Chute Gerdeman acquired

Retail design firm Chute Gerdeman has been acquired by FCB (Foote, Cone & Belding) Chicago, part of the Interpublic Group of Companies.



The Columbus, Ohio-based Chute Gerdeman will now align with FCB/RED, the company's retail and shopper marketing division, to deliver full omnichannel retail marketing and connected physical branded experiences.



FCB/RED provides expertise in retail marketing, branded content and experiences, activation and digital. It has often worked with third-party teams to provide full store environmental design scale and build out. Chute Gerdeman, with a core competency in the retail and restaurant categories, fills this space in FCB/RED's offerings. The newly expanded retail and shopper marketing division will be led by Tina Manikas, president of FCB/RED.



"Creating Chute Gerdeman and growing the company has been my life's work," said Denny Gerdeman, co-founder and chairman of Chute Gerdeman. "The people here have been essential to its success and I owe it to them to ensure a path forward. FCB/RED acquiring Chute Gerdeman creates a way to do just that. This is an opportunity for our team to expand their already vast retail and restaurant knowledge all while exposing them to new methods of strategy and design."



Chute Gerdeman will retain its name and Columbus office, as well as its full complement of strategic, creative and implementation teams.



"This partnership will allow for more opportunities to effectively and proactively engage and solve the challenges of retail today," said Brian Shafley, CEO, Chute Gerdeman. "Chute Gerdeman's proven ability to deliver best-in-class physical experiences connecting with shoppers corresponds perfectly with FCB/RED's shopper marketing and insights expertise."



The acquisition highlights the evolution of today's retail industry and the value in offering an end-to-end retail solution for companies with a brick-and-mortar presence. As brick-and-mortar retail continues to merge with online experiences, customers are still visiting physical locations on their path to purchase, often finalizing their retail transactions in store as opposed to online.



FCB/RED is the global, shopper-first brand agency of FCB, a fully integrated marketing communications agency that has more than 8,000 employees in 120 offices in 80 countries.