San Francisco 49ers fans attending the team’s home games don’t have to go far to buy their team jerseys, hats, signed memorabilia and foam fingers, thanks to a new store in the Monster Stadium parking lot.
“We didn’t have a walk-in location, and we wanted to improve the fans’ shopping experience,” says 49ers operations manager Scott Justice.
After seeing stores TRIO Display designed for the New York Yankees and San Francisco Giants baseball teams, the 49ers hired the San Diego-based firm to create and outfit a 2000-square-foot store in a tent-like exo-structure that was permanently placed in the parking lot of the team’s field.
“Inside, our designers plotted a layout optimized for speed-of-service,” says TRIO president Jeff Grant, whose company has also designed stores for the NFL’s Seattle Seahawks and the Chicago Bears. “We included six p-o-s stations fronted by a two-level build-out combining acrylic bins to hold impulse buys and programs.”
Wall displays are anchored with slatwall, punctuated by bumped-out columns. The floor displays feature a mix of gondolas, pinwheels and nested tables finished in the team’s colors of burgundy, gold and black. Track lighting with metal-halide bulbs is used to spotlight feature merchandise, while low-bay lighting provides ambient illumination.
The 49ers project was completed in just three months, Grant notes, and was open for business when the team began its preseason schedule in August. “Now fans can buy their team items before they enter the stadium, or after the game on the way back to their vehicles,” he says. “The traffic flow in the store makes it easy for them to browse and buy without facing long lines.”
Client: Centerplate /49ers – Scott Justice, operations manager; Randy Brubaker, general manager; Matt Perachi, regional merchandise manager; Scott Marshall, regional merchandise manager; Bill Greathouse, senior vp; Jim Mercurio, director, stadium operations, 49ers
Design: TRIO Display, San Diego – Jeff Grant, president; Bryan Stirle, general manager; Bill Mondigo, store designer; Jason Williams, CAD designer; Andrew Darland, CAD designer; Colin McFadden, project manager
Architect: Sprung Structures, San Francisco
General Contractor: Devcon, San Francisco – Bob Porta, project superintendent
Fixtures/Flooring/Lighting/Mannequins/Forms/Signage/Graphics: TRIO Display, San Diego
Photographer: Sasha Unruh, San Diego