Eddie Bauer

Intending to create a more modern, relevant expression of the Eddie Bauer brand for the retailer's new 12,000-square-foot store in Deer Park, Ill., designers reworked the retail presence to showcase an expanded apparel offering that's suitable for work. Gone are the signature canoe fixtures, oar décor and graphic images celebrating “the great outdoors.”

The store comprises three major areas, running vertical to the long footprint. Men's and women's areas are separated by unisex and hardline merchandise, including gadgets and shoes. The middle section also includes the dead-center cashwrap and a comfortable leather-furnished area toward the rear called EB Direct, where customers can sit down and order off the Internet or phone-in a catalog purchase.

Rooms created by mobile walls that move on tracks segment men's from women's, telling smaller merchandise stories, designers say. While Eddie Bauer traditionally employed longer merchandise runs, the new store is mostly punctuated by 8-foot merchandise stories, flanked by 4-foot merchandise stories.

Client Team: Eddie Bauer, Redmond, Wash. – Lisa Bayne, senior vp, creative services; Frank Kennard, vp, creative management; Joe Stoneburner, director of visual merchandising; Cathleen Summers, store design manager; Bill McDermid, vp of real estate; Janet Glaser, manager of real estate purchasing; Janet Carlson, real estate buyer; Patti Frost, real estate division design manager; Diane Schultz and Scott Smith, client team members Design Team: Chute Gerdeman, Columbus, Ohio – Elle Chute, principal; Lee Peterson, Jennifer Linn and Joanna Felder, brand development; Wendy Johnson, program management; Bob Welty and Scot Townley, interior design; Eric Daniel, Jennifer Bajec and Mary Jane Picard, graphic design; Andy Dehus, 3-D imaging; Laura Smith, design documentation drawings; Tina Burnham, graphic production management; Susan Siewny and Steve Boreman, graphic production; Cindy McCracken, Heidi Brandewie and Nicole Vachow, visual merchandising; John Samson, project coordination Outside Consultants: The Sullivan Corp., Noblesville, Ind. (contractor); Chameleon Architecture, Columbus, Ohio (architect); Architectural Design Guild, St. Louis (engineer); O'Connor Associates, Philadelphia (lighting design); Digital Sculpture, Columbus, Ohio (3-D imaging) Suppliers: Pacific Coast Showcase, Puyallup, Wash. (fixtures); Meyer Flooring, Springport, Ind., Associated Imports, Atlanta (flooring); Messenger Sign, Seattle, Signco, Chicago (signage/graphics); Villa Lighting, St. Louis, Lightolier, Fall River, Mass., Lite Lab, Buffalo, N.Y. (lighting); Accent Draperies, Columbus, Ohio (textiles); Classic Paper and Painting, Columbus, Ohio (specialty paint); Lambert Sheet Metal, Columbus, Ohio (metal decorative and black metal beams); AEI, Seattle, Addwater, Los Angeles (audio/video) Photographer: Mark Steele Photography, Columbus, Ohio