Author

Paco Underhill

Global. Funny. Visionary. And more. Paco is the son of an American Diplomat. He grew up in Southeast Asia and Eastern Europe, before returning to the U.S. for high school. He attended Columbia University and Ehwa University, in Seoul, Korea before getting his undergraduate degree from Vassar College. He has spent the past 40 years as an inventor of tools to understand human behavior and predict the future.

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Here’s even more. Founder and former CEO of Envirosell Inc. for 34 years a Behavioral Research and Consulting firm based in New York City with global offices. Paco’s expertise is in the meeting point of the physical and digital worlds, including stores, banks, airports, libraries, museums, shopping malls, offices, cruise ships, model homes, and websites. His work has been profiled in The New Yorker Magazine, Smithsonian Magazine, and others.

Paco is author of multiple global bestselling books – including Why We Buy: The Science of Shopping published in 27 languages and used in design schools and MBA programs all over the world. Other books include Call of the Mall, What Women Want, and How We Eat – The Brave New World of Food and Drink.

Airports: The New Mall

Paco Underhill June 22, 2023

The modern airport has become a version of cold war Berlin — a city divided. In the biz it’s called landside and airside, separated by ...

The Dubai Retail Scene

Paco Underhill June 11, 2023

In the first Star Wars movie there is a scene where Luke Skywalker and Obi-Won Kenobi walk into a bar looking for Han Solo. The ...

A Veteran Researcher Looks at the Subject of Shoes

Paco Underhill March 21, 2023

Flipflops, crocs, sandals, loafers, pumps, boots, sneakers – everybody wears some sort of shoe. Across all cultures, climates, and incomes, the shared experience of buying ...

The Reinvention of Curation

Paco Underhill August 22, 2022

The display greeting you at the doorway is a huge geode of crystal amethyst; the asking price is $2000. Behind it is a mannequin wearing ...

Hidden Opportunities

Paco Underhill June 22, 2022

Over my career, I’ve worked with a lot of clients that had hidden opportunities to market their products and services, hidden in plain sight. These ...

What Are Screens Doing to Us?

Paco Underhill April 20, 2022

At age 16 my first step towards independence was a driver’s license. I failed the first test and was mortified – parallel parking in a ...

A Perspective on Luxury from a Global Citizen

Paco Underhill January 17, 2022

Let’s talk context. The origins of luxury goods go back to the 18th century when the retail model was developed for an aristocracy – the ...

Reimagining the Supermarket

Paco Underhill January 3, 2022

Note: The following has been excerpted from “How We Eat, the Brave New World of Food and Drink.” Copyright © 2022 by Peckshee, LLC. All ...