The founder of STORY and Macy’s Brand Experience Officer will discuss the reimagining of retail in an era of digital disruption

Santa Monica, Calif. (April 25, 2019) – Licensing Expo, the world’s largest and most influential licensing industry event, today announced Rachel Shechtman, Macy’s Brand Experience Officer and founder of STORY, will take the stage for the Licensing Expo keynote address on Wednesday, June 5 at 9:15 a.m. – 10:15 a.m., which is part of Licensing University, produced by International Licensing Industry Merchandisers’ Association (LIMA). The keynote presentation, “Agility at Scale: Rachel Shechtman Shares Insights from the Launch of STORY at Macy’s,” will explore how the STORY retail model will come to life at Macy’s and address the fabled retailer’s response to evolving consumer expectations while driving foot traffic.

Licensing Expo 2019 takes place June 4 – 6 at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. For more information and to register as press, please visit here.

“Rachel’s proven brand experience expertise will be well-received by our audience,” said Jessica Blue, Senior Vice President, Global Licensing Group, Informa. “Licensing is playing a crucial role in today’s seismic shift toward experiential retail, offering retailers and brands a competitive advantage and establishing deeper connections with consumers.”

With brick and mortar accounting for over $206.4 billion in sales of licensed consumer merchandise, or 76 percent of all sales, according to the 2017 LIMA Annual Global Licensing Industry Survey, innovation is key to continuing retail’s success as consumer shopping habits continue to realign. Entrepreneur Rachel Shechtman recognized this eight years ago, when she launched the retail concept STORY in Manhattan in 2011, focusing as much on customer experience and engagement as it did on sales. Now, those innovations are rolling out across the nation following Macy’s acquisition of STORY last year, and Shechtman being named as Macy’s Brand Experience Officer.

“Rachel truly is one of the most creative and innovative minds in retail today, so we are honored to be able to hear from her as she embarks on the next chapter of this STORY with Macy’s,” says Maura Regan, President, LIMA. “I look forward to the insight and inspiration she will share with us at Licensing Expo, as we all look for ways to adapt and thrive in this new retail era.”

To learn more about this year’s keynote, please visit: licensingexpo.com/keynote.

For more information on Licensing Week programming, please visit: licensingexpo.com/licensing-week.

The Licensing Expo Keynote is free to all attendees. To attend Licensing Expo for free, please visit: licensingexpo.com/register.