Design Lead - The Hershey Experience (THX)
The Hershey Company
Jose currently serves as the Design Lead for the Hershey Experience (THX) at The Hershey Company. In this role, he oversees the THX portfolio's design aspects, including corporate-branded, owned and partner retail, licensing, and direct-to-consumer digital. Jose provides leadership in design areas such as architecture, visual merchandising, content, experiential executions, branded food concepts, graphics, and brand stewardship for THX exclusive packaging.
Before his current position, Jose led Visual Merchandising and Retail Design for Godiva Chocolatier North America. Throughout his extensive tenure at Godiva, Jose guided and executed the design strategies across corporate-owned stores, wholesale operations, and shop-in-shops in North America. Jose was responsible for retail design as Godiva's retail presence expanded significantly from less than 75 stores to over 400. The store design evolved four times to reflect expanded confections offerings and an evolving brand identity. Additionally, Jose played a crucial role in adapting the US design and visual model for Godiva's early expansion to Pacific Rim Markets.
With a background in Industrial Design, Jose began his career in product design at a small boutique design agency before transitioning into retail design. His early professional endeavors revolved around creating innovative products and merchandising solutions for various brands in the cosmetics, watches, and high-end retail industries, primarily working on the supplier side in in-house design departments.
10:30am - 11:00am
Exploring the latest trends and innovations in retail store design, focusing on aesthetics, functionality, and customer experience. Join us for a virtual tour of new NYC shops with a spotlight on design.