Twin Cities Startup Week
Twin Cities Startup Week took place from October 9th - 16th. This year an entire day was devoted to a Retail Track, which included a slate of speakers and leaders from the retail industry. In addition to the engaging and relevant content the event happened to be hosted by my former employer, Target.
TCSW Retail Track hosted by Target
The day took place inside a familiar building - Target Plaza Commons. Instead of meeting coworkers for a game of ping pong in the mezzanine, however, I was there as a visitor. While I saw a few familiar faces there was a large presence of startups and entrepreneurs in attendance.
Target was well represented by speakers throughout the day - Minsok Pak, Chief Strategy and Innovation Officer; Todd Waterbury, Chief Creative Officer; and Julie Guggemos, SVP Owned Brand Product Design & Management. Topics included the rapid evolution in shopping behavior, the importance of brand, and gathering consumer insights to inform product development.
Eric Dayton, founder of Askov Finlayson clothing company, shared his thoughts on developing his brand’s identity and ensuring his company’s sustainability goals were matched by their actions. As a native Minnesotan I loved the driving force behind his brand - to embrace the North in all its frozen glory. Winter is just a fact of life here so it only makes sense to meet it head on and take full advantage of all it has to offer.
Overall, it was a great day of engaging topics and a chance to network with other entrepreneurs in the retail space. I hope TCSW continues to devote time to the retail industry in future years.
Below is a link to the recap from Target’s official corporate blog: