Institute News

The World's Game, on Our Home Turf Over the past few weeks, Kansas City has found itself in a rare position: not just watching the World Cup from afar but participating in it as one of the handful of American cities selected to host. These past few weeks for me have served as a powerful indicator that the Heartland isn't relegated to the sidelines... we are, in fact, a major player in the game. For a region too often written off as "flyover country," getting this much primeti

Get ready for the Institute's 2026-2028 Board Elections! Nominate yourself or a fellow member for Chapter or International roles.

by Jessie Sanders, RDI, NCIDQ heartland@retaildesigninstitute.org The RDI Heartland Group stands outside the entrance to Atlas9 with guest presenter Randall Statler, Executive Creative Director at Dimensional Innovations. Photo Credit: Maximus Coric Walking into Atlas 9 last week felt a little like stepping back into my own childhood—if my childhood had included a few more interdimensional anomalies. One of my very first jobs was working concessions at the local dollar movie

Spring is here, and so is Spring Fashion. As we all get into the warmer weather and the wardrobe refresh, here are some recaps of the past couple of months since our last newsletter. April 30th we had our most recent event at the furniture showroom destination, SOCO and the OC Mix in Costa Mesa. Joybird hosted the Retail Design Institute and RCA and showed us how a furniture showroom can truly provide the perfect environment for hospitality. SOCO and the OC Mix is a unique sh

Event Recap: An Evening at Nespresso’s New York City Flagship

We welcomed the season with a wonderful evening at Projex for our Spring Forward Happy Hour. With longer days and spring sunshine finally making an appearance, the event brought together industry professionals and students to celebrate our vibrant design community. As the Pacific Northwest settled into spring, the evening provided a welcome opportunity to slow down, catch up with friends and colleagues, and make new connections. Good conversation, refreshments, and the fresh

Event Recap: Designing the Dispensary - A Night at Gotham

Something about this day in May always makes me think of galaxies far, far away… Is it just me, or does space travel seem to be in the midst of a new moment? Between the excitement surrounding the recent Artemis II mission—marking humanity’s return to the moon for the first time in more than half a century—and the box office success of the Ryan Gosling crowd-pleaser Project Hail Mary (which somehow takes the apocalypse and turns it into something not only joyful but life-affi

We were proud to once again bring together students, recent graduates, rising professionals, and industry leaders for another inspiring Emerging Designers event. The evening created a welcoming space for emerging designers to connect with mentors, receive valuable portfolio and resume feedback, and gain insight into navigating the design industry with confidence. A special highlight of the evening was hearing from keynote speaker Matt Thompson, Assoc. IIDA, Certified Design F

On a picture-perfect spring afternoon in St. Louis, our RDI Heartland Chapter gathered at the Rawlings Experience for a Project Walk that felt equal parts ballgame, brand immersion, and community hang. Our exclusive "Heartland Fan" koozies celebrate the colors of sports teams throughout our region. We kicked things off outside with a tailgate-style happy hour, sun out, drinks in hand, and our limited-edition “Heartland Fan” koozies making their debut like a proper giveaway da