retail & exhibits brochure

Retail & Exhibits Brochure

Mekus Tanager, Inc.445 East Illinois StreetSuite 333Chicago, IL 60611

p. 312.661.0778f. 312.661.0980www.mekustanager.com

CONTACT INFORMATION

PRINCIPAL’S CONTACT INFORMATION

Christopher Mekus, AIA

Managing Principalp. 312.644.2654e. [email protected]

Spes Mekus, ASID, IIDA, LEED AP

Principalp. 312.644.2709e. [email protected]

Stephen Wierzbowski, AIA

Principalp. 312.644.2650e. [email protected]

IMPORTANCE OF DESIGN TO RETAIL

GOOD DESIGN IS GOOD BUSINESS

OUR DESIGN APPROACH

EFFECTIVE PROJECT MANAGEMENT

SUSTAINABLE DESIGN

SERVICES OFFERED

RETAIL CASE STUDIES

EXHIBITS CASE STUDIES

TABLE OF CONTENTS

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“Store image is widely accepted as a main factor in consumer decisions.” -Simon J. Bell

Design Creates Positive Emotions in the Consumer

The consumer drives the success of any retail store, and successful retail stores are those that consistently appeal the most to the consumer. The three-dimensional design of a retail environment plays a significant role in creating consumer appeal because the design shapes the customer’s experience and differentiates a retailer from their competitors.

The image of a retail location is so important because consumers rely on a store’s image to tell them about the quality and value of the goods and services sold, especially since the actual merchandise of competitive retailers is often perceived as similar and is no longer the distinguishing feature between them. Research has found that positive feelings about a shopping area were associated with an increase in consumers’ willingness to shop in that area, and an appealing environment was more likely to attract customers.

Moreover the amount of time a customer spends in a store depends on how comfortable they are there, and an aesthetic store design will make people feel comfortable to stay and pay more attention to your inventory because consumers unconsciously tend to search for environments that create a positive, inviting mood. These positive environments have also led to increased consumer loyalty and continued patronage, increasing any store’s success.

Design is a Safe Investment

Since most consumers’ buying decisions are made at the point of sale, creative and effectively designed retail environments play an essential role in bolstering a store’s earnings and maximizing your Return on Investment. Aside from creating a positive environment that attracts and retains consumers, a well designed retail environment incorporates effective and organized space-planning, in order to optimize the amount of merchandise displayed on a limited floor space. Research has found that a store without an organized theme will be automatically associated with a “cheap-items shop”, and will not be able to drive high-margin sales for brand products, whereas well-designed, client-specific retail environments however are a safe investment to boost profits and market share in a competitive market.

IMPORTANCE OF DESIGN TO RETAIL

* Informational sources can be found on pg. 46

Urban American Club

Star Factory

GOOD DESIGN IS GOOD BUSINESS

For over 30 years Mekus Tanager has been an architecture-and-design industry leader, specializing in working with our clients as a business partner. While design may only be one component of a larger retail strategy, at Mekus Tanager we design solutions that reflect each client’s unique identity and seek to advance the business aspirations of our clients. Mekus Tanager has a strong reputation of producing high-quality designs and spaces at a fraction of the cost of our competitors, which helps to maximize our clients’ Return on Investment. Good design is not only aesthetically pleasing, it makes good business sense.

OUR DESIGN APPROACH

Our first step in any project is to listen to your goals and aspirations, and specific needs in terms of project location, function, culture, design character, budget, and schedule. We then use our knowledge and design skills to create design solutions that are specifically tailored to help your organization achieve its goals. Whether your goals are to increase your customer base, improve your sales, improve the perceived quality of your goods or services, create brand identification, shift your spaces towards a sustainable solution, lower your space costs, or maximize the amount of merchandise displayed, the main goal of Mekus Tanager is to develop design solutions that work while also saving time and money for you.

EFFECTIVE PROJECT MANAGEMENT

What separates Mekus Tanager from other design firms is that a firm principal or senior project manager takes an active role in every project. From the inception of a project, our team members are selected with special regard to your goals, business specialty, budget, and schedule. Our principals and project managers coordinate the design process to make certain that the designs reflect your project goals, remain within the project schedule and budget, and adhere to all applicable building codes. Our project managers are also your main point of contact, and are always available to you at any point in the design process to ensure that you’re completely satisfied.

Kenly 95 Truck Stop

Chicago Harley Davidson

SUSTAINABLE DESIGN

The idea behind sustainable design is not only to create environmentally friendly spaces, but healthier, more productive environments. Using green building techniques also helps reduce energy costs, real-estate costs, and improves the occupant’s image.

Mekus Tanager has been practicing sustainable design for over 30 years, and is a member of the US Green Building Council. Since our founding we have worked to develop strategies for the design of long lasting buildings and spaces, and with each project we take great care in researching and implementing sustainable design solutions while meeting client’s budgets.

All Saints Chapels and Administration BuildingLEED-CI GOLD

University of Illinois at ChicagoDouglas HallLEED-CI Silver

Kansas City Visitors Center

SERVICES OFFERED

Build-OutsDesign and build-out of new tenant space forms the backbone of our experience. Our designs are thoughtful and informed by our experience in the retail world.

ReconfigurationsWe are able to update existing spaces to maximize efficiency and improve circulation or just to freshen up the look. In many cases, we can even provide these services while the space remains in operation.

Environmental GraphicsWe have experienced graphic design talent available to create and/or implement new marketing, promotions or signage.

FixturingWe want to be your one-stop provider for design services, and no project is too small for us. We have years of experience in the design of exhibits and temporary kiosks.

Architect of RecordWe can very quickly complete or review construction documents if a local architect is required or desired for store roll-outs.

PrototypingWe can do an in depth study to determine the feasibility, costs, advantages and opportunities of any new real estate initiatives. From these studies we can produce a variety of marketing materials to help sell the new project to managers, investors or clients.

Large Scale Roll OutsWe can help plan and design the reconfiguration of whole buildings or even whole businesses to meet changing demographic demands.

Hewitt Associates

The existing travel stop was the result of multiple expansions and renovations. As a result many of the rooms felt disjointed and proportionally uncomfortable. Our challenge was to make this environment inviting, open, easy to navigate, and consistently branded. To achieve our goals we expanded the convenience store and food court by 10,000 sf. We also expanded the “Truckers Store”, which featured three custom truck displays, by 26,000 sf. The facility was completed in May 2007, and the washroom designs made the top ten in the national washroom competition in 2009.

Lighting played a major role with a large ribbon of Kalwal clerestory and skylights. Well lit vestibules with automatic doors were installed. Large windows brought in natural light and acted as advertising to the general public. Handrail designs and details were based on antique truck grills and contemporary truck cab details. A 35-foot turntable was installed to advertise store merchandise on an actual truck. A bright color pallet and large photo murals of truckers, Route 80, and other Iowa landmarks, symbols, and history add warmth and interest to the space.

Iowa 80 Truck Stop Walcott, Iowa

Mekus Tanager also provided environmental and signage graphics, interior design and architectural services for the Iowa 80 Trucking Museum. The design of the Museum was inspired by the “streamline modern” gas stations of the 1930’s. A triangular plan was developed to maximize the views of the giant window display showcasing a classic 1930’s era truck. An oversized glass garage door will permit a truck to be displayed outside the building for special events.

The Museum Visitor’s Center adds 5,000 square feet to the existing structure bringing the total to approximately 20,000 square feet. The addition includes a movie theater, more truck display space, rest-rooms and a gift store.

Visitors will be amazed. The Iowa 80 Trucking museum can house a total of 45 trucks for display at any given time, and future expansion is already in the planning stages. A sidewalk has also been constructed from the truck parking area to the museum so professional drivers can easily visit from the next-door Iowa 80 World’s Largest Truckstop.

Iowa 80 Trucking Museum Walcott, Iowa

The original truck-stop was a hodge podge of separate additions and remodels. Mekus Tanager’s challenge was to unify all the additions, dramatically expand, the facility, and also significantly improve the truck-stop’s visibility to make Kenly 95 the east coast’s largest truck stop.

The new retail building contains a trucker’s store, convenience store, gift shop, theatre, showers, trucker’s lounge, home-style restaurant, food court, and laundry area. The visibility of the stop was greatly increased by adding a one-third scale replica of the Cape Hatteras lighthouse.

Many of the features first conceived for the Iowa 80 “World’s Largest Truck Stop” are re-applied here; for example the “Wall of Lights” which shows custom light fixtures for trucks, the extensive use of natural lighting, color palate, type-face sources, and interior fixturing.

Kenly 95 Kenly, NC

Studio 910 is a high-end women’s clothing store named after its street address. The overall store design is based on a fresh interpretation of art nouveau organic form, and the space played on the contrast between soft organic curves and hard materials as a setting for haute couture.

To achieve the overall look, Mekus Tanager worked in close collaboration with the artisan fabricators to create custom metal work, mill work, draperies, upholstery, wall features, display cases, and fixtures. Also included were custom mannequins, mirrors, and furnishings.

Studio 910 Chicago, IL

Mekus Tanager designed a prototype store for CellularONE, which we then helped implement over the entire Midwest in more than 80 locations, each ranging from 900 to 2400 square feet of space.

CellularONE wanted to project a warmer and more inviting image than cellular companies typically had. The space was designed with warm tones, woods instead of plastics and metals, and canvass instead of vinyl banners. Various store elements were then pre-manufactured so that the individual locations could be built out and set up with extreme expediency. All graphic banners were interchangeable so that they could be easily updated.

By reconfiguring the way product was displayed, CellularONE was able to see a 40% increase in accessory sales. In fact many of the fixtures are still used by CellularONE’s successor cellular companies to this day.

CellularONE Stores Midwest Region

Located at the Merchandise Mart, The Franchising & Licensing Center was the world’s first permanent facility dedicated year round to linking franchisers and licensors with potential franchisees and licensees. The 30,000-square foot Center consisted of permanent showrooms for franchisers and licensors to exhibit their franchise/product lines and display promotional materials, audio/visual programs, etc.

Mekus Tanager’s overall intent for the design of the Center was to create a “back-drop” space for various franchisers and licensors to set up showrooms that would maximize their exposure and provide appeal to prospective franchisees and licens-ees.

Such recognizable franchisers as Subway, 7-11, Mail Boxes Etc., Holiday Inn and Dunkin Donuts, among others, established showrooms at the Center.

Franchising and Licensing Center Chicago, IL

Motorola Mobility wanted to create an immersive, truly collaborative center to show their clients, visitors, and employees how Motorola products could be utilized to enrich people’s lives and also how their products could apply to many various settings including: living rooms, kitchens, offices, and airplanes/trains. The main design challenges for the Experience Center were two-fold: 1) How do you design a space to accommodate and be flexible enough for showcasing current Motorola Mobility products and future products not yet devel-oped? 2) How do you create a space that is wide-open and highly visible to all Motorola employees yet also private enough for confidential presentations and showcasing?

To address the first main design challenge, Mekus Tanager devised a solution in which the space became a flexible environment in which many of the items and fixtures could be continuously changed and adapted to new products or to the products Motorola wished to display. The second main challenge was solved by enclosing the Experience Center with a glass partitioning wall that could switch from completely transparent to completely opaque. This allowed the room to be visible from the outside by employees and visitors at all times except when confidentiality was needed.

In keeping with the spirit of cutting edge technology, the 2,400 S/F space was designed with a modern yet elegant theme that reflects Motorola Mobility’s corporate identity. In addition to the different showcase / demonstration areas and the interchangeable components allowing for reconfiguration to demonstrate different products, the Experience Center also includes a control room with IT racks, and a lab with work areas and work benches.

Overall, the space has been a huge success in cohesively demonstrating Motorola Mobility’s products in a variety of environments, and the space’s ability to re-configure based on the products will allow Motorola Mobility to showcase its products well into the future to its employees, visitors, and clients. The space was so successful in demonstrating Motorola Mobility products that there were plans to repro-duce the concept in other Motorola Mobility facilities.

Motorola Mobility Experience Center Libertyville, IL

Big Barn Harley-Davidson (formerly Zook’s Harley-Davidson) is new ground-up construction of one of the world’s largest Harley dealerships with a heavily branded interior environment. The heavy timber trusses span nearly 50 feet to create an open sales floor, and the big barn features a dynamic motorcycle showroom skirted by merchandise racks, custom cabinets, and multiple points of sale. Individual “stalls” feature various motorcycle models and accessories. There is also an extremely large, state-of-the-art Harley-Davidson service center.

Steve Wierzbowski has completed over 94 dealership projects in the US, the Caribbean, and in Morocco. He has also worked on numerous projects for the motor company, including: prototype analysis, The Harley-Shop concept, regional branding study, store fixtures program, and visitor centers for manufacturing facilities. All of these projects have given Mr. Wierzbowski a strong appreciation for how Harley-Davidson continues to make new, high-quality products while also maintaining their status as an American icon.

Big Barn Harley-Davidson Des Moines, IA

Route 65 Harley-Davidson was a ground-up construction project of a brand new Harley-Davidson store and dealership. Custom neon signage was designed for to convey a 1950s “Roadside American” identity. High quality two-toned glazed radius corner brick reinforces the message.

Route 65 is an architectural example of our “regional branding” concept that we developed for Harley-Davidson in 1996. The typical Harley enthusiast cruises the country, visiting local dealerships along the way. Our “regional branding” concept permitted each dealership to project a unique identity while maintaining the brand message.

Route 65 Harley-Davidson Indianola, IA

The Chicago Harley-Davidson store is a monumental retail space on Chicago’s Magnificent Mile, which sells their soft goods and memorabilia.

Chicago Harley-Davidson is one of the earliest of four projects designed for the Chicago-based dealership. Billboard sized black and white graphics in oversized wooden frames and custom neon “Bar & Shields” are a big part of the “heritage” look.

Chicago Harley-Davidson was a cover story for VMSD Magazine.

Chicago Harley-Davidson Chicago, IL

Sephora engaged Mekus Tanager to provide local architectural services for the roll-out of their Chicago-area stores. In coordination with their lead architect in San Francisco Mekus Tanager completed construction drawings for Sephora stores at North Bridge, Northbrook, Oakbrook, and in Water Tower Place. MTI then provided permit and construction administration services. The stores each consisted of six to seven thousand square feet of high end boutique retail space.

Sephora Chicago, Northbrook and Oakbrook, IL

The client visualized an environment that would create a “men’s club” like effect. We used a color pallet of rich, warm tones coupled with dramatic lighting to relay the “men’s club” atmosphere. The fixtures were designed to play a contrast between highly finished wood, glass store fixturing, and rough metal scaffolding displaying clothing. We called the effect “Frank Lloyd Wright meets Brazil”.

Glass topped layout tables, wall displays and floor racks are arranged to help the salesman “up-sell” a client with additional clothing and accessories. The Urban American Club graphic identity was thought of as a badge of quality for the line of products it represents.

Urban American Club Chicago, IL

The design for Chiasso is a play in contrasts. The small 1700 sf shop was a setting for high style industrial design objects for the home and office.

The prominent wall display was fabricated from off-the shelf industrial components. Custom made acrylic doors and hardware were included. The other fixtures display quirky, individual geometries in dark colors and textures to set off the brightly colored, chrome and highly finished product. Lighting was selected to bring out color and sparkle on the items for sale, while simultaneously evoking a dramatic mood.

Chiasso Chicago, IL

Exhibits

The Kansas City Tour Center was a showcase for Harley-Davidson to explain their manufacturing process from the initial engine-building through the final assembly of a new Harley-Davidson motorcycle. The backlit displays explain each stage in the manufacturing process, with real parts displayed to demonstrate their state during each phase of the process.

The message was structured to appeal to everyone, from the casual visitor to the hard core wrench-wielding enthusiasts. Display designs were derived directly from the manufacturing floor, with tool case kiosks and clear path striping ont he floor.

Harley-Davidson Kansas City Tour Center Kansas City, MO

The “Hewitt Experience” was a re-branding of the main lobbies of Hewitt Associates’ corporate campus. Hewitt Associates’ desire was to communicate their expansive client base, geographic reach, and extraordinary service capabilities. The challenge for Mekus Tanager was to transform the dry imagery of the existing lobby into a dynamic, informative, and engaging environment that projected the company’s spirit.

Using everything from high-tech LEDs to simple text on a wall, the new lobby surrounds the visitor with information on Hewitt Associates’ image, mission, vision, and history. The result is that Hewitt Associates’ ideas are “lived” in their lobby space, and visitors are invited into the brand.

The three, 35-feet high red LED towers crisscross with three, 50-feet long yellow LED ticker tapes, and are a counterpoint to the curved blue LED arc-display. The towers constantly scroll the complete list of Hewitt Associates’ clientele, while the horizontal stripes communicate locations throughout the world. The blue arc displays service capabilities and branding messages.

Hewitt Chicago, IL

This was a design competition to create a unique corporate exhibit showroom to demonstrate the power of Motorola’s new ideas and technologies to customers, employees and investors, revolving around their Iridium Project.

We designed several prototypes and proposed layouts, including the scheme pictured left, which included a moving theatre that progressed through a series of curved projection screens, each of which split and moved to the side to make way for the seating to progress to the next screen.

The designs were a collaboration between exhibit designers, industrial designers, graphic designers and architects.

Motorola Galvin Center Iridium Exhibit Schaumburg, Illinois

SOURCES

-Cascading Creations, “How Retail Design Affects How People View Your Store”, posted Jan 19th, 2012, http://cascadingcreations.com/how-retail-design-affects-how-people-view-your-store/

-Quartier Katelijn, Vanrie Jan, and Koenraad Van Cleempoel, “The Interaction between Interpreted Space, Mood and Behavior in Retail Environments: A Conceptual Research Model”, PHL University College and University Hasselt (2009)

-Seung-Eun Lee, and Kim K.P. Johnson, “Shopping Behaviors: Implications for the Design of Retail Spaces”, Implications vol. 2 no. 5, (2004)

-Simon J. Bell, “Image and Consumer Attraction to Intraurban Retail Areas: An Environmental Psychology Approach”, Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services vol. 6 no. 2, (1999)

-Tom Tran, “Impact of Retail Display and Store Design On Buying Decisions”, published Aug 07th, 2009, http://www.plastics.com/content/articles/26703/1/Impact-Of-Retail-Display-And-Store-Design-On-Buying-Decisions/Page1.html

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