dELiA*s Stylish New Look
dELiA*s is showing off its feminine side. The teen apparel retailer has debuted a new prototype at Providence Place Mall, in Providence, R.I. The 3,674-sq.-ft. store has a stylish, upbeat vibe that reflects its target audience.
“The overall environment is fun and girly, stimulating interest in fashion as well as interaction among shoppers and sales consultants,” said Scott Shremshock, principal, Shremshock Architects & Engineers, Westerville, Ohio. The firm designed the store in collaboration with Asset Strategies Group, also of Westerville, Ohio, which provided overall construction and project management services.
The new design offers a more feminine and sophisticated environment, enhanced by the introduction of curves in the floor fixtures, wall panel system, mirror frames, display rods and signage. It keeps dELiA*s signature colors of white, silver and yellow, mainly using the white to emphasize the girlish atmosphere, and accenting the space with highlights of yellow and silver. A sparkly wallcovering (surrounding the wall panel system) and a damask wallcovering in the fitting room lounge enhance the ambience.
The highlights of the design include a central axis “runway” created by platform fixtures for the mannequins and vinyl plank flooring in the center of the store. The planks, which have a wood look, run lengthwise with the two sides perpendicular.
“The runway fixtures and flooring create a more high-fashion feel,” Shremshock added, “while the runway enables the customer to have fun while shopping the items that are shown on the mannequin and easily buy the outfit.”
Other highlights include destination focal areas for dELiA*s staples, such as graphic tees and denim, and an online boutique area where customers can shop for items that are not in stock. The dressing rooms are particularly welcoming, and accented with a warm yellow and pink flower /damask wallcovering.
“The fitting rooms are where we introduced more color and pattern,” Shremshock said. “A partial-height denim wall creates a reveal to this fun area and draws the customer back to get a closer look.”
One of the key goals of the project was to reduce the cost of construction and decrease the square footage while increasing floor and wall fixture capacity.
“The cost of construction was reduced by replacing costly ceramic tile flooring with high-quality wood-look plank vinyl flooring, and replacing costly gypsum board display alcoves with a wall system for merchandise presentation,” Shremshock explained. “Also, an open ceiling was featured instead of a gypsum board ceiling, and the lighting and fixture packages were rebuilt to be more cost-effective.”
Utilizing the open ceiling to increase the height of the display walls allowed for more SKUs to be featured. Instead of a wall shelving running 6 ft. high, a 10-ft. high wall panel system was implemented, which meant an increased number of SKUs could be placed on the display wall.
“Also, while the wall panels are still broken up into sections, we decreased the spacing between the sections and were able to get an additional 24 linear ft. of wall display,” Shremshock said.
Materials were selected with an eye toward reducing the cost of construction and getting the most bang for the buck. Featured materials include wood-look plank vinyl flooring, gypsum board, paint, a stock wallcovering on the sales floor and a custom wallcovering in the fitting room lounge.