One year ago at Retail Fest, Jethro Marks and Dean Salakas started a small WhatsApp group to figure out where retailers were meeting for drinks after the conference.

Jethro said, “Add some cool people.”

Dean thought everyone at Retail Fest was cool, so he added everyone he knew who was attending.

Within an hour there were 50 people.
By the end of the day there were 100.
By the end of the week there were 300.

What started as a simple chat has now grown into Retail Community, connecting more than 2000 retail leaders across Australia (If you’re not in yet, it’s free to join).

So it feels only right to celebrate our first birthday where it all began, Retail Fest.

Join 500 retailers, brands and industry friends for a relaxed night of drinks, conversations and celebrating the community.

🎂 Birthday cake cutting at 9pm
🥂 Free Drinks till Midnight
🎶 DJ and Drummer till 2am
🌆 Great Views of the GC all night
🛍️ Good Bags for first 100 people in the door

Open to Retail Fest delegates and the wider retail community.
Feel free to bring colleagues, retail friends or industry partners.

If you're in retail, you're invited.

📍 Nineteen at The Star
🕗 Wednesday 6 May, 8pm onwards

Not in the community yet?

Join Retailfest Chat here: RetailFest Group (once in there browse the various other functional groups such as AI in retail, cross border traders, women in retail and more)

Need tickets to Retail Fest or want to learn more about the event?

You don’t need a Retail Fest ticket to come to the First Birthday Party but if you are heading up for the conference, we’ve secured discounted tickets for the community, the cheapest going around.

The first 50 people to book will also receive a second ticket free. Yes, two tickets for the price of one discounted ticket. Basically 85% off!

👉 Retail Fest Discounted Tickets

Want to learn more about Retail Fest? Check out our podcast:

👉 Retail Fest Podcast

A couple of supporters back what we’re building and help make tonight possible.

Platinum & Gold Supporters

- Dotdigital - Customer experience and data platform (CXDP) that empowers marketing teams to exceed customer expectations with highly personalized cross-channel journeys.

- Kelly Partners - Accounting and advisory for e-commerce and retail brands, helping founders scale with clarity and confidence.

- Imile - Forget the "black hole" of traditional shipping. iMile is transforming the Australian e-commerce landscape by bringing total accountability and AI powered visibility to every single parcel.

- Team Up Now - We’re an ethical offshore staffing agency helping Australian businesses build dedicated, long-term teams in the Philippines, without the risk, complexity, or hidden costs

- Athos Commerce - Athos Commerce is the intelligent product discovery platform designed for brands that connects shoppers to the right products across onsite and offsite channels.

- Whatnot - Whatnot is the leading live shopping platform across Australia, North America, the U.K and Europe—where millions of shoppers and sellers come together every day to discover, connect, and sell the things they love. From fashion to beauty, cards to coins, and sneakers to toys—we've got it all.

Silver Supporters

Legal Bits

By attending this event, you agree to the following:

Verification: Your LinkedIn profile may be used to confirm that you’re a retailer. We also may invite you to join our community. We reserve the right to determine at our discretion if you are a retailer, service provider or sponsor and may ask for additional information to prove your classification.
Data Sharing: Any information you provide during registration may be shared with event sponsors, who may contact you about their product and services. That said, we don't plan to provide them with your LinkedIn details.
Information Use: We reserve the right to use your information for future communications. You can opt out at any time.
Photography & Filming: The event may be photographed or recorded. By attending, you consent to your image or likeness being used in future promotional content — and, naturally, appearing in a few epic WhatsApp group selfies.
Respecting Your Inbox: Your details will never be sold or shared outside of sponsor-related use and you can unsubscribe at any time.

We’re committed to keeping this fun, respectful, and community-first — just like the group itself.

Contact the host of Retail Community 1st Birthday Party @ Retail Fest