Outlook Magazine - Fall 2024

ales during the holiday season, from Black Friday forward, can make or break a retailer’s year. In 2023, Marks & Spencer of London hoped

Northern,” said Runge, senior structural designer. One of the bus displays, made of corrugated paperboard with graphic overlays, was sent to the Marks & Spener headquarters in London. “I heard all positive things from them,” said Runge, who designed it over five months. “There were unique elements, like curved corrugate. It was an experiment for me.” Runge works at Great Northern’s Brooklyn Park, Minn., facility on a team of 22 employees with six designers devoted to the Target account. They provide a variety of in-store display solutions year-round for one of the world’s leading retailers. At back-to school time, for example, the big bins that hold notebooks and other supplies are designed by Runge and his team. All of his designs need to function as expected and be easy for store employees to assemble. He grew up in Woodbury, Minn., and was happy to find out that one of the top packaging schools in the country was nearby at UW-Stout. He had two co-op experiences with companies, getting a firsthand look at his career before he graduated. “I wanted a job that would stand the test of time,” he said. “My mom worked at 3M with a lot of packaging people, and I was alerted to the career through that.” Runge is enjoying his success. “Just seeing my designs in the stores is very gratifying. No display is as straightforward as you think it could be,” he said.

to make a splash at Target stores by featuring an iconic English double-decker bus display. Target turned to supplier Great Northern Corp. and one of its UW-Stout alum, packaging graduate Dan Runge (’17) to bring the idea to life. Working only with a photo concept and a basic Target fixture, Runge delivered an iconic, red “bus” 8 feet long, 7 feet high and 2 feet wide populated with product shelving instead of passengers. It was designed to separate into pieces and move around each of the 1,800 Target stores as needed. Runge and Great Northern received a nice post-holiday present for the eye catching project: the national Shop! Outstanding Merchandising Award Temporary Display of the Year. “It felt great to get that recognition. This is probably one of the top designs I’ve done in my seven years at Great

“There were unique elements, like curved corrugate. It was an experiment for me.”

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Outlook 2024