Winston Retail

What Winston Retail does

Winston Retail Solutions, LLC is a privately held, women-owned (WBE-certified) retail merchandising and visual design services company founded in 2003 and headquartered in New York, with a secondary West Coast office in San Francisco. The company operates a field force of more than 3,500 retail experts across North America and serves over 215 clients, including 100+ globally recognized brands across fashion, footwear, athletic wear, beauty, home, and technology. Its service portfolio spans five practice areas: Field Merchandising, Creative Studio, Retail Operations, Consumer Experience, and Visual Merchandising Consulting, addressing brand execution needs in wholesale, retail, and pop-up environments including high-visibility activations at events such as the Super Bowl and College Football Championship.

The company's technology core is WINTELL, a proprietary cloud-powered retail execution platform that supports training management, field task execution, GPS-verified photo capture, real-time dashboards, and built-in LMS functionality. WINTELL is offered in modular configurations (Execution Only, Training Only, and Execution + Training) and is powered by wyattAi, an AI analytics layer described as analyzing captured field data to generate insights. The platform ingests over 5 million images and videos and logs more than 15 million data points annually across client programs. No public API, SDK, or developer-facing surface is offered.

Winston generates revenue primarily through enterprise B2B professional services contracts for field merchandising and creative work, supplemented by what appears to be subscription/recurring revenue from the WINTELL technology platform. Pricing is quote-based and not publicly disclosed; client acquisition is driven by direct enterprise sales, account management teams, event-driven activations, website/case-study marketing, and industry events. The company has operated continuously for over 20 years without disclosed external funding, institutional investors, or PE backing, and ownership is concentrated with founder/CEO Jan Croatt. No subsidiaries, M&A activity, or public financials are disclosed.

Name

Winston Retail

Legal name

Winston Retail Solutions, LLC

Website

https://winstonretail.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2003

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1,001–5,000 employees

Short description

Winston Retail is a privately held, women-owned retail merchandising and visual design services firm serving 215+ global brands with a 3,500+ person field force across North America, offering field merchandising, creative studio, retail operations, consumer experience, and consulting services powered by its proprietary WINTELL platform.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

New York

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Field Merchandising Services: Field merchandising services including visual merchandising, window setup, selling, stock support, mystery shopping, showroom setup, demonstrations, field technology, competitive reporting, audits, merchandising guidelines, and training. Powered by a field force of over 3,500 across North America.
2. Creative Studio Services: Store design, pop-ups, fixture design, visual merchandising directives, brand strategy, nationwide rollouts, custom production, office/showroom design, build and installation, sourcing and procurement, and site surveys.
3. Retail Operations Services: Location scouting, marketing support, staffing, merchandising, reporting and analysis, creative design, training and education, competitive reporting and analysis, and pop-up retail optimization.
4. Consumer Experience Services: Visual storytelling, data capture, public events, brand experiences, recruiting and staffing for experiential retail activations.
5. Visual Merchandising Consulting: Go-to-market process development, store design assessments, visual merchandising strategy, visual merchandising assessments, market research, and process implementation consulting.
6. WINTELL Technology Platform: Proprietary technology platform providing cloud-powered field execution, training management, and reporting solutions. Captures over 5 million images and videos annually, logging more than 15 million data points.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Winston Retail provides outsourced retail merchandising, creative design, retail operations, and consumer experience services to global retail brands through a field force of 3,500+ experts across North America. Its flagship technology, the proprietary WINTELL cloud platform, powers training, photo/GPS-verified field execution, and real-time reporting for in-store brand compliance. Offerings span visual merchandising, store and pop-up design, fixture build and install, staffing for activations, and consulting, delivered across wholesale, retail, and event environments.

Product overview

Winston Retail operates as a retail merchandising and visual design services company offering a platform-plus-services model. The core product is WINTELL, a proprietary cloud-powered retail technology platform serving as a command center for field teams that combines training, execution, and real-time reporting capabilities. WINTELL is available in three modular configurations: Execution Only, Training Only, and Execution + Training. Complementing the technology platform, Winston Retail provides five primary service offerings: Field Merchandising Services, Creative Studio Services, Retail Operations Services, Consumer Experience Services, and Visual Merchandising Consulting Services. The company serves over 100 brands across fashion, footwear, athletic wear, home, beauty, and technology sectors with a field force of over 3,500 retail experts across North America.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• WINTELL: Winston's proprietary cloud-powered retail technology platform that provides field teams with training, execution management, and real-time reporting capabilities. Features include photo verification with GPS tracking, real-time dashboards, full LMS with certifications, sales attribution, weather overlays, and AI-powered analytics via wyattAi. Powers programs for over 100 globally recognized brands, capturing over 5 million images and videos annually.

Products and services

• Field Merchandising Services Visual merchandising services including window setup, selling floor support, stock support, mystery shopping, showroom setup, demonstrations, field technology, competitive reporting, audits, merchandising guidelines, and training. Designed for global retail brands operating across wholesale, retail, and pop-up environments.
• Creative Studio Services Design and implementation services including store design, pop-ups, fixture design, visual merchandising directives, brand strategy, nationwide rollouts, custom production, office/showroom design, build and installation, sourcing and procurement, and site surveys.
• Retail Operations Services Operational support including location scouting, marketing support, staffing, merchandising, reporting and analysis, creative design, training and education, competitive reporting, and pop-up retail optimization.
• Consumer Experience Services Consumer engagement services including visual storytelling, data capture, public events, brand experiences, and recruiting and staffing for experiential retail activations, powered by a field force of over 3,500 across North America.
• Visual Merchandising Consulting Services Strategic consulting including go-to-market process development, store design assessments, visual merchandising strategy, visual merchandising assessments, market research, and process implementation consulting.
• WINTELL Technology Platform Winston Retail's proprietary cloud-powered retail technology platform serving as a command center for field teams, enabling training, execution, and real-time reporting with features including photo verification, GPS tracking, real-time dashboards, built-in LMS with certifications, sales attribution, and AI-powered analytics via wyattAi. Powers programs for over 100 globally recognized brands.

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 1,216 projects completed across 20+ years
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers12 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature8 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• wyattAicoreTechnology or IntegrationwyattAi is the AI technology powering Winston Retail's proprietary WINTELL platform. The AI tool analyzes data, answers questions, and drives better outcomes for retail execution, transforming captured field data into actionable insights for smarter decisions and high-impact customer experiences.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• SPAR Group: SPAR Group is one of the largest direct competitors to Winston Retail, providing nationwide retail merchandising, mystery shopping, audits, and in-store execution services for CPG and retail brands. Highly comparable in service model, customer base (global brands), and field-force-driven delivery.
• Mosaic North America: Mosaic North America delivers experiential marketing, field merchandising, and brand activation services for global brands across retail, sporting, and event environments. Closely comparable to Winston's consumer experience and event activation capabilities, including sporting event work.
• Acosta: Acosta is a major sales and marketing agency serving consumer packaged goods and retail brands across North America, providing retail merchandising, field sales, and brand activation services. Direct peer on the services side with similar enterprise brand customers and multi-category coverage.
• The Integer Group: The Integer Group is a commerce agency providing retail marketing, shopper marketing, and merchandising services to consumer brands. Comparable to Winston's creative studio and visual merchandising consulting offerings, particularly for retail clients seeking integrated campaign-to-execution support.
• Apollo Retail Specialists: Apollo Retail Specialists provides retail merchandising, fixture installation, and grand opening services for big-box and specialty retailers. Comparable to Winston on the field execution and installation side, particularly for nationwide rollouts and store reset programs.
• Premium Retail Services: Premium Retail Services is a retail merchandising and field marketing services firm supporting consumer electronics, soft goods, and apparel brands in big-box and specialty retail. Closely comparable to Winston on field merchandising service delivery and enterprise retail customer base.
• Advantage Solutions: Advantage Solutions provides sales, marketing, and merchandising services to consumer goods manufacturers and retailers, including in-store execution, category management, and shopper marketing. Comparable scale and service breadth to Winston, particularly in retail execution for CPG and apparel brands.
• Frontline Merchandising: Frontline provides retail merchandising, resets, and in-store services for retail brands across North America. Directly comparable to Winston's field merchandising and store execution service line, with similar customer profiles in fashion, footwear, and sporting goods.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/WinstonRetail
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/winston-retail-solutions
• Instagraminstagram.com/winstonretail

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles14 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Winston Retail