About the Expert Jim Minard

Jim Minard began his award-winning career in the retail industry at a very young age. Working alongside his father who was involved in store planning and visual merchandising with Thomas W. Garland, a well-known retailer in the St. Louis area in the 60’s and 70’s.  Jim’s natural next move after schooling was start a career with Famous Barr in 1972 as Visual Merchandising Trimmer for the flagship downtown St. Louis location.

After working at Famous Barr for a year, he was approached by the Senior VP of Store at Stix Baer & Fuller. He then accepted a position with the company as Visual Display Manager. Jim played an instrumental role in all the creativity and execution of the Season Trims at Stix, including creating mechanical window displays and Santa lands known and remembered by all at this time. As Stix continued to grow, so did Jim’s role with the company. He was responsible for opening all store expansions and remodels, which provided him with more experience in store planning and environments.

Dillard’s Department Stores Bought Stix in the mid 80’s and Jim was then promoted to Senior Visual Director for the Midwest Region. His position was responsible for all aspects of the Dillard’s personality and brand. Dillard’s quickly grew to approximately 80 stores in the Midwest Region, in which Jim’s department was directly responsible for the store planning, visual merchandising, coordinating with advertising and executing all store remodels under $500k budget.

In 1970’s and 1980’s when the retail industry was booming, Jim’s role grew in responsibilities and activities.

Jim left Dillard’s in 1998 to come to work for The Nu-Era Group as Vice President of Sales and Marketing, and was later moved to Vice President of Customer Support Services. At Nu-Era, Jim works very closely with National Retailers, developing store fixtures that showcase their brand or product through leveraging the most effective merchandising solutions.

The Nu-Era Group has over 60 years of experience in the retail industry ranging from custom designs and distinctive visual merchandising to traditional fixtures, for both E-commerce and national accounts. Nu-Era’s global team connects clients with quality retail fixtures and innovative retail display solutions at the most cost-effective price. The Nu-Era Group’s diverse portfolio of clients includes, Under Armour, Target and Family Dollar.