LIMA will stage the Second Annual LIMA Retail Symposium on Wednesday, October 10 at The Yale Club in New York.  Presented in association with the Terry J. Lundgren Center for Retailing at the University of Arizona, the comprehensive day-long event will feature networking opportunities and high-value sessions, each tackling issues critical to retail success.

Noted retail authority Paco Underhill, Founder and CEO of Envirosell, the consumer behavior research and consulting firm, and author of “Why We Buy: The Science of Shopping,” will deliver the luncheon keynote address. 

Every session in the 2012 LIMA Retail Symposium: How To Collaborate In The New Retail Environment will delve into the issues that are critical to achieving success in today’s retail environment, shedding light on winning strategies and dispelling myths about what it takes to build programs that resonate with consumers.

The preliminary agenda includes:

• A Conversation with Neil Friedman – The Perspective of a Merchant, Brand Owner and Licensee 
• The Things You Need to Know When Presenting and Positioning Your Brands at Retail
• Eight Mistakes You Can’t Make with Retailers in 2013 and Beyond
• Multi Channel Marketing Strategies to Drive POS from the Retail Shelf
• Stand-Out Merchandising Strategies
• The Real Deal on Private Brands
• Retail as Theater: The Resurgence of Event Marketing and Retail-tainment

“We’re very excited about this year’s program, which will present a highly productive and collaborative environment that brings together key decision makers across the broad-based retail and licensing communities to provide attendees with new ideas and strategies to implement in their own organizations,” said LIMA President Charles Riotto. “We’re especially pleased to provide an opportunity for participants to hear from Paco Underhill, an innovative thinker who literally wrote the book on retail.”

In his keynote presentation, Underhill will provide compelling insights, insider observations and revealing anecdotes that attendees can turn into winning action plans.  Known as the inventor of “The Science of Shopping,” Underhill is a recognized expert on global consumer trends and author of several books on the subject, including bestseller Why We Buy, a book about retail throughout history; Call of the Mall, a walking tour of the American shopping mall; and his latest title, What Women Want: The Science of Female Shopping, about how women are changing the retail environment.  Underhill also writes about retail and consumer shopping habits for a number of newspapers and magazines, including Goldman Sachs’ in-house publication, “Robin Report.” 

LIMA Chairman Maura Regan will moderate the day’s opening session featuring Neil Friedman, former President of Toys R Us and of Mattel Brands, who will discuss the process of selling to kids from his perspective as a licensor, licensee and retailer.  Friedman was inducted into the LIMA Hall of Fame in 2007 and the Toy Industry Hall of Fame in 2004, and has a wealth of experience on both sides of the retail aisle to share with conference-goers.

Click here for a complete list of speakers.

The 2012 LIMA Retail Symposium is $395 for LIMA members and $695 for non-members who register before September 14 ($495 and $795, respectively, after September 14).  For more information and to register for the event, visit www.licensing.org/events/2012-lima-retail-symposium.