The National Association of Store Fixture Manufacturers (NASFM) announced its Store—and Fixture—of the Year during the 30th annual NASFM Retail Design Awards presentation Thursday, March 22, 2001, in Chicago. Softline specialty store Richards of Greenwich, Mitchells of Westport, in Greenwich, Conn., took top retail honors, while the Futuristic Display at Skechers USA, Universal City Walk, Universal City, Calif., was recognized as the competition’s first ‘Fixture of the Year.’

In addition, NASFM presented crystal awards in 13 categories, awarding a total of 13 Grand Prizes and 26 Outstanding Merits for retail design, and 13 Special Merits for Outstanding Store Fixtures. Retailers, designers, and fixture manufacturers of winning projects were recognized during the awards ceremony, which took place in the Vista Ballroom of McCormick Place at the conclusion of the first day of GlobalShop.

NASFM’s 2001 Retail Design Awards program received its second highest number of entries in the competition’s 30-year history. Projects completed between January and December of 2000 from any geographic locale were eligible to participate. Twenty-one percent of winning projects were located in Canada; Entries from
Hong Kong, Australia, and South Africa also took home NASFM crystal awards. Domestically, Las Vegas and the northeast led the award winners.

According to the judging panel, this year’s winners showed successful integration of technology, service, and comfort into well-branded store designs. The judges noted a renewed interest in the use of colors and authentic materials, and continued application of curves and luminescence.