PAVE - The Planning and Visual Education Partnership

Hollywood, Fla. (June 03, 2008)—The Planning and Visual Education partnership (PAVE) will hold its 14th annual international 2008 Student Design Competition. The competition is geared toward college–level students who are involved in retail planning, merchandising, and branding programs. The 2008 competition will be sponsored by Macy’s and will challenge students to develop concepts in line with the company’s branding, product lines, and retail stores.

Macy’s executives developed the design challenges. PAVE’s Education Chair Eric Feigenbaum of the Laboratory Institute of Merchandising (LIM), New York, and PAVE’s education committee members reviewed the challenges. Macy’s is sponsoring the competition in memory of Rudy Javosky, Macy’s Senior Vice President of Design and Construction from 1987 to 2006.

“We are very pleased that Macy’s is sponsoring this year’s competition. Their involvement offers students an opportunity to address real–world design challenges as students prepare for their future careers,” said Richard Stolls, president of PAVE.

The competition’s design challenges consist of a visual merchandising category and a store design category.

“Macy's stores are the day–to–day personification of our brand, and the visual environment is undeniably connected to the feeling our customers have about Macy’s. As we look for new ways to make our store–level experience more compelling, we challenge the PAVE designers to apply their technical skills and fresh thinking toward the next generation of store design,” said Randy Pender, Group Vice President of Visual Merchandising for Macy’s Corporate Marketing.

Deadline for entries is Nov. 3, 2008. Judging will take place in early November at the Macy’s Corporate Marketing offices in New York City. Prizes include grants to students and schools. Information on the competition, design challenges, how to enter, and entry forms are available online here..

For more information about Macy’s, please visit www.macys.com..

Note for editors: PAVE can provide contacts for interviews. Contact Catharine Scott, above, for more information.

About PAVE
Founded in 1992, The Planning and Visual Education Partnership’s (PAVE) objective is to encourage students to study in the field of retail design and planning and visual merchandising through its annual Student Design Competition. Additionally, PAVE seeks to encourage retail management, store planners, visual merchandisers, architects, and manufacturers to interact with and support design students. This is accomplished through seminars, workshops, and PAVE’s annual fundraising Gala with proceeds dedicated to financial aid and internships for qualified students. PAVE is administered by the Association for Retail Environments (A.R.E.), formerly NASFM.