It was the RLI Combo Table that caught the judges' eyes, but for RightLine Industries, the making of this dual-purpose fixture was business as usual—— just a continuation of the evolution of the look of a long-time retail customer. The world's oldest family-owned and -operated surf/skate/snow shop at 40-plus years, Val Surf had enjoyed an ever-expanding product selection, which reduced merchandising to packing many products into minmal space. With a younger generation taking over the family business, internal improvements and expansion were planned. RightLine had teamed with Val Surf for years to create more open space plans, update fixturing, and develop a brand identity suggestive of an active lifestyle.

When the niche retailer expanded into a more upscale shopping environment, the owners trusted Glendora, Calif.-based design and fabrication firm RightLine to advance the store and fixture design to the next level. The challenge was adapting Val Surf's image to continue appealing to its core thrill-seeking customers while fitting in with the quaint, village atmosphere of Old Town Pasadena. The store needed to seem cool, yet not too intimidating, so the design team toned down the environment compared with previous Val Surf stores, continuing to use curves reminiscent of waves and ramps, but in a more sophisticated form.

For consistency with the surrounding environs, the team kept the existing soffit, exposed brick, and faux timber. To create a boutique setting without losing Val Surf's character, they took a cue from the historic nature of the town and turned to the retailer's roots. Val Surf's first-generation owners, referred to affectionately as “"the three uncles," used to strap their boards to the top of a woodie and head for the surf. So finishes such as woodgrains and earth tones were a natural choice for fixturing, notes Kevin Phillips, creative director of RightLine.

The team refined shapes defined in the previous Val Surf projects. Val Surf General Manager Damon Richards wanted something as simple as the “"funky little steel and cardboard table"” developed by RightLine for another Val Surf project, says Scott Berry, RightLine vice president of sales and design. “"The conceptual design phase for this project was minimal. We'd had plenty of opportunity with this client to experiment with functional, modular, and innovative fixturing. This was the perfect project to incorporate successful Val Surf concepts into a great fixture program, and ultimately the new combo table." Adapting an initial concept to be less feminine, the team developed the final concept.

The RLI Combo Table, short for RightLine Industries combination table, is two fixtures that slide into each other. It features two display surfaces and a hang bar on which jeans or shirts can be merchandised. To keep the construction simple, the engineering team designed the RLI Combo to bolt together with nothing more than an allen wrench. The fixture is based on standard RightLine components.

The team chose Latvian birch plywood for the CNC-cut legs, with cocoa maple laminate exteriors. “"These materials are representative of the cores ued to build skateboards and snowboards, and the two-tone wood is reminiscent of the old woodie cars headed to the beach," says Berry.

Complemented by fixtures organizing a large volume of product and low-sightline fixtures whose glass and acrylic surfaces afford an openness to the space, the RLI Combo executed an epic trick: acceptance from neighboring retailers as well as both new and core customers. And for RightLine, it created bonus life (board-speak for smoking the competition, dudes)—the firm's first Fixture Award. RightLine's next wave: a 12,000-sq.-ft. Val Surf flagship store opening October 2005.