Fixtures have always been big on form and function. But in recent years, retailers have been asking for fixtures that go a step further and help communicate a store’s brand image. At the same time, continual advances in technology are making it easier for fixture manufacturers to create displays that bear distinctive textures and patterns, which aid in that brand-building mission.
One recent retail project bearing a mother lode of texture-laden fixtures is the three-level Destination Maternity Super Store in New York. That 10,000-square-foot space on 57th Street at Madison Avenue houses shops from Philadelphia-based Mothers Work’s four chains: A Pea in the Pod on its first floor; Mimi Maternity and Motherhood Maternity on its second; and, in the cellar, Edamame, a maternity spa the company is rolling out in major markets.
“The price points of the three upstairs concepts are reflected in the types and finishes of the fixtures within each shop,” says Thomas Morbitzer, design director of Cowan + Associates Inc. (Worthington, Ohio), which designed the space with Mothers Work’s in-house team and outfitted it with fixtures from Fleetwood Fixtures (Reading, Pa.) and Advance Fixture Mart Inc. (Waukegan, Ill.).
The high-end Pea in the Pod shop features “a light, sleek look that complements the apparel by incorporating a minimal number of materials and finishes,” Morbitzer explains. The wall and floor fixtures are all metal and feature a bead-blasted, warm grey metallic powdercoated finish and frosted glass shelves.
In the Mimi Maternity space – which Morbitzer describes as “a more fashion-driven brand aimed at a younger customer” – designers sought to create an open, loft-like feel. Brushed satin aluminum is the surface of choice for the fixtures, and it’s also featured on the storefront and the reflectors for the low-bay lighting. In addition, the space houses fixtures finished in a frosted acrylic, “which adds a light and bright element to the space,” Morbitzer notes, along with a prefabricated wall display system that combines plastic laminate panels with satin aluminum metal accents.
The Motherhood Maternity store targets customers looking for basics and value-oriented fashion merchandise. To help create a utilitarian feel there, designers used plastic laminate on the cashwrap and fitting-room benches, along with fixtures bearing powdercoated steel finishes and white laminate shelves.
Helping make such brand-building fixtures more readily available are ongoing technological improvements in the manufacturing process. Bobby Ciricillo, vp of sales for JP Metal America Inc. (Montreal), notes that upgrades in CNC lasers and routers, in particular, have made it more practical for companies to imprint a variety of fixture materials, including sheet metal, wood and plexiglas, with patterns or textures.
“CNC has been around for quite a few years but, until fairly recently, it was used mainly to speed up production and increase the accuracy of the engravings being made,” says Ciricillo. “Now, thanks to more user-friendly programming advances, this technology has emerged as more of a creative tool.”
Ciricillo says retailers of all stripes are using CNC-created textures on fixtures to get the desired effects within their stores. “Hudsons Bay Co., for example, uses textured wood to help identify the home of BAIA, its luxury ladies sportswear collection, and the Cassis apparel chain uses machine-ribbed patterns on its table benches to help create some added visual interest within its stores,” he says.
Combining textural elements within a given fixture can create even more of a signature visual. “You can take an ordinary workhorse fixture, such as a T-stand, and turn it into a focal element by cutting a pattern into the vertical tubing and inserting a second tube into it,” he explains. “By mixing finishes – satin chrome on the outside ‘cut’ tube and polished chrome or a powdercoated accent color on the interior tube – an ordinary fixture is transformed into a brand statement.”
Powdercoating and CNC machining aren’t the only way fixtures can be endowed with eye-catching textures. Ciricillo says other alternatives include wire brushing, layering different materials and adding insets. But no matter what texture-creating methodology a retailer specifies, the use of fixtures bearing distinctive imprints can help create a lasting impression on today’s fickle shoppers.
Matthew Hall is VM+SD's managing editor.
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