At the heart of retail, you'll find it's SO much more than just selling products.
we're bringing back the heart and soul of retail, one client at a time.
it's about serving deeply - not selling.
it's about actually solving a real problem for your customers.
it's about creating an emotional experience when they visit your store, e-commerce website, tradeshow, or event.
it's about increasing your impact inside and outside of your community.
it's about seamlessly interweaving your company into your customers' lifestyle.
it's about creating a legacy for yourself, your family, and the industry around you.
it's about curating a unparalleled product assortment that your customers crave and tell a story.
it's about fulfilling your customers' hopes and dreams.
This is what retail means in our world.
THE JOURNEY HERE
After years of building retail merchandising strategies at the corporate level across several Fortune 500 retailers, I did something unprecedented at Office Depot: I convinced them to bring local brands into their Austin, Texas stores for the first time in company history through a program I spearheaded called Operation Ignite.
We merchandised 10+ local businesses - including consumer favorites Epic Provisions and Chameleon Coffee - inside big box retail infrastructure. Watching small businesses bring their innovation into that environment was both incredible and desperately needed.
That breakthrough - and the newfound passion it sparked for independent brands and retailers - inspired everything that followed.
In 2015, I founded The Affinity Group International (TAGI), launching the Revitalize Retail® program to partner with economic development corporations, chambers of commerce, and municipalities on retail strategy, community building, and retailer empowerment to revitalize Main Streets.
In 2018, I launched Retailing Evolved®, a retail growth and innovation studio to work directly with small businesses ready to transform their approach to retail. Our Storefront Success System® became the driving force of operational success for hundreds of retailers nationwide.
In 2020, following the murder of George Floyd and retail's awakening to its diversity crisis, I co-founded the nonprofit Diversify Retail® Inc. to educate and empower BIPOC students, brands and retailers to build businesses that shape retail's future.
Today, the team and I work with multi-location retailers reimagining their operations, retail investors building the industry's most promising new retail concepts, technology teams developing AI for retail, universities creating retail programming, and communities revitalizing their main streets.
When I'm not reimagining retail futures, you'll find me in Atlanta with my Husband navigating the beautiful chaos of parenting two small humans, working on a design project around the house, or probably changing my hair style (the blue is always consistent, though).
Looking forward to being a partner in your success,
DeAnna McIntosh
DeAnna McIntosh, Founder and Retail Growth Strategist
deanna@retailingevolved.com
Speaking Engagements + Press
Future-proofing Your Retail Business
bernina university
Multiply + Diversify Your Revenue with Zero Ad Spend
atlanta market
If you're ready to transform how you approach retail - whether you're growing a retail business, developing retail technology, or strengthening retail economic development inside your community - I'd love to explore what we could create together.
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