Shopko Unveils Chute Gerdeman Retail-Designed Prototype Store
Green Bay, WI—Shopko unveils their first full-line store to be built in nearly seven years with the retail design expertise of Chute Gerdeman Retail, the Columbus, OH-based branding and design firm.
The 80,000-square foot prototype location opened its doors to Green Bay on March 10. The new design is warm and welcoming and connects directly to women shoppers while maintaining Shopko’s traditional discount store efficiencies.
Chute Gerdeman, known for delivering creative and fresh interpretations of retailers’ brand stories, completely redesigned the Shopko store experience—everything from the identity and exterior architecture to the interior design, floor plan, fixtures, adjacencies, and graphic communications.
“Our client’s goal was to create a shopping experience for her that would be reassuring, stylish and fun. Shopko wanted to update everything and was really open to new ideas,” says Chute Gerdeman President and Creative Director, Brian Shafley.
Chute Gerdeman’s first step in the re-branding process was a redesign of the Shopko identity to better complement their new female-focused brand positioning. The new, more sophisticated identity features a feminine, fashion-forward aesthetic with an earthy palette.
Inside the store, the central entry was designed to feel like a specialty store—modern and warm, with the new Shopko logo incorporated in the flooring. At the entry of each of the store’s major departments, dramatic boutique focal points help break up the big box feel and make the store easier to shop. Many of the focal areas are complemented by a generously proportioned lampshade.
“Residential design cues, stylized and adjusted for scale, were key in establishing an aspirational but familiar tone in the space,” says Shafley. Armoire fixtures, overhead lamp shades, coffered ceiling elements, picture rails, crown molding, and crisp white woodwork highlight the merchandise and ensure design longevity. To more closely connect to the core customer, framed lifestyle imagery is displayed on the integrated rail system around the perimeter of the store—just as she would proudly display family photos at home.
The Shopko brand has been overhauled from top to bottom, capturing all of the values that speak to the female shopper. While the new Chute Gerdeman-designed store still offers the Shopko products and service she expects, it is now a warm, familiar, comfortable place to shop. It’s her life, her style, her store.
About Chute Gerdeman Retail
Since 1989, Chute Gerdeman Retail, based in Columbus, OH, has created retail brands, their identities, their environments, and every other customer touch point, including brand communication materials, merchandising fixtures, and packaging. The firm’s client list includes: Target, Levi Strauss, Limited Too, Kohl’s, Shopko, Sheetz, Smithsonian, Hamleys (UK), Lowe’s, Einstein Bros. Café, KFC (Japan), Hanesbrands Inc., Pepsi-Cola, Ross-Simons, Nationwide Arena, Marriott Vacation Club International, Starwood and Wolverine. In 2006, the firm was voted “Designer of the Year” by readers of DDI (Display & Design Ideas) magazine in addition to the numerous awards it has received for design leadership. For more information, go to www.chutegerdeman.com.
About Shopko
Shopko is a $2.2 billion retailer of quality goods and services headquartered in Green Bay, WI, with stores located in 13 states throughout the Midwest, Mountain and Pacific Northwest regions. Retail formats include 132 Shopko stores, providing quality name-brand merchandise, great values, pharmacy and optical services in mid-sized to larger cities, and three Shopko Express Rx stores, a convenient neighborhood drugstore concept. Shopko Stores Operating Co., LLC is an affiliate of Sun Capital Partners, Inc., a leading private investment firm. For more information, go to www.shopko.com.
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