Winter 2012 Newsletter - FINAL

13 HOT TRENDS IN RETAIL FOR 2013
Project: buybuy BABY
Location: US RT 17 NE, Ridgewood Avenue
Paramus, NJ
Size: 53,028 Square Feet
Type: New Store
Superintendent: Chris Harding
Project Manager: Anthony Saoulidis
What’s new?
“Without continual growth
and progress, such words as
improvement, achievement,
and success have no
meaning.”
Project: Chipotle Mexican Grill
Location: 900 Chapel Street
New Haven, CT
Size: 2,370 Square Feet
Type: New Restaurant
Superintendent: Tom Schimenti
Project Manager: Michael Hanrahan
Benjamin Franklin
Project: Sephora
Location: 150 Quaker Bridge Mall
Lawrenceville, NJ
Size: 5,300 Square Feet
Type: New Store
Superintendent: Anthony Alessi
Project Manager: Joe McGowan
CONTENTS
WINTER 2013
EMPLOYEE PROFILE............................2
TARGET/STATEN ISLAND.......................2
OFFICE EXPANSION.............................3
SCHIMENTI HOLIDAY PARTY...................3
WHAT’S NEW ....................................4
COFFEE WITH CAROLINE ....................4
Schimenti Construction Company
650 Danbury Road
Ridgefield, CT 06877
914.244.9100
720 5th Avenue
New York, NY 10019
212.246.9100
4
www.schimenti.com
Schimenti Construction Company
Radio personality Caroline
Corley, from WXPK 107.1 fm
The Peak, visited the Schimenti office for a “Coffee With
Caroline” morning. A regular event for the on-air talent,
Caroline regularly brings coffee from a local shop and
visits with area businesses.
Several employees listen to
her morning show from
5:30am-10am, Monday-Friday, and extended an
invitation to her. It was a fun morning with delicious coffee for everyone. Caroline lives in
Elmsford with her chocolate Lab, Mick Jagger.
1. Cheap and cheerful: Some trends are consumer focused. From lipstick and nail polish (the
original “cheap and cheerful” cues in the new
economy) to home décor items and candles. Items
that are simply cheap and cheerful will make the
consumer happy, pleased that she is taking home
something fresh and new.
Nordstrom, Best Buy and others have publicly laid
out ambitious goals to eliminate the conventional
checkout, cashwrap and even in some cases the
sales associate, by putting more of the accessibility
to technology either in the hands of the consumer
or in proximity to the point-of-purchase. Rather
than seeing digital as a threat to brick-and-mortar,
today’s retailer should embrace this and see it as
a way of extending this proven purchase optimization through multichannel.
2. Personal emancipation: One of the biggest
trends has been termed “personal emancipation.”
Think of separates in the fashion world, interest in
personalization and customization, and a willingness to be “cast as the outcast” seems to be all
part of this new consumer psychology.
13 HOT TRENDS IN RETAIL FOR 2013.. .. 1
THE PEAK 107.1 PERSONALITY VISITS SCHIMENTI
5. Technology: The ability to find resources that
are “big enough to serve you” yet “small enough
to know you” is key to executing this new face of
retail. While the outcome is casual, the activities,
input and resources it takes to “appear” casual
should not be underestimated.
In addition, inexpensive seasonal reinvention can
breathe an air of freshness into any consumer’s
home (and your environment too).
Project: ZARA
Location: 39 West 34th Street
New York, NY
Size: 22,305 Square Feet
Type: New Store
Superintendent: Bill Caracciolo
Project Manager: Finbar Looby
Project: Ulta Beauty
Location: 445 Boston Post Road
Port Chester, NY
Size: 10,000 Square Feet
Type: New Store
Superintendent: Mike Morrissey
Project Manager: Anthony Saoulidis
There are many trends – practical, psychographic
and attitudinal – that are incubating during the
retail “reboot” that’s taking place in the U.S. economy. This reboot is affecting all types and sizes of
retail, brick-and-mortar and online. The key is putting these trends to work for you.
650 Danbury Road
Ridgefield, CT 06877
914.244.9100
720 5th Avenue
New York, NY 10019
212.246.9100
www.schimenti.com
3. Mix-and-match merchandising: This can
play out in retail in many ways. It can come across
in merchandising and assortment, with the willingness AND expectation of the customer to be innovative and low cost at the same time, while juxtaposed against the luxurious and the exclusive.
Think rubber bracelets and Jimmy Choo.
This acceptability on the part of the customer creates a mix-and-match statement about their both
being democratic and sophisticated, while
addressing their need for irony and humor.
Translating this trend into the retail environment
and finding the balance is one part aesthetics, one
part humor, and third part cleverness.
4. Flash sales: Stores are beginning to see their
retail environments not in terms of decades, or
even years; but in terms of days, or even hours.
The flash sale has gotten consumers to think in a
much more nimble way, and likewise they seem less
phased today than ever in the “here today, gone
tomorrow” light-footedness of the pop-up store
with brands, lab stores and retail experiments
where the guinea pig may as well be the retailer as
it is the consumer.
6. Evolving sales opportunities: With the freedom of mobile checkouts, sales associates can do
what they do best: Help the consumer. Much of this
change is taking place around mobile apps, but
other technologies, such as tablets, enhance the
efficiency of the shopping experience while
expanding the diversity of options available to the
consumer, offering the perfect marriage between
brick-and-mortar and digital.
7. Rethinking environments: The cashwrap
has been ubiquitous in retail as both a branding
point and as a stop on the consumer’s path. But
the rapid spread of roaming digital checkouts has
created a rethink and is increasingly changing the
consumer’s view of “experience.”
8. Creative “sticky” space: What should a
retailer do with the space that is freed up by
removing the cashwrap and some of the other
operational barriers that exist in traditional stores?
Create a space that invites the customer to linger
and socially interact. Design a “sticky” model that
engages consumers to see the retail space as just
not a transaction space, but as a “third place”
where they stick around longer. These “sticky”
spaces – comfortable, engaging and brand-right
retail brand image, to engage in a consumer conversation and introduce them to new ideas, services and products.
continued on page 2
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TRENDS continued from page 1
9. Permanent-temporary spaces: Consider creating permanent temporary space within your store. The brand halo
of inviting key influencers within your consumer’s world is a
way of creating buzz and newness within an existing merchandise range. These “influencers” might be a highly visible
neighboring retailer, a brand or an author. A famous Paris
department store does this on a monthly basis, inviting high
profile celebrities of various walks of life – sport, fashion,
art, literature – and then asks them to find and gather their
“favorite things” from the store and then organize those into
a mini department. This approach provides an opportunity
for storytelling and ways to connect and identify with the personalities or muse of this internal pop-up.
10. Community spirit: Make a difference in your community. Certain categories offer opportunities for emotional triggers. Children, education, pets are all universal topics around
which to connect your brand, your store and your consumers.
The place previously occupied by the cashwrap provides an
opportunity to create a shared interest between retailer and
consumer and offers a way to give back to the community
causes important to them.
11. Storytelling: The illustration of creativity and selfexpression can be shaped through storytelling. You cannot
help but visit a retail street or shopping center today without
being drawn to retailers like Anthropologie whose displays
and seasonal presentations extend beyond the realm of
“window dressing” and into the role of “public art.” Connect
emotionally with the consumer and enrich, and inspire her to
think beyond the obvious. The tools and the props that are
part of this burgeoning explosion of retail creativity are often
ordinary, but their use is exhibited in extraordinary ways.
Employee
Profile
Finbar Looby
flooby@schimenti.com
Project Manager,
Estimator
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12. Communication: In the end, effective marketing
communication needs to sell things, but first the brand
needs to win hearts and to some degree, minds, into a
dialogue before the selling begins. The trend around
visual merchandising is providing an unexpected and
imaginative “kit of parts.” Mannequins, forms and mirrors to “populate” visual is increasingly important.
The embedding of digital technology can range from
retro to high-tech to even retro-tech, where the repurposing of materials whether for repetition, color blocking and storytelling – are becoming an increasingly
important part of a successful retailer’s effective communication initiative.
Schimenti Construction recently completed the expansion of
its company headquarters at 650 Danbury Road, Ridgefield,
CT. The project doubles the size of the firm’s space from
10,000 square feet to 20,000 square feet.
Matthew Schimenti, company President, said “When we
moved to Ridgefield in 2009 we began planning for growth.
The building we selected allowed us the option of access to
the second floor which gave us a perfect way to expand as
needed.”
The new contemporary employee café style break room features a state-of-the-art Starbucks Coffee bar, a fully functional
kitchen with pantry, vending machines and comfortable seating. Its polished concrete floor and an exposed ceiling give
the space a unique and modern feel.
An extra large copy and print room was also added along with
additional offices.
Reprinted with permission from CHAIN STORE AGE. Written by
Kenneth Nisch is chairman of JGA, a retail design and brand strategy
firm in Southfield, Michigan.
WORK BEGINS ON NEW STATEN
ISLAND STORE FOR TARGET
DESPITE SUPERSTORM SANDY
Schimenti Construction broke ground recently on the
new Target store at 2875 Richmond Avenue, Staten
Island and immediately had to respond to a variety of
unexpected challenges as a result of Hurricane Sandy.
Fin, a construction professional with experience in estimating
and project management, graduated from Westchester
Community College with an Associates Degree in Engineering
Science. Since joining Schimenti Construction Company in July,
he immediately became involved in Zara 34th Street, New York,
NY on the project management team, while successfully bidding
TD Bank in New Britain, CT on the estimating team. Additionally,
he has actively developed relationships with new retail clients.
Joseph Schimenti, Schimenti Project Executive, said,
“While the damage to the site was minimal, the on-going
effects of the storm posed numerous hurdles. The
shortage of fuel on Staten Island, along with emergency
repair work, impacted our ability to get materials and
equipment to the site, and the lack of fuel meant we
couldn’t use our equipment.”
Outside of work, Fin takes pride and great satisfaction in do-ityourself projects, mainly remodeling his home – one room at a
time – and perfecting his yard.
In addition to prepping the site and constructing the
140,000 square foot Target store, Schimenti is also
involved in significant site work on the shopping plaza.
That work includes a new parking lot, site lighting, utilities, hydrants, traffic signals and street work.
The architect for this project is Robert M. Lucius Architect,
1220 Marshall Street. NE, Minneapolis, MN.
A dramatic new stone -tread staircase with aircraft cable
handrails leads to the second floor, which includes a new
training room that can accommodate up to 50 people and will
be used for employee functions, conferences and project
team meetings.
The expansion also includes a redesign of the main floor with
the creation of a new reception area, which includes four 47”
13. Success through action: Think reboot and
power to the consumer – be it in understanding, discovering or transacting. Act on trends that address the consumer’s need for irony, humor, advocacy and independence while recognizing their personal emancipation not
only around the commercial retail aspects of their life,
but health, education, travel and creativity as well. Don’t
forget the importance of personalization and customization and the growing trend toward “yin and yang”
all under the same roof, within the same shopping bag
and within the mind and the heart of the consumer.
Remember, there is no success without action!
Finbar Looby joined Schimenti’s estimating department in July
2012. Shortly thereafter, as a member of the project management team, he functioned in a dual capacity, providing his
expertise to both departments.
Fin’s favorite activities involve spending quality time with his wife
and four children. Fin is an active coach for his son’s youth
activities including flag football, soccer and lacrosse.
Schimenti Completes Headquarters Expansion
LCD screens that feature company news, project photographs, employee biographies, live job site video and more.
A new executive conference room has been added on the first
floor as well as new waiting areas on both floors.
“We have steadily grown since we moved into our space here
three years ago,” said Joseph Rotondo, Schimenti Vice
President. “Our initial planning for growth has allowed us to
make this substantial expansion with relative ease. We are
excited about the future and our expanded home for our
growing team of construction professionals,” he explained.
The company is also in the process of relocating and expanding its New York City location and expects to have new, larger
offices completed in early 2013.
Holiday Party Christens New 650 Lounge
Schimenti employees gathered on Friday, December 21 to
celebrate the holidays and to hold the first official event in the
new Schimenti 650 Lounge. Catered by Raffaele, the former
head chef at Toscana, Ridgefield, the party featured great
food, drinks, ping pong, good fellowship and comaraderie.
In lieu of holiday cards, Schimenti made a donation to the My
Sandy Hook Family Fund.
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