Artefacto – Beach and Country brings the seaside and rural residential living to life, one vignette at a time, one top designer at a time. Broken up in more than 25 room setting, each commissioned to showcase one of the top Brazilian home designers. The only requirement is that the design reflects the Beach & Country concept and that all the major furniture pieces come from any of the domestic and imported collections. As part of their commitment to bring sustainable ideas to the community, each room also uses eco-friendly flooring from the showcased flooring vendor.        

Each room is unique, with its own personality and styling. There appears  to be no budget for concepts, allowing each design to fully express their ideas to the fullest. Some of the designers have brought in artisans to create their finish and artwork. Each designer’s effort and business is acknowledged behind a glass plaque in each room.    

Overlooking the open courtyard in the back, the owners have invited 4 vendor partners to have their offices, including: GE appliances, Eco Lumber (Flooring), ” Puntoluse Lighting, and SMS (a residential designer).        

As with every guest, George and I were also treated to a personal tour by Ricardo.  He answered our (George’s) every Portuguese question and knew not only the furniture details but the designers and artists. At the end of our tour, we were offered finger sandwiches and  treated to espresso and tea.        

As we relaxed in the entry foyer, George and I recalled the days when department stores used to have separate designers to conceptualize individual departments. I remember when I was afforded the opportunity to redesign the 5^th floor men’s store for the Saks Fifth Avenue NYC Flag ship., I was amazed that every existing sub-department was a totally different concept.  My job was to create the overall “Ruhlman” inspired envelope of architecture in which independent sub-departments and vendors ( DKNY , Hugo Boss and Armani)  would live.       

What if  every sub-department was conceptualized under an umbrella concept, but allowed to be more aligned to each customer lifestyle, but not by vendor? Flagships for Bloomingdales, Saks  and many retailers have used different designers per floor, even a recent concept for Macy brought three design firms together. We agreed that the Selfridges Bullring store came close, but the idea never really took off.        

As we finished our beverages,  George and I concluded that the high cost to hire separate design firms, along with the efficiency of a single ‘kit of parts’ design details,  has been to root causes of retailers implementing a single formulaic concept.  Many retailers have also concluded that the rollout of the same design is a a way to control the brand.  I still believe that  a single design firm in partnership with a visionary retailer can create a varied customer and design experince that marries to the brand. The keys would be access to relevant department based customer data and a strong over-arching concept/philosophy.

With the recession, I have noticed that those behind the counter or on the sales floor have been getting older, and not just by a few years. I encounter a returning retired work force. A survey by AARP recently found 20 percent of workers age 55 to 64 plan to delay retirement because of current economic conditions. Couple that with the added job responsibilities and what does all this mean to the aging sales force?     

Mother’s Day was coming and the kids decided they wanted to get their mother an iPod Touch. So we investigated the best and closest place to get a metal clad 8 GB model and Walmart came up the winner. The Friday night before, we headed up to my Super Walmart in Lebanon, Ohio to purchase one. There has always been elderly gentleman at the door, no matter the time of day, greeting us at the door: “Welcome to Walmart” and then randomly checking register receipts against what was in your basket on the way out, but always a “Thank you for Shopping Walmart”; not a tremendous amount of responsibility.  I have noticed that the staffing at Walmart has also been getting older. The cashiers, floor stockers and even the deli team members have been changing over to much older employees.     

Since it was late at night, there was no electronics department manager on duty or manning the electronics department cash register. My son found a man stocking the office supply aisles who radioed the night manager to assist us. Mary, a friendly, senior women came to our assistance to open the Apple showcase to retrieve our iPod. To my surprise, as she reached down with the set of keys to open the sliding door lock, she suddenly let out a loud grunt as she sat down hard on the floor. Apparently she could not physically bend down to 4 inches off the floor to unlock the case. In a lot of discomfort, I quickly offered to help her; she refused and remarked how she is “used to it”. As Mary reached into the case I quickly captured the moment on my camera.      

We insisted to help her back up, but again she refused and noted “Why, in the life of me, wouldn’t they have put the lock high up on the case?”. I looked her in the eye and sincerely replied, ” Unfortunately,  I am a store designer.  I am one the people in the world whose responsibility is to think about these things. I even know the head of design for electronics at Walmart and he would never want you to end up sitting on the floor.  So on his behalf and my profession, I apologize.” I meant what I said, but I quickly realized how strange and unimportant it was to say it to someone who probably has to sit on the floor several times a night. Mary then hobbled over to register to ring us up.     

I did some research on Saturday after wrapping the gift. According to one government estimate, 93% of the growth in the U.S. labor force from 2006 to 2016 will be among workers ages 55 and older. The incident has had me thinking more about our responsibilities to truly consider the need of the employee and recognizing everyday tasks that are difficult, if not dangerous for a senior retail workforce. Retailers and designers need to plan more user friendly environment; one that consider the ergonomics, the physical limits, the eyesight and the too broad responsibilities for this every increasing demographic.     

So far the biggest problems I have observed include; the handling weight of product, ladders, under stocking, over stocking,  button sizes on registers, font sizes on safety signage, low light levels, register floor matting, walk-off mat edges, and the distance required to traveled in the larger stores. I believe we all have a duty as  designers and storeplanners to at the very least understand the needs and limitation of a senior work force.

My burrito has no rice:       

I have been eating at a Chipotle north of Cincinnati every Sunday when I drop-off my daughter for tumbling class. There’s nothing better than getting a burrito done “my way”, then sitting in my car and listening to the ballgame before heading in to the class to watch my daughter. I find as a fast food experience, it’s a simpler way to order: I stand in the single line that wraps around the seating area which usually moves quite fast. The menu board is easy to understand and teaches everyone the proper way to get what you want; the same type of cafeteria line system we have all learned in elementary school.             

For me, Chipotle as an experience, is hip and young and makes some my age feel like we are part of some ‘alternative’ club. I believe it’s their tone of voice in the messaging, the music selection, and most importantly the others in-line with me looking for that Mexican nirvana that helps make it feel special. It’s universally democratic, a fair system where everyone, being part of the club, is equal. I had never had a bad experience there, neither from the staff or the other guests.             

In Cincinnati, we have a fantastic square in the heart of downtown that has an amazing fountain, thus the name Fountain Square. A few years ago, the whole square was renovated to become more pedestrian; the fountain was re-centered, seating, landscaping, perfomance stage and a sound system was added. The ‘sky-way’ bridges were removed and retail and restaurants where brought back down the street level. The street level increased people traffic exponentially which increases the energy and pulse of the city. (In fact, BHDP played a role in helping make it all come together and its been a huge success.)             

About a year and a half ago, with much anticipation, Chipotle opened on Fountain Square. The perfect addition to the reinvented downtown community. It took me a while to find the time to make it there during my lunch hour but eventually I did, but it was not what I expected. Two new technology-based systems had been introduced that upset the balance to the universe and more importantly what I had come to put my faith in around the Chipotle experience.             

First, as the line moved inside, I noticed that the architecture at the counter up ahead was different. To my surprise, there is now a pick up window to the left of the counter that had a separate line and I suddenly began to notice that the people that I thought where slipping past the back of the line to see their friends were actually using this preordered pick-up window. I began to also now notice the small signs that spoke to ordering online to bypass the (universal) line. Where had democracy gone? Are we not all equals? Are we not good enough for this aristocracy of internet savvy patrons? My new world order, the globalist commitment, had been shattered. Now a few of these elitists even had the nerve to sit at a vacated table while I stayed true to the system.             

Second came the crushing blow, as I neared the turn towards the counter, a young woman dressed in her Chipotle black, asks the person in front of me for his order. She was holding a small handheld tablet and begin to take his order. He then takes out a credit card, she swipes it and hands him a receipt. I thought to myself, “now this must be for the masses, and surely it will speed up our time as well”. Now it was my turn, she asked for my order and I begin to recite “burrito, steak, no rice, both beans and a few peppers, corn and tomato”. She replied, “Fajita burrito?”"Yes, I guess” I responded, “but I only want a few peppers and no onions”, to which she said “I don’t need to know what you want on it, you will still order at the counter”. My confusion began; my order won’t be waiting for me and I still have to do the same thing as before? “Credit card?’ she interjected into my thought process, again “credit card?” she asked. I pulled the twenty out of my wallet, ” I don’t want to use credit, I want to pay cash” to which she replied ” credit cards only, you’ll need to pay the cashier,” and then she moved the person after me. My  blood began to boil as I contemplated releasing my inner New Yorker. I took a deep breath, relaxed my shoulders and moved forward.             

I began to look at the bigger picture, this is busy location where they must have issues at the register processing so many orders. However, it took only 2 minutes to undo the sanctity of my relationship with Chipotle. I have not gone back to this location, but continue to make my pilgrimage every Sunday to “my” Chipotle. One final note: my burrito from the square had rice because in my dismay, I forgot say “no rice” (the second time).             

Why can’t I trust Steven?       

 I was in Boston last week visiting a few clients.  The weather was great and I left in plenty of time for Logan airport to drop off the rental car and pick up my ticket at the Delta kiosk (now there is an easy and user friendly device…so long as they stop changing it). What I found interesting was when I went to the Legal Test Kitchen restaurant near Gate A5. The food was great, especially the clam chowder, but even better was my waiter Steven. The best restaurant service experience for me is one you don’t notice when they are doing their job. Things just happen without you asking, they anticipate your needs. They can engage in friendly conversation, all the while silently using legerdemain to keep the meal moving forward. Steven was great at it.            

So why when the meal was over did he place his hand held credit card swipe in front of me on the table. “What am I supposed to do with this?” I asked. “Please just swipe your credit card and follow the prompts. Bewildered, I followed his directions and swiped my card. It asked me if the total was right, a percentage tip, and then to finally accept the transaction. It printed out the receipts, I signed one and put the other back in my wallet with my Visa. I quickly took out my camera and snap a picture to remember this strange transaction. “I would have trusted you to swipe my card” I commented as I handed Steve back the device and the receipt. “It’s just our policy” he replied. We thanked each other and I went to my gate.            

 Now in Brazil, I recently was at a night club where I was handed what looked like a gift card that the waiter wrote down my card number for every appetizer and the entrée that I personally ordered. The line on the way out was for paying the cashier the amount on my card. I was told by my Brazil friends that the waiters don’t handle any money because they cannot be trusted. Maybe this works in Brazil, but why did I have to ring myself out in Boston. Shouldn’t I decide if I trust Steven and doesn’t it send the wrong message if a retailer lets you know, through an inconvenience to you, that they don’t trust their employee. The employee is a major part of the experience, if I can’t trust them, why would I trust the retailer?             

 Kneel before technology:       

 Last year I went with my son to purchase a MacBook at the Apple store in the Kenwood Mall in Cincinnati. The store had just changed out the fixturing to be all the same 6′ x 9′ clear maple tables. I could go on at length about the chaos of finding the right color shirted team member in this “every one for themselves cue-less system,” but instead I will stick to the same devise I wrote about the previous stories.             

So after 45 minutes in the store, we were finally ready for the transaction. We were rung up by the team member on the selling floor on the handheld device and as he swiped my card I wondered where the receipt would come from. He then reached under the edge of the new 6 foot by 9 foot light maple table and tore it off without looking. I thought “cool, what may seem like chaos is actually a well choreographed machine”…but then when he returned from the back to with the laptop he proceeded to reach under the adjacent side for a shopping bag. Finding nothing he fell to his knees to peer under and confirmed that there were no more bags. I then noticed as I waited one brightly colored “t-shirted” employees sitting or kneeling on the floor and reaching under the table. “Not so cool anymore.”             

Final Note:    

Check out the mall architecture and interior common spaces.

“Art-ecture” best describes the experience. Patrons had to strain their necks as they caught glimpse of intriguing design elements, each unfolding as the turn to walk towards them.

Every day I will post a retail encounter on my blog.
It will usually come with pictures and my ‘point of view’ about the design or situation.
So let’s get started….

Indian Motorcycle Showroom: Charlotte, North Carolina