The Retail Development Conference You’ve Been Waiting For Is Headed to San Antonio

If you lead store development, construction, real estate, or design at a retail chain, you’ve sat through enough generic keynotes, wandered enough exhibit halls, and come home with enough branded pens to last a lifetime. There’s a better use of your time.

RetailSpaces is built to be the opposite of all that.

This spring, we’re bringing the industry’s most influential store development, design, and construction executives to the Texas Hill Country for two and a half days of real conversations, actionable content, and the kind of connections that actually move your work forward. Just the right people, the right topics, and an unforgettable setting.

Who Attends RetailSpaces

This event is purpose-built for the executives driving the physical side of retail: the people who wake up thinking about build costs, site selection, permitting delays, and what the store of the future actually looks like. Specifically, we bring together:

• Chief Development Officers
• SVPs and VPs of Store Development
• SVPs and VPs of Real Estate
• VPs and Directors of Design & Construction

From large national chains and fast-growing up-and-coming brands, across apparel, grocery, specialty, convenience, food & beverage, and more.

What’s on the Agenda: The Topics That Actually Matter in 2026

The retail development landscape has never been more complex, or more interesting. Build costs are up. Labor is tight. Permitting backlogs that used to take 30 days now take 150. And AI is starting to reshape everything from site selection to store design. This spring, we’re tackling the issues at the top of every development leader’s mind:

• Costs, Labor & Supply Chain: Navigating rising build costs, tightening labor markets, and a supply chain that still hasn’t fully stabilized.
• AI & Data: How artificial intelligence and smarter analytics are reshaping the way stores get designed, sited, and built.
• Permitting, Pre-Construction & Site Selection: Cutting through the gridlock, finding the right locations faster, and de-risking the pipeline.
• Designing for Today’s Consumer: What Gen Z, Gen Alpha, and a post-pandemic shopper expect from a physical store, and how to deliver it.
• Sustainability & the Future of Retail Design: Strategies that survive contact with a real buildout budget, and a forward look at where store design and construction is headed.

Highlighted Sessions

Beyond great speakers from brands like WSS / Foot Locker, Total Wine & More, Fleet Farm, and CVS Health, there are sessions you simply can’t miss:

Decoding Gen Z & Alpha Brieane Olson (CEO, PacSun) and Melissa Gonzalez (Principal, MG2) on designing stores that speak the next generation’s language.

State of the Industry Amber Koehler (VP Construction, Target), Taha Hasan (AVP Design & Construction, Canadian Tire), and Paul Calderon (VP Store Growth, Five Below) on where store development stands and where it’s headed.

Designing Worlds, Not Just Spaces Steve Tatham, Executive Creative Director at Universal, on what retail can learn from theme park world-building.

What Sets RetailSpaces Apart

Ideas beyond your bubble. Leaders from apparel, grocery, specialty, convenience, and more in one room. Real conversations. Fresh thinking that cuts across categories.

A panel from last Fall featuring leaders from CVS, 7-Eleven, and Kroger.

Meetings that matter. Retailers connect with 80+ top vendors through pre-scheduled 1:1s. No wandering exhibit floors. Just focused conversations that get to the point.

Less conference. More connection. Set at a resort, not a convention center. The format is designed to help you connect personally and professionally.

The Setting

We’re headed to the Texas Hill Country. Rustic charm, shady trails, and a brand-new 2.2-acre Crystal Lagoon opening this year at the Hyatt Regency Hill Country Resort & Spa. The perfect place to disconnect from the daily grind and actually connect with your peers.

Kick things off on Sunday with your choice of a Pickleball Social, BBQ & Brew Challenge, or Salsa Mix-Off. Then on Monday night, we take the whole group to the iconic San Antonio Riverwalk for a Lone Star Fiesta.

Invite-Only. Free to Qualified Retail Executives.

Attendance is complimentary for qualified retail executives, including hotel, meals, and all experiences. We keep it invite-only to ensure every person in the room is here for the same reason: to do their job better.

March 29-31, 2026 | Hyatt Regency Hill Country Resort & Spa | San Antonio, TX

Request your invite and join the leaders shaping the future of physical retail.