Meet Karen Herman of Gustie Creative in Boca Raton

Today we’d like to introduce you to Karen Herman.

Thanks for sharing your story with us Karen. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I’m passionate about design, retail, and technology. I began to explore the phenomena of Pop Up Stores in 2010 and realized it was just the start of a whole new movement in retail. I saw brands and businesses finding new and creative ways to enter the marketplace. Pop Up Stores were one example.

So, I got an office at the Technology Business Incubator at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton and went on a deep dive to learn more. I researched new design concepts and retail trends, beta tested new technologies and shopping applications and studied the changing retail landscape and macro influences affecting it.

What I discovered was a new way of retailing that is emerging worldwide. It creates opportunities for brands and businesses to connect with consumers directly and is called Disruptive Retail.

Today, my company specialized in Disruptive Retail design and strategy. We recently launched a design platform called Create Disruptive Retail www.createdisruptiveretail.com

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
We are a start-up that has moved from ideation to early stage to now launching a design platform. It has been a four-year journey and there have been a few struggles, mostly due to bootstrapping because we are self-funded.

You learn to wear a lot of hats in a start-up.

Please tell us about Gustie Creative.
Gustie Creative is an innovative disruptive retail solutions provider. Gustie offers full-service commercial design, retail design strategy, strategic marketing, and design innovation with AR and VR, for all brands and businesses.

Our product, Create Disruptive Retail (www.createdisruptiveretail.com) is the premier online-to-offline design platform for creating unique offline retail solutions for brands, businesses, agencies, and non-profit organizations. To support our design platform, we are writing a series of five e-books. The first e-book is called “The Definitive Guide to Disruptive Retail – Experiences” and will be available in January 2018. We also host DisruptShops monthly in Boca Raton.

Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
My favorite memory from childhood was visiting my grandparents in Michigan. My grandfather helped build the main street in their hometown and he would take me to ribbon cuttings for new store openings. I still have a handwritten note with the words he used to dedicate a new Kresge’s Department Store in the 1970’s. It is a nice moment.

Contact Info:

• Address: 3651 FAU Boulevard, Suite 400
  Boca Raton, FL 33431
• Website: http://www.createdisruptiveretail.com
• Phone: 561 409 5135
• Email: karen@gustiecreative.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gustiecreative/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/gustiecreative/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/gustiecreative

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