 |
|
 
|
|
|
Sign up now for your FREE subscription to the interactive digital magazine.
|
|
Prototype footwear store for the 10-and-under crowd (and their parents).
Stride Rite is taking more than baby steps into the 7-to-10-year-old consumer market with its new two-in-one store design, Collections by Stride Rite. The 1800-square-foot prototype, which debuted in New York last July, features a dedicated shopping area for older kids at the front of the store and a catered environment for parents shoe shopping for (and with) babies, toddlers and younger children at the rear. “The aesthetics and layout of both areas had to be rethought, and the fixture package had to be redesigned,” says Mark Looper, director of store planning and design, Collective Brands Inc., Stride Rite’s parent company.
Cool colors and white finishes provide consistency throughout the store. Lighting, large-scale lifestyle graphics and custom wallpaper with images geared to the age of the customer signal the change-over from baby shoes to youth-oriented fashion and sports brands.
Uncluttered displays make it easier for young shoppers to consider the options. Pull-out seating along the side walls gives boys and girls a comfortable spot of their own to try on shoes. Given the long, narrow footprint, most of the strong visual elements and product displays are on the walls to leave clear sight lines down the center aisle.
“We’re targeting an untapped market,” says Looper. With that in mind, Stride Rite plans to roll out more Collections stores in select high-fashion shopping locations later this year.
Project Participants:
Client
Stride Rite Children’s Group, Lexington, Mass.
Architect
BAR Associates, San Francisco
Bergmeyer Associates, Boston
Design/AudioVisual/Props and Decoratives
MDG Strategic Branding, Holliston, Mass.
Fixtures
Custom Surroundings, Valley City, Ohio
Marlite, Dover, Ohio
Lighting
Lightolier, Fall River, Mass.
Tech Lighting, Skokie, Ill.
Bartco Lighting, Huntington Beach, Calif.
Signage/Graphics
Loren Signs, Montebello, Calif.
MDG Group, Holliston, Mass.
Portland Color, Portland, Maine
Did you enjoy this article? Click here to subscribe to the magazine.
I like the pictures that are shown on this article because the design is unique, i think. The pictures on the wall are a bit different form the usual design you will see in any other stores and the arrangements are well organized. The counter i think its in the middle of the store to make the customers shopping easy and faster to pay. Guy Riordan