SoHo Synthesis

Targeting the woman who thinks for herself when it comes to style, Intermix (New York) merchandises a host of designers side-by-side, inspiring customers to create unconventional looks from the likes of high-end labels such as Stella McCartney, Proenza Schouler, Valentino and Jimmy Choo. In tune with locality, Intermix edits each location’s offerings to its area clientele’s tastes, with specificity extending to the company’s store design approach.

New York is home to 11 of Intermix’s 40 luxury boutiques (spanning from Boston to Los Angeles), including the recently redesigned Prince Street store in SoHo.

New York-based design firm Janson Goldstein has had a hand in creating Intermix’s in-store environments for the past four years and recently worked on the Prince Street location. Partner Steve Scuro says that while a common visual language is carried throughout all the destinations, each is inspired by the location’s demographics, and often, its neighborhood and history of the space. “The client profile and the vibe of the neighborhood steer Intermix’s buys, so they also inform the way we design each space,” Scuro says. Janson Goldstein created a design vocabulary for Intermix that contains its “brand DNA,” including fixture types and a collection of finishes. Studying the customer profile for the market, they “choose a palette that resonates with the customer and the context,” Scuro says.

“SoHo is an artistic neighborhood with a rich history,” says Aileen Zelekowitz, Intermix’s director of retail development. “We wanted to ensure our store felt authentic to that identity.” Scuro and his team agreed, allowing the neighborhood’s cast-iron architecture and former manufacturing plants-turned-artists’ lofts dictate the interior. The result is an industrial-chic motif, paired with edgy, geometric patterns.

Renovations to the 2400-square-foot area included the removal of a wall that obscured a street-facing window, enabling daylight and sightlines into the store. The cast-iron columns were left in place and painted dark gray to contrast with the cooler gray walls and oak flooring.

Janson Goldstein created a 30-foot geometric screen to run alongside the wall behind the cashwrap, which serves as a focal point. Fabricated from blackened metal and gray Bluette marble, the screen and a matching display piece are “where I think we were most successful in exemplifying that blend of industrial and refined chicness that is the spirit of SoHo,” says Scuro.

With the SoHo store closed for just a two-week window, creating the screen required careful coordination between Janson Goldstein, steel fabricators in the U.S. and stone vendors in Italy, and was largely assembled off-site.

Overall, the project required a “very precise  mobilization plan,” explains Scuro; thus crews worked at night whenever possible and wherever practical: the hardwood floors, for example, were finished off-site for quick installation.

“Although we have designed perhaps 40 stores, Intermix hasn’t been a roll-out in any traditional sense. It’s more like having 40 individual projects because we get to create something unique each time. We get to keep pushing the design forward and being responsive to each context, which is exciting for a designer,” Scuro says. “Who doesn’t love that?”

PROJECT SUPPLIERS

Retailer
Intermix, New York

Design and Architecture
Janson Goldstein LLP, New York

General Contractor
Fabrizzio Construction Inc., Amityville, New York

Outside Design Consultants
Schwinghammer Lighting LLC, New York

Fixtures
Encore Retail Systems, New York

Flooring
Sullivan Source, Toronto

Lighting
Times Square Lighting, New York

Decoratives/Props
Champion Metal & Glass Inc., Smithtown, New York

Signage/Graphics
Manhattan Neon, New York

Materials/Wallcoverings
Innovations, New York