Day-to-day life can occasionally seems a little ho-hum. And although throwing pottery, mastering the art of French cuisine or dropping everything to explore the world by sailboat/horseback/motorcycle are all good ways to liven things up, finding the necessary time can be prohibitive. There is a quicker way to add a little imagination to daily life. Go shopping! Now for many people, this is not news. After all, shopping expeditions can have all the characteristics of an adventure. Some shoppers like the hunt. Others view shopping as an opportunity to explore the cultures and fashions of far away places. And for many, shopping is simply browsing the possibilities. Could the right supplies unlock hidden talents? The right clothes inspire exercise? Or the right gear encourage outings? Whether a person loves to shop, or is loathe to shop, there is no denying the emotional component of shopping. According to Charles Sparks, President, CEO and Corporate Creative Director of Charles Sparks + Company “Successful stores use principles of art, architecture and theatre in visual planning and product presentation. The ways in which these principles are used transmit a sense of excitement and energy into the shopping experience”

Charles Sparks+ Company is a comprehensive interior design and interior architecture firm that works primarily in luxury retail, though they also create unique retail projects for museums and cultural institutions. A peek at a schematic floor plan for a Neiman Marcus department store gives some sense of how intricate designing retail space can be; and that is just two-dimensional. Considering that, with the exception of merchandise, Sparks+Co. describes and specifies virtually everything a customer sees in a store, including all the casework, fixtures, surfaces, furnishings and lighting, it is easy to be impressed with their design capabilities. However, it is Sparks+Co.’s understanding of the relationships between exterior environments and interior environments, both in the way architecture relates to local environment, and the way that people relate to their surroundings, that makes their retail projects masterful.

Designing effective retail space is complicated. But at the foundation of Sparks+Co.’s carefully detailed plans is a simple concept. “The whole philosophy is doing less with more, as far as our design initiatives and even aesthetics go,” says Sparks. In addition, he explains that a successful retail space has three universal functions: to orient, to engage and to persuade. Regardless of the type of retail project and the unique criteria of a store, the same straightforward philosophy and necessary functions guide Sparks+Co.’s designs. A closer look at the seemingly very different environments of Neiman Marcus department stores and the retail expansion in the Art Institute of Chicago’s new Modern Wing reveals the common design philosophies.

FROM THE OUTSIDE IN

The first function of a retail space is to orient the customer. Sparks initially looks to the local environment for inspiration. “At the beginning of the design process we develop an understanding of the locale and the region and community that the store is going in,” says Sparks. Neiman Marcus stores, for example, have similar merchandising criteria, but their geographic locations help to define the colors, textures and accents used in the design. “Nobody likes seeing the same store wherever they go, yet it is very economical for chains to do that. But I think cookie cutter design is missing the point,” says Sparks. “Adjusting a design to the local neighborhoods and communities is one way of doing more with less.” To create unique interiors and casework that reflect the local color Sparks uses a wide range materials, including custom finished veneers from Ventec and laminates. “We happen to like Lamin-Art. The Pearlescence in particular, has very good coloration and finishes. Some of their other series have good organic patterns and contemporary designs, including the metallics, which can be hard to come by,” says Sparks. Hand-dyed veneers, glass, metal and plaster, among other innovative materials and combinations are also used to capture the spirit of a place. Often these astounding decorative features are laid up on the common, dependable substrates of MDF, particleboard and occasionally HDF.

The stores in the Art Institute of Chicago function to orient the customer both in a practical sense and in terms of appreciating the overall experience of fine art. The Modern Wing expansion, which opened May 16, 2009, gave the Art Institute an opportunity to renovate and reinstall almost all of its galleries, resulting in new traffic patterns. Sparks+ Co created three new retail concepts and renovated two existing store to optimize the retail locations so that they logically fit into active hubs between galleries. In part, the concept of the Modern Wing expansion, designed by Pritzker Prize winning architect Renzo Piano, is dominated by feelings of lightness and air. “It is not enough for the light to be perfect,” says Piano, “you also need calm, serenity, and even a voluptuous quality linked to the contemplation of the works of art.” This same hallowed sentiment is reflected in each of the retail spaces created by Sparks+Co. To achieve an open, “comfortably modern” feeling, Sparks carefully chose materials and finishes, including HPL in “White Suede” with matte finish from Wilsonart and “Ice White” with suede finish from Pionite, to build showcases that are both extremely durable and unobtrusive. The stores are designed to emphasize the clarity of the museum space, which ties in neatly to the surrounding urban area and Millennium Park.

Meeting in the Middle The second function of a successful retail space is to engage. For long -time experts like Sparks, there is an understanding, like inherent Feng Shui, of how people enter and then interact with a space. During the planning phase, Sparks+Co. already knows what merchandise will be showcased, and they use that information to create a block and flow plan that encourages customers to see what the retailer wants them to see, when they want them to see it. The design takes into consideration human nature and is planned with the customers’ point of view in mind. Do people look left or right first? What will catch the eye and lead a person deeper into the space?

Within Neiman Marcus translucent materials are regularly employed to segregate areas while still encouraging a natural flow of traffic. Doubled-sided textured, laminated glass, supplied by Twin City Creative Mirror and specialty resin panels from 3Form USA, invite customers to linger in an area while allowing their interests to wander into the next section of the store. Sparks also likes to use quiet colors with bold textures that play with light, creating surfaces that are interesting without being overbearing. He describes the materials he chooses in a visceral way, often relating back to the basic pleasures of food and comfort.

In addition to getting people to engage emotionally in a retail space, Sparks+Co. also takes into consideration how people will engage physically with the space. “We’ve got knife edge protectors and mop strips and corner details to protect, and you have to think about cleaning equipment, strollers and people walking into glass. For Neiman Marcus we do a lot of laminations and treatments on glass as part of our translucency imagery. It has aesthetic value, and also makes it safer,” says Sparks.

The same concept of engaging applies to the Art Institute stores, and carries with it a sense of permission. Imagine walking through a fine art museum, looking at great works of art that may not, under any circumstance, be touched. What an invitation it is to then enter a strategically placed store. Suddenly instead of one priceless object, a customer sees many of the same objects, and they are obtainable. “We talk about browse time,” says Sparks. “You have to slow the visitor down after seeing all the work in the galleries. At the conclusion of their visit, you are slowing them down and giving them a little bit of comfort and interactivity with merchandise they can touch, so lighting and atmosphere and having a little bit of softness underfoot versus hard stone flooring is helpful.”

Not only is the retail space a little less formal, it is more durable. In addition to the HPL millwork fixtures, stone and quartz are used throughout the Art Institute stores. The environment encourages interaction with the merchandise. The Balcony Bookstore Café for example, which connects the original main museum with the new Modern Wing, invites patrons to sit and relax; to enjoy a refreshing beverage amongst books and magazines that bring the magnitude of the art on exhibit into a more manageable scale. Each unique store flows freely into its museum surroundings, offering little oases where visitors can engage with objects.

From the Inside Out

The final function of a successful retail space is to persuade. Space planning and design are big parts of creating the emotional experience that is the impetus to purchase. Each unique retail setting must cater to its specific clientele. In different settings, people spend money for different reasons. Nonetheless, the goal is still the same, to persuade the customer to buy. For customers, a purchase happens when there is some internal resonance with the retail surroundings and merchandise. That is what makes an acquisition satisfying.

For example, to consumers throughout the world, the name Neiman Marcus evokes images of luxury, high-fashion apparel, world-famous designers and flamboyant, fun-filled gifts. With a history that spans over 94 years, Neiman Marcus is in the business of selling a sense of entitlement and belonging. To make customers feel at home within the vast expanses of high-end merchandise, Sparks employs what he calls “moments of luxury,’ spaces on the retail floor that are adorned with exotic materials and lavish furnishings that invite a customer to stop and feel at home. That emotional comfort amongst the merchandise is key. After all, customers who feel at home amidst this level of luxury surely deserve to take a little bit of it with them.

It is an entirely different sort of persuasion in a museum setting. With the expansion of the new Modern Wing, The Art Institute of Chicago is now the second largest fine arts museum in the nation, second only to the Metropolitan Museum of Fine Arts in New York. It is a reflection of the city of Chicago’s dedication to marketing itself as a destination for cultural products and experiences. The Art Institute has always recognized that retail activity, in addition to generating revenue, is an integral and important part of the visitor experience. The stores are designed to appeal to the cultural traveler. They encourage customers to buy merchandise as a means of preserving enriching experiences. Plus there is an inferred sense of giving back to the Art Institute in particular, and supporting the arts in general, that comes free with each museum store purchase.

Unified Experience

Remaining true to the philosophy of doing more with less allows Sparks to create a wide variety of beautiful luxury and specialty retail spaces that orient, engage and persuade customers. From these simple concepts, Sparks+Co. works to create positive experiences at customer contact points in the store environment. They design the visual choreography of a project through the selection of color, products and materials; and balance the practical with the aesthetic. Each carefully selected finish communicates the intended experience, influences perception, and ultimately sets a persuasive environment for the presentation of merchandise or services.

From Neiman Marcus to the Art Institute of Chicago, store spaces must fit into the context of their location. Retail design is not exempt from the architectural goal of fusing the outside environment with the inside environment, in fact, for retail, the interplay in the design must penetrate even further into the emotionally sensibilities of the customer. In the end, it is not enough for a store to look good, it also has to create the right emotional experience. After all, luxury shopping is not a commodity event like a run to the grocery. It is an adventure in emotions and possibilities.