncepts for each. Created additional shops with fashion, home, cosmetic and house
ware vendors throughout the store.
Managed twice-yearly sets of model rooms, working with various designers. Recei
ved press coverage: The New York Times, The Daily News & Womens World, and cover
age on NPR and network TV. Planned and executed weekly cosmetic launches, includ
ing introductions of "Red", "Elizabeth" and "Obsession".
Professional Affiliations: Retail Design Institute (Member), Chain Store Age (Ed
itorial Board Member), National Association of Fixture Manufacturers (NASFM) (Ad
visor), VM +SD (Editorial Board Member), Store of the Year VM/SD (Judge)
Personal Affiliations: Chinese Children Adoption International (Member & Fundrai
ser), Parents of Chinese Children (Member), Heritage Chorale Oak Park (Choral Me
mber), the United Way (Fundraiser)
Former Personal Affiliations: Gildas Club NY (Volunteer 03-06), Habitat for Huma
nity NY & VA (Volunteer 03-08), Stonewall Chorale, NY (Choral Member 86-02), One
Voice Chorus Minneapolis (Choral Member 02-03)
Education: Associate Degree (Theater Design) UT Austin, TX. B.A. (English) Mount
St. Mary, Manchester, NH.

References available upon request.