About Us

Envirosell is the leading research consultancy for retail environments and the path to purchase. Since 1989, we have studied stores, products, brands, websites, apps, airports, banks, hotels, and museums across the world. Over three decades later, we’re still ahead of the curve in innovating methodologies and insights. We’re active in the evolution of retail and services and guide strategy for Fortune 500 companies.

Our reach is global. We have worked in 51 countries and maintain offices in China and Japan and research partners across EMEA, APAC, and LATAM.

In 1986, our founder, Paco Underhill had a novel idea: let’s study the way people behave in stores. Paco’s first book, Why We Buy: The Science of Shopping, is an international bestseller and has been published in 27 languages. Paco is widely acknowledged as our era’s foremost retail anthropologist. His columns and editorials have appeared in The New York Times, Money Magazine and The Wall Street Journal, among others. Paco spends most of his days on the road, as a featured and keynote speaker on six continents.

Our Team

ENVIROSELL NYC HEADQUARTERS

Adam Kavett

Partner, Insights & Consulting

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Larissa Hunt

Partner, Data & Methodology

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Liam O’Connell

Partner, Business Development

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Tierney Nelson

Research Associate

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Raquel Valentin

Project Manager

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Tom Moseman

Senior Vice President

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Jessa Wang

Research Associate

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Giselle Burgos

Research Analyst

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Emily Petrie

Data Analyst

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Paco Underhill

Founder & Strategic Advisor

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Patricia Maltez

Partner, Finance

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Michael Bunch

Senior Team Leader

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John Engle

Senior Team Leader

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Clelia Giron

Senior Team Leader

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Paul Kelly

Senior Team Leader

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Silva Mateosian

Senior Team Leader

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Adam Kavett

Partner, Insights & Consulting

Adam draws on strong expertise in human-centered design and cognitive ergonomics to deliver powerful guidance to refine and reimagine experiences. Adam leads project teams and consults across a variety of industries, leading Envirosell's exploration into non-traditional and unique space types. Since joining Envirosell in 2011, Adam has led over 100 custom research and consulting projects in 17 countries across 4 continents. His client list includes some of the biggest names in retail and consumer packaged goods. Outside of retail, Adam has worked on the development of major transit hubs, cultural and educational institutions, and large-scale workplaces for real-estate brokerage firms. He is also Envirosell's in-house expert on wine, beer, and spirits categories. Adam graduated from Cornell University with a B.S. in Design and Environmental Analysis, concentrating in Human Factors & Ergonomics. He spends most of his free time divided between obsessing over his garden and foraging in specialty grocery stores.

Larissa Hunt

Partner, Data & Methodology

From applying and optimizing project-specific methodologies to assuring the quality of output, Larissa oversees all things data at Envirosell's Global Headquarters in NYC. Larissa works with other departments and her staff to filter client needs into projects with useful, reliable results. Larissa is also the liaison for 3rd party vendors, including focus groups, moderators, and transcription/translation. A member of design:retail's 2018 class of 40 under 40, Larissa has worked her way from data intern to Director of Data & Methodology over the course of less than a decade. She received her Master's of Science in Social Research in 2010.

Liam O’Connell

Partner, Business Development

Since joining Envirosell in 2008 Liam has studied how shoppers interact with spaces and products across the world. He is an expert in designing research tools and approaches to capture data that tells the story of the customer experience. Past clients include Best Buy, Wendy’s, Jim Beam, Lacoste, adidas and Logan Airport. Liam earned his BS at Tulane University. He lives in Brooklyn, NY.

Tierney Nelson

Research Associate

Tierney attended the University of Washington in Seattle, Washington and received her BA in Community, Environments, and Planning with a focus in Anthropology. She applies the ethnographic research experience from undergrad into her role as a research associate here at Envirosell. Additionally, Tierney has 6 years of retail customer experience so working with retail stores is all too familiar. When not working, you can find Tierney people-watching at one of New York's many parks and probably eating a street hot dog or coffee.

Raquel Valentin

Project Manager

Raquel brings over 15 years of experience in the retail sector, where she has successfully managed teams and led a diverse range of projects across various categories, including furniture, consumables, electronics, and business-to-business sales. She holds a B.A. in Sociology with a concentration in consumer behavior from Hunter College, providing her with a solid foundation in understanding market trends and customer needs. Raquel's expertise extends to agile project management, where she has excelled as a Project Manager in the financial sector. She is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP) and Certified Scrum Master (CSM), with numerous additional certifications that showcase her deep knowledge and commitment to professional growth. Outside of her professional life, Raquel is passionate about travel, always eager to discover new locations and explore different cuisines. She also enjoys relaxing with her cats, often curling up for a good movie after an adventurous day.

Tom Moseman

Senior Vice President

Having spent almost half his life working at Envirosell, Tom is considered a “lifer”. His first career was in the theatre where he worked as an actor, director and producer. He believes this was perfect training: theatre creates an external expression of the psychological world; Envirosell examines the behavioral world to reveal the psychological one.

Jessa Wang

Research Associate

Jessa is a passionate social science researcher with experience in research design, data visualization, and spatial analysis. She brings in her perspectives in both design and psychology to examine the relationship between the built environment and consumer experiences. Prior to joining Envirosell, Jessa worked as a client liaison at an immigration law firm and has completed a B.A. in Editing and Publishing and M.A. in Communication. To further advance her design and analytical skills, she is also on the path of pursuing a Master of Urban Planning degree at New York University. Being from China, Jessa carries her love for her culture through food and movies. She is also a book and music lover who likes to travel with her favorite stories and curated playlist.

Giselle Burgos

Research Analyst

Giselle is an integral part of our data team and contributes to project execution in both quantitative and qualitative data analyses. She started working for Envirosell in 2013 and her roles have extended from data intern to survey programmer to research analyst and takes pride in her impeccable attention to detail. Giselle specializes in our eye-tracking methodology and provides insights by seeing the retail world through the consumer's eyes - literally! She received her B.S. in Sociology in 2013. Giselle is a native New Yorker and loves trying different cuisines, following the latest beauty trends and dancing to Latin tunes.

Emily Petrie

Data Analyst

Emily joined Envirosell in November 2022. She has always been a data nerd and is thrilled to use her data skills to help Envirosell’s customers. Her previous work has been in the not-for-profit sector in NYC, including helping develop systems to improve operations at a school, running a free IRS tax preparation program, and working at an animal shelter. She has a Master’s degree in Quantitative Methods in the Social Sciences from the City University of New York Graduate Center and a Bachelor’s degree in Social Policy from Northwestern University. She lives in Queens with her partner and their roughly 75 pound lap dog.

Paco Underhill

Founder & Strategic Advisor

Paco’s first book, Why We Buy: The Science of Shopping, is an internationally recognized bestseller and has been published in 27 languages. His columns and editorials have appeared in The New York Times, Money Magazine and The Wall Street Journal, among others. Paco spends most of his days on the road, as a featured and keynote speaker on six continents. Today he is known as one of our era’s forefront retail anthropologists. To learn more about Paco, please visit pacounderhill.com.

Patricia Maltez

Partner, Finance

Patricia loves numbers, so she switched from personal assistant to Accounting. Having joined Envirosell in 2004, she balances her work with her hobbies, including watching futbol (soccer), sewing, knitting and reading spy fiction thriller books. Patricia has the most “favorites” in life out of anyone in the office. Two examples are her favorites TV shows: Castle, Bones and NCIS. And her favorite footballer: “Messi”.

Michael Bunch

Senior Team Leader

Michael began working with Envirosell after more than 15 years working in healthcare administration. He was initially drawn to this work through his interest in psychology as it relates to human behavior. After traveling the world with Envirosell, he has not only worked for a variety of clients but also for a variety of roles within the company. He specializes in methodology training and in-field problem solving.

John Engle

Senior Team Leader

John has been part of the field staff for over 15 years. A lifelong New Yorker, he received his BA in Cultural Studies from SUNY Empire State College. He taught in NYC public and private elementary schools and still tutors math to children. He has worked on hundreds of Envirosell jobs, touring the world team-leading in-store research for clients in varying industries. Outside of Envirosell, he toured the world as the guitarist in the band Codeine.

Clelia Giron

Senior Team Leader

Clelia is a lifelong New Jersey resident and has been with the company for 10 years working on over 130 projects. She currently specializes in eye-tracking and shop-alongs while also team-leading. She has a BA from Denison University in Communication and Spanish. In her spare time, Clelia enjoys traveling, meeting new people and immersing herself in different cultures and languages.

Paul Kelly

Senior Team Leader

Paul has worked for Envirosell for over 13 years now, and is an expert in all aspects of fieldwork. He has been team leader on hundreds of retail projects with clients in various industries, traveling globally to cities such as Moscow, Shanghai, and Guatemala City, among others, to team-lead research and teach Envirosell’s methodology to team members. Paul is also a film actor, and has taught public speaking workshops to Law Students at Hofstra University.

Silva Mateosian

Senior Team Leader

Silva is a self-professed product junkie who counts cosmetics research among her favorite jobs in her 15+ years at Envirosell. She moved to NYC when she was 18 to attend AMDA and has worked professionally in theatre all her life. She believes that she uses the same tools for research that she does to create a role onstage and that her experience in both fields has many parallels.

INTERNATIONAL OFFICES

ENVIROSELL JAPAN

UTIL Tokyo Opera City Tower 24 Fl. 3-20-2 Nishishinjuku Shinjuku Tokyo 163-1424

ENVIROSELL CHINA

INI International 1303B Building 1, Tiande Plaza Office Building, 391-395 Lingjiang Ave, Tianhe District, Guangzhou