Big Box, Bigger Problems – Why Retail Design Is Failing Humans (and the Radical Rethink Canadian Tire Is Betting On) – Episode 137 with Sarah Heppinstall

About this episode

The episode features a discussion on human-centered retail design with Sarah Heppinstall from Canadian Tire, focusing on sustainability and customer experience.

This week on Better Buildings for Humans, host Joe Menchefski sits down with Sarah Heppinstall, Vice President of Design, Construction, and Maintenance at Canadian Tire, to explore what it really takes to deliver human-centered retail at scale. From her journey across the UK and Canada to leading national building strategies, Sarah shares how customer experience, employee well-being, and operational efficiency intersect in every design decision. The conversation dives into flexible “kit of parts” store design, the role of daylight in staff spaces, and how massive retail environments can still feel intuitive and welcoming. Sarah also unpacks the realities of decarbonization, resilience planning for extreme weather, and the challenge of balancing sustainability with cost and speed. It’s a practical, insightful look at retail spaces that don’t just serve customers—they evolve with them. More About Sarah Heppinstall Sarah Heppinstall is a construction and real estate leader with over 20 years of experience delivering complex retail and commercial projects across Canada. Throughout her career, she’s seen how sustainability goals succeed, or fail, based on how well they’re embedded…

People in this episode

Host: Joe Menchefski

Guest: Sarah Heppinstall

Topics covered

• retail design
• human-centered design
• sustainability
• customer experience
• employee well-being
• decarbonization
• resilience planning

Keywords

• retail
• design
• sustainability
• customer experience
• employee well-being
• decarbonization
• construction
• operational efficiency

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Canadian Tire, Advanced Glazings, Ltd.

Places: UK, Canada

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