Celebrating Excellence in Design

The winners of Chain Store Age’s 26th annual Retail Store of the Year design competition were honored at a reception and dinner in Dallas. Retailers, designers and architects of the award-winning projects attended the event, which was held just prior to SPECS/2008 and sponsored by Access 360 Media, Los Angeles.

G by Guess, the newest brand from Guess?, Inc., received top honors in the competition, named best overall entry. The store, in Escondido, Calif., also placed first in the exterior (mall) category and soft lines category, less than 5,000 sq. ft. The project was designed in-house, by the store-design team at Guess.

In addition to the grand prize, individual awards were given in a variety of retail and restaurant categories. In the newly added category of environmental sustainability, REI, Boulder, Colo., took top honors.

G by Guess and all the other winning projects were profiled in the February issue of Chain Store Age. Additional photos of the winners and information on the Retail Store of the Year competition can be found on www.chainstoreage.com. And for exclusive interviews with some of the award winners, visit the Chain Store Age TV section on the Web site.