mornin’ merry makers 🏗️📆📍🛠️📱
there’s a saying in construction: everything takes twice as long and costs three times as much as you expect.
which, in my experience… is often true.
unless nariman shariat is on your team.
today’s behind the stores guest is a retail development wizard who’s helped apple, gap, & wework open stores faster, smarter, & with a lot less chaos. now, through his firm rila consulting, he’s helping even more brands streamline store rollouts & stay sane doing it.
fun fact: we technically overlapped at apple years ago too, but only recently reconnected through one of my favorite merry members! proof that good apples always find their way back at just the perfect time.
what i admire most about his work isn’t just the stores he’s opened, it’s how he’s built systems, platforms, & relationships that stand the test of time (& turnover).
this convo is for anyone who’s ever tried to scale a store fleet and ended up scaling their stress levels instead.
come for the construction war stories.
stay for the timeline-saving wisdom.
in today’s letter, you'll learn:
→ how the best retail timelines are built with trust, not overtime
→ why “on time %” is the metric to watch in development
→ how tech tools are transforming remote site management
→ how one internal platform transformed gap’s store rollout strategy
bts q&a: nariman shariat
I help teams leverage process and technology to build stores more efficiently.
From the moment that a site is identified to the point the doors are open the clock is ticking on coordinating between multiple disciplines and vendors to build the best store the brand has to offer. I focus on what to do when and when to stop doing something that no longer makes sense.
In my past at Gap, Apple and WeWork that ultimately led to developing internal software platforms.
Q2: you've had the unique experience of working at apple, gap, and wework (three very different retail models). what universal truths about retail development have you discovered across these companies?
you’ve made it to the good part 😎
this (& all the best stuff) is for paying merry members only 🔒 so click below to get the goods + support the merrymaking ↓
what you get as a merry member:
• 🧱 bricks brand breakdown every monday
• 🛍️ behind the stores interviews every thursday
• 📎 expert designed tools, templates & resources
• ✏️ the merry makery newsie archive (every post ever!)
• 🫶 my eternal gratitude for helping me build this dream