The Cincinnati Bengals haven't had much success on the football field lately, winning only 50 of 160 games during the past decade. But the NFL team believes it has a winner in the Pro Shop at Paul Brown Stadium.
Designed by NBBJ (Seattle), the 6000-square-foot space sells Bengals caps, sweatshirts and other souvenirs. To help give this merchandise maximum visual exposure, designer Guy Painchaud says a “forest-like installation” of fixtures from ALU Inc. (New York) is deployed throughout the space.
Tables with white laminate tops are used to display sweatshirts and other clothing items near the cashwrap. Team caps are displayed on walls via a pylon system consisting of panels, poles, hang rods and shelf face-outs. Several polyvinyl forms are used to give browsers a better idea of what sweatshirts and jackets look like when worn. Coffee mugs, pens and other smaller souvenirs are displayed on flexible shelving.
The flooring at the entryway consists of multi-colored rubber tiles set in a design that mimics a football field's yard lines. Striped carpeting sporting the Bengals'orange-and-black team colors covers the rest of the floor.
“The intent is to have store patrons feel like they are still a part of the stadium experience, on a much more intimate scale,” says Painchaud.
Monty Montague, the shop's merchandise manager, says customer response to the Pro Shop has been positive. “Most team shops in stadiums are cramped, crowded affairs,” he explains. “People who come into our store are impressed with how much space we've dedicated to the merchandise and how easy it is to navigate, especially on game days.”
Client Team: Cincinnati Bengals Pro Shop, Cincinnati – Monty Montague, merchandise manager; Steve Wolf, store manager
Design Team: NBBJ, Seattle – Guy Painchaud, Ramkumar Subramamian, Stacey Nakano, project designers
Suppliers: ALU Inc., New York (fixtures, forms, signage); Creative Cabinets, Lancaster, Ohio (architectural woodwork); Wittrock Woodworking, Cincinnati (display cases); AIC Contracting, Cincinnati, Shaw Flooring, Cincinnati (flooring); All State Rubber Corp., New York (rubber flooring tile); Johnsonite, Chagrin Falls, Ohio (rubber wall base); Lee's Commercial Carpets, Greensboro, N.C., Shaw Industries, Dalton, Ga., Monterey Carpets Inc., Santa Ana, Calif. (carpeting); Lithonia Lighting, Conyers, Ga., Focal Point, Chicago (lighting); Pro-Spec Painting, Bellbrook, Ohio, Penquin Painters, Cincinnati, Benjamin Moore, Montvale, N.J., Sherwin-Williams, Cleveland (paint)
Robert Hale, Cincinnati