CALLISON ARCHITECTURE INC. SEIBU DEPARTMENT STORE * Funabashi, Japan In the category of Renovated Department Stores, Callison Architecture Inc., Seattle, was awarded the 1999 SADI for its design of Seibu Department Store in Funabashi, Japan.
In an effort to evolve with the department store industry in Japan, Seibu embarked on a long-term remodeling program. Founded in 1940, the retailer aimed to increase brand recognition and update its stores as fashion leaders.
Callison's work included helping the store define and focus the brand, designing new concepts for 60 departments within the Funabashi store and completing an overall remodel. The resulting store features wider aisles, open sight lines, common finishes and fixtures throughout the store, ambient lighting levels that accentuate merchandise focal points, and distinct departments to effectively display the merchandise.
To appeal to Seibu's target customer - a 25- to 40-year-old working woman with a family - the overall look of the store is comfortable and inviting, as well as customer-service oriented.
In order to orient the customer, new fixtures were created to distinguish the merchandise. For example, the back walls and freestanding display cases in the handbags department create vignettes of mixed merchandise to draw the customer in and enhance cross-selling opportunities.
Most Japanese department stores comprise a number of vendor shops on each floor. To compete with the other department stores, the Seibu image needed to be reflected in the store's common areas. Such repetitive elements as maple finishes and grid motifs are used throughout the store to give the departments a richness similar to the vendor shops. These elements also identify areas where customers can find Seibu merchandise.
The store's own brand, Address, is designed to compete with vendors' high-end and bridge collections. The Address department is slightly more contemporary than the rest of the store, with fixtures constructed with glass and metal and black finishes. Such a look distinguishes the Seibu specialty brand.
AWARD RECIPIENT CALLISON ARCHITECTURE INC.
Seattle
Paula Stafford (principal-in-charge); Sandie Pope (design director); Cindi Kato (interiors project manager); Joseph Cimini (visual presentation); Elizabeth Buxton (designer); Liz LeDorze (designer); Cho Suzumura (client manager); Dawn Clark (project manager); Joel Riehl (project architect)
CLIENT:
SEIBU DEPARTMENT STORE
Tokyo
Product Manufacturers/Suppliers: The Earth Associates Co. Ltd., Tokyo (casework coordinator); NODE Co. Ltd., Tokyo (casework coordinator); Candela Lighting, Seattle (lighting consultant); Seidenko Co. Ltd., Tokyo (lighting consultant); TCP Sources, Seattle (purchasing/exporting consultant); Picture Source, Seattle (artwork); Corporate Art West, Seattle (artwork); Unika Vaev, Orangeburg, N.J. (fabrics); Gretchen Bellinger, New York (fabrics); Sina Pearson, New York (fabrics); Jack Lenor Larson, New York (fabrics); Sophia Inc., Tokyo (flooring supplier and installer); Toli, Tokyo (flooring manufacturer); Hickory Business Furniture, Hickory, N.C. (furniture); cascade Fixture, Sumner, Wash. (furniture); Tuohy, Chatfield, Minn. (furniture); Artemide, Farmingdale, N.Y. (lighting); Bernstein, New York (mannequins/forms); Goldsmith, New York (mannequins/forms); Royal Co. Ltd., Tokyo (merchandising hardware); Met Merchandising, Chicago (props/decoratives); Maya Romanoff, Chicago (wallcovering); Hiroko Shinko, Tokyo (woven fiber art)