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1-2 November 2023 Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland
RECON // Retail Conference is a gathering of retail property and business experts. This year’s programme is centered on the theme ‘adapting to thrive’ and will feature one day of exclusive site tours and a second day of engaging conference sessions.
Thank you for making RECON23 such a success!
Curated for property professionals in the retail sector, RECON23 gathers international and local thought-leaders, experts and trend-setters to explore what’s new in retail property.
With economic insights, game changing case studies, inspirational futurists and a host of industry leaders, this event promises to leave you better connected, informed and inspired.
In 2023 we expanded the programme this year to include one day of exclusive site tours.
Suggestions?
Let us know if there’s any particular topic, speaker or project you’d like to see grace the RECON stage in 2024 – contact the events team today!
Have a look at the 2023 highlights!
Why attend RECON24?
Aotearoa New Zealand’s premier event for retail property professionals.
“Loved the range and variety – awesome agenda – thank you!”
2022 Attendee
RECON22
Speakers
Jamie Whiting is the Group Managing Director of the Barkers Max Retail Group, with a career spanning over three decades, Jamie’s journey in the fashion world began on the shop floor as a retail sales assistant at age 17 and over his 30yr career has worked across all facets of the apparel retail industry including leading some of NZ’s best known retail brands including Hallensteins, Glassons, Barkers & Max.
Under his leadership, he has led the successful repositioning and transformation of two of New Zealand’s iconic fashion brands; Barkers and Max. Jamie’s leadership extends beyond the boardroom, as he’s deeply committed to environmental and social responsibility, advocating for sustainable practices and ethical manufacturing throughout the fashion supply chain.
Outside of work, Jamie is an avid adventurer, with a particular passion for boating, diving & fishing. His dedication to both his business and personal growth has made him a respected figure in the retail fashion industry, continually pushing boundaries and setting new standards for excellence.
10:30 am Keynote | The Barkers Story
It’s a decade since Jamie Whiting stepped into the Group Managing Director role at Barkers Max Retail Group. While the first decade was about reviving a classic Kiwi brand, the second will be about making that brand as sustainable, ethical and environmentally low-impact as possible.
In this session, Jamie will take us on the Barkers journey and share what’s next for this iconic retail brand.
Biography
Anastasia leads the Consumer Insights division of Retail Doctor Group. With a professional background as a scientific analyst and a Masters in Mathematics, Anastasia has developed a unique and proprietary approach to help retailers and FMCG brands understand their consumers and market opportunities.
Anastasia combines quantitative and qualitative market research, a proprietary methodology around neurosciences, mystery shopping and retail expertise to accurately model consumer personalities, motivations and behaviours. These insights enable RDG to provide retailers and consumer brands with an accurate overview of their customer base, which in turn informs strategy and provides a framework for deployment both in Australia and internationally.
3:35 pm Closing Keynote | Understanding Consumer Behaviour
Anastasia Lloyd-Wallis, Head of Insights from the Retail Doctor Group will update us on the latest research on human decision-making and show how to use these insights to create actionable competitive advantage for retailers and brands. She combines classic market research methodology with consumer neurosciences and specialised retail knowledge to tell you what your customers can’t.
Biography
Tony Alexander was Chief Economist at the BNZ for almost 25 years and has been out on his own as an independent economist since late-2019.
He distributes the free weekly “Tony’s View” publication to over 25,000 subscribers each week, writes a weekly column for OneRoof, has a weekly video blog, and speaks at about 80 functions a year around New Zealand. He also runs six monthly surveys which give coalface insight into what is happening in NZ industry and the housing market in particular.
9:00am Keynote | Economic Outlook
In this enlightening and engaging session, Tony will give an in-depth look at the current economic climate and how it impacts Aotearoa’s retail sector.
Biography
Shara Paulo is an experienced architect based in Ignite’s Tauranga studio. As a WELL accredited professional, Shara sees advancing human health and wellbeing through architecture as central to her craft.
Shara’s retail design experience spans from large format developments in evolving suburban areas, to transformative mixed-use projects that energise town centres and cities.
A fellow of the NZIA, Shara is committed to community advocacy, and supporting the next generation of architects amongst us. Her human-centric design approach has seen her become a leader at Ignite, both in wellness and placemaking.
1:20 pm Panel Discussion | Retail in the Regions
Our expert panel will discuss retail in the Tauranga, Queenstown and Wellington regions, why brick and mortar retail is still alive and well and how the retail sector has navigated its way through covid and the lessons learnt.
Biography
Michael Sweetman is an experienced property professional with a deep understanding of the retail property sector. Working as a Project Director at Precinct Properties, Michael is currently leading the Bowen Campus and Willis Lane retail redevelopment project in Wellington.
These projects follow on from a role at Precinct delivering the retail at Commercial Bay. Commercial Bay is a transformational development which has redefined the Auckland CBD retail landscape and has set a new standard for retail and hospitality within New Zealand.
Prior to joining Precinct, Michael worked at AMP Capital on a variety of development projects and also held a retail Asset management role. Development projects completed at AMP capital included the Imperial building (Louis Vuitton and Gucci) and 45 Queen Street (Prada and Dior) which cemented lower Queen Street as a luxury retail precinct. Michael’s property career includes a property research role and working on behalf of retailers to procure sites and manage their retail portfolios.
9:55 am Retail Committee Overview
Michael Sweetman, Chair of the Property Council Retail Committee will give us an update from our Retail committee & how you can get involved.
1:20 pm Panel Discussion | Retail in the Regions
Our expert panel will discuss retail in the Tauranga, Queenstown and Wellington regions, why brick-and-mortar retail is still alive and well and how the retail sector has navigated its way through covid and the lessons learnt.
Biography
Linda is the General Management Asset Management at Kiwi Property. She has overall responsibility for the strategic and operation aspects across the asset classes, with a view to optimising their investment performance., She has more than 20 years’ experience in property, retail, management and marketing.
3:10 pm Case Study | Sylvia Park
This session will delve into the journey of Sylvia Park, a renowned retail destination. Greg & Linda will explore the successful transformation of Sylvia Park, highlighting innovative strategies in urban planning, mixed-use development, customer experience, and sustainability.
Biography
David works with machine learning for environmental monitoring with particular interest in neural networks for landcover mapping, the use of machine learning in data creation and analysis in GIS workflows, and explainable AI. David is the Principal of Data Science and a founding employee of Lynker Analytics where he has built the machine learning and data science practice for Lynker over the past 4 years. David has worked on and led a ridiculously large number of AI/ML projects during that time, dealing with everything from model selection to imperfect data to collaborating in multi-disciplinary teams. With machine learning models to detect buildings and urban landcover, solar value calculators, to predicting property values, among others.
11:35 am AI - The New Frontier
David will we explore the dynamic landscape of AI in the retail industry. He will delve into the endless opportunities it presents, from personalized customer experiences to supply chain optimisation. Understand the risks involved and discover innovative applications transforming the retail and retail property sectors.
Nadine Higgins (nee Chalmers-Ross) is an award-winning journalist and broadcaster with extensive experience across television, radio, newspapers and magazines. Nadine is renowned as a fiercely intelligent, articulate and engaging MC and we very much look forward to welcoming her to RECON23.
Biography
Greg Tolley has over 20 year’s experience in the property industry, the last ten years as a development manager at Kiwi Property.
Greg’s key role is the mixed-use master planning for Sylvia Park which includes new retail and commercial office buildings and Kiwi Property’s first Build to Rent development. Greg is also working on master planning LynnMall in West Auckland, the first stage of which is a mixed-use, Build to Rent building.
Greg is passionate about creating fantastic mixed-use environments and is excited by the prospect of developing Build to Rent within Kiwi Property’s existing assets.
3:10 pm Case Study | Sylvia Park
This session will delve into the journey of Sylvia Park, a renowned retail destination. Greg and Linda will explore the successful transformation of Sylvia Park, highlighting innovative strategies in urban planning, mixed-use development, customer experience, and sustainability.
