Chicago (March 18, 2008)—The Association for Retail Environments (A.R.E.), formerly NASFM, celebrated the 37th anniversary of its awards presentation on Tuesday, March 18, during an awards ceremony in the McCormick Place West Ballroom in Chicago. The presentation, held at the end of the first day of GlobalShop, presented 62 awards to 43 projects for the innovation and quality of their retail environment designs. During the evening, 12 projects were awarded Grand Prizes onstage. In addition, the Fixture of the Year was awarded to The O2 Concept store in Greenwich, London, for its Guru Bar, a cashwrap made from repurposed trees originally tagged for destruction. This year’s Store of the Year went to Landmark grocery store for the inviting, well–differentiated space it created in a low–ceilinged basement in Manila, Philippines. Seventeen Outstanding Merits, 1 Special Installation Award, 3 Visual Presentation Awards, 17 Store Fixture Awards and 10 Special Recognitions for Green Awareness were presented in the Winners Circle following the presentation. For coverage on all of the award–winning projects, visit www.retailenvironments.org.

Judges were Bruce Barteldt Jr., AIA, National Studio Principal, Retail, Little; Bevan Bloemendaal, Senior Director, Global Creative Services, The Timberland Co.; Giorgio Borruso, Principal, Giorgio Borruso Design; Kristin Godsey, Associate Publisher/Executive Editor, VM+SD Magazine; Lynn Knutson, Retail Development Manager, Merchandising & Visual Standards, Harley-Davidson Motor Co.; Karen Meskey-Wilson, Divisional Vice President, Store Planning and Design, Macy’s Inc.; RoxAnna Sway, Editor-in-Chief, DDI; and Marianne Wilson, Editor-in-Chief, Chain Store Age.

Big Award Announcements:
Two other announcements made headlines during the evening. First, the announcement that the awards program, known as the NASFM Retail Design Awards for nearly 37 years, is now the A.R.E. Design Awards as part of the association’s new A.R.E. brand. In addition, A.R.E. announced that it will be launching a new A.R.E. Green Awards program later this year with an anticipated entry deadline of July 15. The judging criteria and judging will be spearheaded by A.R.E.’s new Green Task Force.

Visit A.R.E.’s web site in mid–May for details on A.R.E.’s new Green Awards. Entry information for 2009 A.R.E.’s Design Awards will be updated by July 1.