Mike Steveson could be described as a true purist; a young
and motivated lover of line and space, design and texture whose passion moved him
to embark on an architectural work-study program while still in high school. Some
years later his passion paid off to the tune of some 6 million in revenues in the
last year alone as one of the principles in AAD- A Scottsdale based architecture
and design firm.
Although he initially thought he would become an aerospace engineer, he made a decision,
while still in his hometown of Boulder, Colorado, to spend his first few years out
of school working with a local architect.
His first projects, although small, were condominium designs and he worked with simple
wood foundations. Steveson soon began to realize that retail design was a flourishing
niche and in which he wanted to move. Steveson began to realize that retail design
was a flourishing niche and a direction in which he really wanted to move. In the
late 1970’s Steveson moved to Phoenix where a new breed of designers working in the
retail market was a potent force.
The early days in Phoenix were spent working with Embassy Suites Hotels, designing
guest room interiors. Though it wasn’t his dream job, he used the opportunity to
network with other designers and architects.
When all of his networking efforts failed to manifest in a meaningful retail design
opportunity Steveson literally went through the yellow pages in an effort to find
his dream job. That dream came true when Bill Wykert from AAD returned Steveson’s
call and offered him a job as a draftsman.
AAD was already on the cutting edge of retail design having created the look for
Café Casino restaurants and Great Expectations Hair Centers and Steveson was
elemental in further solidifying AAD as specialists in the retail, restaurant and
food service markets. One of the early accounts Steveson worked on was Pacific Sunwear.
After redesigning the store’s interior and exterior image, the client reported that
sales seemed to increase as direct result of the redesign. It is to Steveson’s credit
that Pacific Sunwear remains a client to this day and that AAD updates the company’s
design on an annual basis.
Steveson flourished at AAD and soon found himself working on ten to fifteen projects
at once and delegating a staff of ten. In recognition of Steveson’s talents partners
Wykert and Udkow offered the draftsman a partnership with the firm in mid-1986.
It was at this time that he began to work with Carl Schaffer, another hand picked
partner under Wykert and Udkow. They spent the 1980’s reinventing AAD by working
with high profile retail and food service industries; including such clients as See’s
Candies, Swensen’s and Nike, to name a few.
Steveson and Schaffer shared the same passion for design and found that when working
together their talents and quality of work were intensified. “We both wanted to shoot
big and give AAD the visibility it deserved,” Steveson said. “It was clear we wanted
to do things our way and we wanted the company to be ours outright.” Steveson and
Schaffer purchased the firm outright from Udkow and Werkart.
As new owners of AAD Schaffer concentrated on design and Steveson focused on the
day to day operations of the company. Since Steveson took over as owner along with
Schaffer, AAD’s staff tripled and billings for 1994 reached an astronomical $6 million.
Steveson primarily focuses on technology and routinely adds state of the art technology
to the firm’s Scottsdale headquarters. “By utilizing technology, we stand out from
other architecture firms. And our clients love it.”
Mike Steveson lives in Phoenix with his wife and two sons. In his spare time Steveson
enjoys competing in aerobatic flying.
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