A.R.E Awards – Softline Shop in a Store – Grand Prize

Macy’s Oakbrook Womens Shoe Department, Oakbrook Shopping Center, Oakbrook, Ill.

A 15,400-square-foot shop within a shop, Macy’s women’s shoe department features curvilinear aisles and fixtures that set a central hub for Macy’s Impulse brand and serve as the focal point of the floor plan. Merchandise categories are separated into “rooms” using transparent architectural screen dividers, creating “lifestyle rooms.” Collections and brands create stories featured in dramatic perimeter and floor fixture design. Fixed shelving configurations flow in horizontal ribbons without dividers. Residential-inspired furnishings are elegantly understated and comfortable in a mid-century style. Negative space in the high ceilings is diminished by indirect lighting on the walls, and overall, the shop is open and connected.

Architecture: Antunovich Associates, Chicago, IL
Design: Charles Sparks + Company, Westchester, IL

The Association for Retail Environments (A.R.E.) is a Hollywood, Fla.-based non-profit trade association representing the retail environments industry. Our 600 member companies include store fixture suppliers, retail design firms, suppliers of visual merchandising products, and suppliers of materials and equipment for the retail environments industry. Member capabilities include importing, exporting, consolidating, installing, project management, engineering, design, and more. A.R.E. Mission: Advance the industry and the success of our member companies.
Las Vegas (March 29, 2011)—The 57 awards presented by the Association for Retail Environments at a ceremony in the Venetian honor the creators of retail theater worldwide.