By Bruce Smith, Business Strategy Director, DMD Retail Design Ltd.

Continued

APPLYING the Concept to Other Projects

DMD's adaptive retail design programs that followed T-Mobile were similar in the overall process, but varied in complexity and elements. Some involve complete environment, while others are limited to a fixture program. Examples:

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Photos by Ron Ng

• Chameleon spaces. Two prototype stores for Bell Canada featured an invisible “skeleton” attached to the vanilla box. Proprietary merchandising panels and fixtures could easily be changed out for an entirely different “skin,” creating a new look and feel for the store.
  
  
• Shapely fixturing. A mathematically based floor fixture program for Canadian fashion retailer Cotton Ginny included display tables that could be configured in straights, rounds, or S-patterns throughout the space. Others could be collapsed or stacked attractively. This inherent flexibility allowed staff to easily transition any given store and to optimize fixtures based on seasonal products and inventories.
  
  
• Positioning flexibility. An Adaptive Retail Design program was created for Courtyard Marriot’s lobby rejuvenation program allowing for various elements to be easily located in any location as prefabricated components.
  
  

• Photo by DMD Retail Design

  Signs of efficiency. An in-store signage program for Loblaws Superstores was based on a well-thought-out mathematical formula of various permutations. The result was a highly simplified price item and graphics program that store personnel catalogue, maintain, and update efficiently.
  
  
• Artificial definition. A program under development uses a lightweight foam cornice to delineate the top of the usable retail space. Prefabricated fixture units — comprising display cabinets, back wall, and overhead lighting valance — of the same height integrate into this artificial demarcation line. Simply unloading the units from a truck and installing them to their designated location on the site plan results in a seamless “run” of branded space without extensive site-specific millwork or construction.

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