- nteractive retail.
- Authors:
- Vangen, Clara M.W.
- Source:
- Buildings. Jul98, Vol. 92 Issue 7, p64. 3p. 3 Color Photographs.
- Document Type:
- Article
- Subject Terms:
- *RETAIL industry
- Company/Entity:
- NATIONAL Basketball AssociationDUNS Number: 075255729
VIACOM Inc. (1971-2005)Ticker: VIA
NIKE Inc.DUNS Number: 050957364Ticker: NKE - NAICS/Industry Codes:
- 452999 All other miscellaneous general merchandise stores
453999 All other miscellaneous store retailers (except beer and wine-making supplies stores)
453998 All Other Miscellaneous Store Retailers (except Tobacco Stores) - Abstract:
- Discusses how the retail industry is separating and identifying itself to increase product name recognition and gain market share. Goal of all retail professionals; How Nike, Viacom and the National Basketball Association (NBA) are approaching retail markets; Inspiration for the popular NikeTown store; Purpose of Viacom store.
- Full Text Word Count:
- 1623
- ISSN:
- 0007-3725
- Accession Number:
- 882266
HTML Full Text
INTERACTIVE RETAIL
Creative marketing and design are changing the way consumers shop.
SUMMARY: Through innovative construction and design the retail industry is separating and identifying itself to increase product name recognition and gain market share.
Capturing a share of the market is a goal of all retail professionals. Giants like Nike, Viacom, and now the National Basketball Association (NBA) are approaching retail markets from a new angle. The trend in retail is to provide customers with comfortable and interactive surroundings that appeal to their physical senses.
It's a perfect marriage between construction and marketing. Using a building's structure and amenities to help market a product line--retail is receiving a high approval rating from the television generation--a consumer base is being mesmerized by sports, animation, and the glamour of Hollywood.
America's obsession with sports has undoubtedly been the inspiration for the popular NikeTown stores. A pioneer in the design and development of interactive retail, NikeTown stores currently operate in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Honolulu, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, New York City, Orange County, CA, Portland, OR, San Francisco, and Seattle. Nike will round out its product exposure within the United States by opening stores in Miami and Denver over the next year. Internationally, Nike will also open stores this year in Berlin, Toronto, and Melbourne, Australia. Next year, it will be in London. "All of the stores are designed with a sports theme and try to connect with the local communities," says Robert Mitchell, Nike senior manager of corporate communications, New York City.
From a design and construction perspective, these stores resemble museums and science centers where kids and adults can experience firsthand the world of sports through the use of displays and "to-scale" models of athletes coupled with a narrative about their attitudes and achievements. Each store uses specialized construction elements to reflect the personal and environmental challenges of athletes.
Special display areas featuring sports memorabilia and product design influences are scattered throughout the stores. Visitors can view film footage of sports history that covers events such as the Olympics and other international competitions in a mini-auditorium, or slip on a pair of the latest style in basketball shoes while seated on player benches. "Every store is different and relates to popular sports within that region," says Mitchell.
In Honolulu, the store theme is the biathlon. Appropriately, Hawaii is where the biathlon first caught the attention of super athletes and the sport gained its popularity. From the center of the store's huge circular entryway, upward two stories, extend sail-like rotating banners reflecting images of the three elements of the biathlon--running, swimming, and biking. Multicolored flooring in shades of blue and beige depicts the water and land elements of the sport.
Along one wall of the store is a huge aquarium filled with colorful indigenous fish, while another wall displays an oversized map that indicates where certain sports thrive on the islands. The map shows visitors the best places to mountain bike, surf, snorkel, scuba dive, rock climb, cliff dive, and more.
Much more than a structure housing merchandise. NikeTown stores are artistic and educational experiences for consumers of all ages.
Later this year, in addition to NikeTown, New York City's Fifth Avenue will welcome a new NBA Store--the first retail establishment owned, operated, and merchandised by a North American sports league.
The store will feature products and apparel from the NBA and the Women's NBA (WNBA). "The concept for the store began about four years ago with looking for the right location," says Bill Daugherty, NBA vice president of business development. "We've always looked at it as a way for us to showcase our licensed product; to build our internal product expertise; and to promote the NBA, the game, the teams, and the players through a unique venue. It's a way for us to bring the game closer to the fans."
With 35,000 square feet of space over three floors with which to display a comprehensive assortment of league-sanctioned products, the combined efforts of NBA Commissioner David Stern and Rick Welts, president of NBA Property, New York City, have come full circle. "It's taken a great deal of internal and external resources to make this project happen. It also requires a commitment. Once that commitment was made by our organization, we put all of our resources behind it," I says Daugherty.
In late 1998, when the storefront's wood panels unveil the finished product, the public will experience a closer look at the world of professional men's and women's basketball through the use of the league's full-service television, video, and photography division. A number of multimedia attractions will give fans access to 50 years of game action and other moments in basketball, or recap the previous night's game. Customers will also have the ability to check into the real-time world of the NBA by logging on to www.NBA.com through computers set up throughout the site or by watching games live on one of many television screens.
Appropriately, the store's fully functional half-court basketball court equipped with bleachers will provide the ideal setting for press conferences, coaching clinics, rule explanations, basketball clinics, player sessions, and half-time features using customers as the backdrop for televised events. A scoreboard on the store's exterior will reflect the current standings of all the professional basketball games throughout the season, and especially during the final games.
"This project is about promoting the game of basketball, the teams and players, and showcasing the licensed merchandise," says Daugherty. "This way of presenting merchandise will bring us closer to our customers and business partners--specifically other retailers to our distribution channel--and our licensees to make us a better business partner."
Beyond sports themes, Viacom--which owns MTV networks, VH1, Nickelodeon, Nick at Night, TVLand, M2, Paramount Pictures, Paramount television, and Showtime --also saw the value of adding a retail venue. In May 1997, Viacom combined its market segments into one by opening a test store on Michigan Avenue in Chicago.
The purpose of the Viacom store was to research the marketability of such animated television cartoon characters as the Rugrats, Ren & Stimpy, and Beavis & Butthead. Each floor of the store offers customers the opportunity to experience the lively characters as seen on television. By transitioning the design and layout of the store from one television era into another, customers curiously venture into each level of the store and each segment of test merchandise.
Customers of all ages can relate to the latest characters through television monitors, interactive talking figures, neon lighting, and music from MTV. Adult patrons experience a "blast-from-the-past" with an interspersed collection of old dial TV sets with wire antennas and real wood casings, lunch boxes from hit television series of the '70s, and lamps that date even further back--before I Love Lucy ever aired as a rerun.
As a result of the test store in Chicago, Viacom began promoting its Rugrats line in three new Nick' stores this year, with an anticipated 12 to 17 more scheduled to open by the end of 1999.
In much the same way that Viacom is identifying what the customer wants, American Multi-Cinemas Inc. (AMC) is addressing a wide array of comfort and convenience needs for movie-goers in Warrenville, IL.
For decades, Saturday night at the movies with your best girl or guy, hot popcorn, and a cold drink was the perfect end to a hectic work week. Not yet forgotten are the days of the drive-in theater, and gigantic auditoriums with huge screens that kept patrons waiting in long lines for a single nightly showing of the most recent hit movie.
The evolution of movie theaters in the '90s has expanded on the miniplex and then the multiplex of the last decade into "destination entertainment facilities." AMC is leading the transition to incorporate a community atmosphere of retail, residential, and commercial buildings drawn together by a common interest. AMC's Cantera 30 Theaters is a 109,468-square-foot movie complex that sets new standards for the movie theater industry. The theater offers movie-goers a choice of 30 screens, with available seating capacities that range from 120 to 600 people depending on anticipated attendance. New stadium-style seating increases the height between each riser to 18 inches as opposed to standard six-to eight-inch risers. The increase guarantees every patron an unobstructed view of the screen from any seat.
Each theater features a concave screen providing even the outermost seat a complete visual experience. Expanded 46-inch row spacing (six inches more than the industry standard) allows for greater leg room and eliminates uprooting when latecomers are forced to take the innermost seats.
All seats are first-class size with arm rests that feature built-in cup-holders; 6,210 of the theater seats have LoveSeat Trademark-style accommodations with flip-up arm rests that allow couples the option of getting comfortably closer. "These are modest little changes, but they make a huge difference in how comfortable you are in a theater," says J. Leonard Caldeira, senior vice president at LaSalle Partners, Chicago. Other partners in the Cantera project are the Warrenville Development Limited Partnership and Elmhurst-Chicago Stone Co.
"In time, theater tickets will be purchased through ATM machines," says Caldeira. The future for movie theaters may include self-service-style food concessions; better counter space food selections; lobby areas with more video games; and rental of theater auditoriums for meeting spaces and presentations.
The face of retail is changing to become more interactive with customers of all ages, cultures, and expertise. By expanding the lines of communication within the retail setting, companies like Nike, the NBA, Viacom, and AMC are sending marketing messages out loud and clear to the consumer--and having a lot of fun in the process.
ILLUSTRATION
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By Clara M.W. Vangen
Clara M.W. Vangen (clara-vangen@stamats.com) is assistant editor at Buildings magazine.
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