Winter 2012 Newsletter - FINAL
Transcription
Winter 2012 Newsletter - FINAL
13 HOT TRENDS IN RETAIL FOR 2013 Project: buybuy BABY Location: US RT 17 NE, Ridgewood Avenue Paramus, NJ Size: 53,028 Square Feet Type: New Store Superintendent: Chris Harding Project Manager: Anthony Saoulidis What’s new? “Without continual growth and progress, such words as improvement, achievement, and success have no meaning.” Project: Chipotle Mexican Grill Location: 900 Chapel Street New Haven, CT Size: 2,370 Square Feet Type: New Restaurant Superintendent: Tom Schimenti Project Manager: Michael Hanrahan Benjamin Franklin Project: Sephora Location: 150 Quaker Bridge Mall Lawrenceville, NJ Size: 5,300 Square Feet Type: New Store Superintendent: Anthony Alessi Project Manager: Joe McGowan CONTENTS WINTER 2013 EMPLOYEE PROFILE............................2 TARGET/STATEN ISLAND.......................2 OFFICE EXPANSION.............................3 SCHIMENTI HOLIDAY PARTY...................3 WHAT’S NEW ....................................4 COFFEE WITH CAROLINE ....................4 Schimenti Construction Company 650 Danbury Road Ridgefield, CT 06877 914.244.9100 720 5th Avenue New York, NY 10019 212.246.9100 4 www.schimenti.com Schimenti Construction Company Radio personality Caroline Corley, from WXPK 107.1 fm The Peak, visited the Schimenti office for a “Coffee With Caroline” morning. A regular event for the on-air talent, Caroline regularly brings coffee from a local shop and visits with area businesses. Several employees listen to her morning show from 5:30am-10am, Monday-Friday, and extended an invitation to her. It was a fun morning with delicious coffee for everyone. Caroline lives in Elmsford with her chocolate Lab, Mick Jagger. 1. Cheap and cheerful: Some trends are consumer focused. From lipstick and nail polish (the original “cheap and cheerful” cues in the new economy) to home décor items and candles. Items that are simply cheap and cheerful will make the consumer happy, pleased that she is taking home something fresh and new. Nordstrom, Best Buy and others have publicly laid out ambitious goals to eliminate the conventional checkout, cashwrap and even in some cases the sales associate, by putting more of the accessibility to technology either in the hands of the consumer or in proximity to the point-of-purchase. Rather than seeing digital as a threat to brick-and-mortar, today’s retailer should embrace this and see it as a way of extending this proven purchase optimization through multichannel. 2. Personal emancipation: One of the biggest trends has been termed “personal emancipation.” Think of separates in the fashion world, interest in personalization and customization, and a willingness to be “cast as the outcast” seems to be all part of this new consumer psychology. 13 HOT TRENDS IN RETAIL FOR 2013.. .. 1 THE PEAK 107.1 PERSONALITY VISITS SCHIMENTI 5. Technology: The ability to find resources that are “big enough to serve you” yet “small enough to know you” is key to executing this new face of retail. While the outcome is casual, the activities, input and resources it takes to “appear” casual should not be underestimated. In addition, inexpensive seasonal reinvention can breathe an air of freshness into any consumer’s home (and your environment too). Project: ZARA Location: 39 West 34th Street New York, NY Size: 22,305 Square Feet Type: New Store Superintendent: Bill Caracciolo Project Manager: Finbar Looby Project: Ulta Beauty Location: 445 Boston Post Road Port Chester, NY Size: 10,000 Square Feet Type: New Store Superintendent: Mike Morrissey Project Manager: Anthony Saoulidis There are many trends – practical, psychographic and attitudinal – that are incubating during the retail “reboot” that’s taking place in the U.S. economy. This reboot is affecting all types and sizes of retail, brick-and-mortar and online. The key is putting these trends to work for you. 650 Danbury Road Ridgefield, CT 06877 914.244.9100 720 5th Avenue New York, NY 10019 212.246.9100 www.schimenti.com 3. Mix-and-match merchandising: This can play out in retail in many ways. It can come across in merchandising and assortment, with the willingness AND expectation of the customer to be innovative and low cost at the same time, while juxtaposed against the luxurious and the exclusive. Think rubber bracelets and Jimmy Choo. This acceptability on the part of the customer creates a mix-and-match statement about their both being democratic and sophisticated, while addressing their need for irony and humor. Translating this trend into the retail environment and finding the balance is one part aesthetics, one part humor, and third part cleverness. 4. Flash sales: Stores are beginning to see their retail environments not in terms of decades, or even years; but in terms of days, or even hours. The flash sale has gotten consumers to think in a much more nimble way, and likewise they seem less phased today than ever in the “here today, gone tomorrow” light-footedness of the pop-up store with brands, lab stores and retail experiments where the guinea pig may as well be the retailer as it is the consumer. 6. Evolving sales opportunities: With the freedom of mobile checkouts, sales associates can do what they do best: Help the consumer. Much of this change is taking place around mobile apps, but other technologies, such as tablets, enhance the efficiency of the shopping experience while expanding the diversity of options available to the consumer, offering the perfect marriage between brick-and-mortar and digital. 7. Rethinking environments: The cashwrap has been ubiquitous in retail as both a branding point and as a stop on the consumer’s path. But the rapid spread of roaming digital checkouts has created a rethink and is increasingly changing the consumer’s view of “experience.” 8. Creative “sticky” space: What should a retailer do with the space that is freed up by removing the cashwrap and some of the other operational barriers that exist in traditional stores? Create a space that invites the customer to linger and socially interact. Design a “sticky” model that engages consumers to see the retail space as just not a transaction space, but as a “third place” where they stick around longer. These “sticky” spaces – comfortable, engaging and brand-right retail brand image, to engage in a consumer conversation and introduce them to new ideas, services and products. continued on page 2 1 TRENDS continued from page 1 9. Permanent-temporary spaces: Consider creating permanent temporary space within your store. The brand halo of inviting key influencers within your consumer’s world is a way of creating buzz and newness within an existing merchandise range. These “influencers” might be a highly visible neighboring retailer, a brand or an author. A famous Paris department store does this on a monthly basis, inviting high profile celebrities of various walks of life – sport, fashion, art, literature – and then asks them to find and gather their “favorite things” from the store and then organize those into a mini department. This approach provides an opportunity for storytelling and ways to connect and identify with the personalities or muse of this internal pop-up. 10. Community spirit: Make a difference in your community. Certain categories offer opportunities for emotional triggers. Children, education, pets are all universal topics around which to connect your brand, your store and your consumers. The place previously occupied by the cashwrap provides an opportunity to create a shared interest between retailer and consumer and offers a way to give back to the community causes important to them. 11. Storytelling: The illustration of creativity and selfexpression can be shaped through storytelling. You cannot help but visit a retail street or shopping center today without being drawn to retailers like Anthropologie whose displays and seasonal presentations extend beyond the realm of “window dressing” and into the role of “public art.” Connect emotionally with the consumer and enrich, and inspire her to think beyond the obvious. The tools and the props that are part of this burgeoning explosion of retail creativity are often ordinary, but their use is exhibited in extraordinary ways. Employee Profile Finbar Looby [email protected] Project Manager, Estimator 2 12. Communication: In the end, effective marketing communication needs to sell things, but first the brand needs to win hearts and to some degree, minds, into a dialogue before the selling begins. The trend around visual merchandising is providing an unexpected and imaginative “kit of parts.” Mannequins, forms and mirrors to “populate” visual is increasingly important. The embedding of digital technology can range from retro to high-tech to even retro-tech, where the repurposing of materials whether for repetition, color blocking and storytelling – are becoming an increasingly important part of a successful retailer’s effective communication initiative. Schimenti Construction recently completed the expansion of its company headquarters at 650 Danbury Road, Ridgefield, CT. The project doubles the size of the firm’s space from 10,000 square feet to 20,000 square feet. Matthew Schimenti, company President, said “When we moved to Ridgefield in 2009 we began planning for growth. The building we selected allowed us the option of access to the second floor which gave us a perfect way to expand as needed.” The new contemporary employee café style break room features a state-of-the-art Starbucks Coffee bar, a fully functional kitchen with pantry, vending machines and comfortable seating. Its polished concrete floor and an exposed ceiling give the space a unique and modern feel. An extra large copy and print room was also added along with additional offices. Reprinted with permission from CHAIN STORE AGE. Written by Kenneth Nisch is chairman of JGA, a retail design and brand strategy firm in Southfield, Michigan. WORK BEGINS ON NEW STATEN ISLAND STORE FOR TARGET DESPITE SUPERSTORM SANDY Schimenti Construction broke ground recently on the new Target store at 2875 Richmond Avenue, Staten Island and immediately had to respond to a variety of unexpected challenges as a result of Hurricane Sandy. Fin, a construction professional with experience in estimating and project management, graduated from Westchester Community College with an Associates Degree in Engineering Science. Since joining Schimenti Construction Company in July, he immediately became involved in Zara 34th Street, New York, NY on the project management team, while successfully bidding TD Bank in New Britain, CT on the estimating team. Additionally, he has actively developed relationships with new retail clients. Joseph Schimenti, Schimenti Project Executive, said, “While the damage to the site was minimal, the on-going effects of the storm posed numerous hurdles. The shortage of fuel on Staten Island, along with emergency repair work, impacted our ability to get materials and equipment to the site, and the lack of fuel meant we couldn’t use our equipment.” Outside of work, Fin takes pride and great satisfaction in do-ityourself projects, mainly remodeling his home – one room at a time – and perfecting his yard. In addition to prepping the site and constructing the 140,000 square foot Target store, Schimenti is also involved in significant site work on the shopping plaza. That work includes a new parking lot, site lighting, utilities, hydrants, traffic signals and street work. The architect for this project is Robert M. Lucius Architect, 1220 Marshall Street. NE, Minneapolis, MN. A dramatic new stone -tread staircase with aircraft cable handrails leads to the second floor, which includes a new training room that can accommodate up to 50 people and will be used for employee functions, conferences and project team meetings. The expansion also includes a redesign of the main floor with the creation of a new reception area, which includes four 47” 13. Success through action: Think reboot and power to the consumer – be it in understanding, discovering or transacting. Act on trends that address the consumer’s need for irony, humor, advocacy and independence while recognizing their personal emancipation not only around the commercial retail aspects of their life, but health, education, travel and creativity as well. Don’t forget the importance of personalization and customization and the growing trend toward “yin and yang” all under the same roof, within the same shopping bag and within the mind and the heart of the consumer. Remember, there is no success without action! Finbar Looby joined Schimenti’s estimating department in July 2012. Shortly thereafter, as a member of the project management team, he functioned in a dual capacity, providing his expertise to both departments. Fin’s favorite activities involve spending quality time with his wife and four children. Fin is an active coach for his son’s youth activities including flag football, soccer and lacrosse. Schimenti Completes Headquarters Expansion LCD screens that feature company news, project photographs, employee biographies, live job site video and more. A new executive conference room has been added on the first floor as well as new waiting areas on both floors. “We have steadily grown since we moved into our space here three years ago,” said Joseph Rotondo, Schimenti Vice President. “Our initial planning for growth has allowed us to make this substantial expansion with relative ease. We are excited about the future and our expanded home for our growing team of construction professionals,” he explained. The company is also in the process of relocating and expanding its New York City location and expects to have new, larger offices completed in early 2013. Holiday Party Christens New 650 Lounge Schimenti employees gathered on Friday, December 21 to celebrate the holidays and to hold the first official event in the new Schimenti 650 Lounge. Catered by Raffaele, the former head chef at Toscana, Ridgefield, the party featured great food, drinks, ping pong, good fellowship and comaraderie. In lieu of holiday cards, Schimenti made a donation to the My Sandy Hook Family Fund. 3