Chicago is at the pulse point of the strong U.S. housewares market. Retailers from around the world visit the Chicago retail scene to accelerate their knowledge of visual merchandising and store branding and to find inspiration from unique stores and retail concepts.
Examples of Chicago’s must-see retail stores and shops include:
Bloomingdale’s Home
Known among consumers for its exclusive, upscale housewares selections, this trendsetting 2006/2007 gia USA winner sets itself apart from the competition by regularly being the first to market with new concepts and products. In terms of broader home market, Bloomingdale’s Home sets the standard for elegant displays and high quality merchandise assortment. A higher price-point store, Bloomingdale’s Home in Chicago is a spacious, beautifully arranged store that is located in a historical landmark building.
Crate & Barrel
gia USA winner and Global Honoree in 2004/2005, Crate & Barrel contemporary home furnishings store has set a standard in home retailing. The first store opened in a Chicago neighborhood in a renovated elevator factory. The store was a hit, and in the 1970s there were three stores in Chicago. In the 1980s, it introduced contemporary furniture and had 30 stores, East to West. Today, Crate & Barrel has more than 170 stores, including international stores in Canada, Mexico, Singapore and Dubai.
Crate & Barrel has a unique point of view to home products, and they carefully select the products to be sold, based on how they read the trends for home. Each store and its product assortment represent Crate & Barrel’s interpretation on color, material and functionality trends.
CB2
CB2 is a modern destination from Crate and Barrel.
Visit both Crate and Barrel and CB2 and see how this company has successfully transferred the trusted branding and image over, adapted to the needs and interests of a younger target group. Products offered, promotions, displays… everything that CB2 does speaks the Crate and Barrel language, just with a younger accent.
Funkier take on the Crate & Barrel esthetic, CB2 is a slightly lower price point store, and slightly more functional. There are a lot of bright colors and displays that are minimalistic, yet inviting.
Sur La Table
gia USA winner of 2011/2012, Sur La Table has an over 35-year legacy of knowledgeable and passionate service. Their stores and website are a celebration of quality tools that set the standard for excellence in the industry. From the moment you step up to Sur La Table’s doors you are inspired to cook, and like great cooking the store design is all about hand-finished details. From custom-made rolling pin door handles to finials, which are repurposed juicers, the signature storefront is one of a kind with its own special touch.
At Sur La Table, they tend to want to have available every tool a chef would need or that could be used for home entertainment. Many stores have cooking schools that have become very popular amongst the consumers. With the cooking schools, Sur La Table wants to form a personal relationship with their customers and to make the tools sold in the stores more familiar to them.
Bed Bath & Beyond
Bed Bath & Beyond combines superior service and a huge selection of items at everyday low prices within a constantly evolving shopping environment that has proven to be both fun and exciting for customers.
Stores are arranged in vignettes, based on grouping like items together by product group or function. They tend toward more functional product, regardless of price. Front of the store are displays for a number of products that may or may not be related to home – seasonal products, candy, home décor, etc., for impulse purchases.
P.O.S.H.
Heralded for its ability to offer customers tableware combinations they can’t find anywhere else, P.O.S.H. is an inspiration for retailers seeking differentiation from their competition. Balancing vintage products sourced from around the world with new merchandise, this imaginative retailer offers customers tabletop settings that “tell a story.”
Entering the store takes you to France, with an old wooden floor and store fixtures based on antique furniture and furnishings, French chansons playing in the background. The displays in the store are very generous and colorful, creating a playful, romantic feel.
The Container Store
gia USA winner in 2003/2004, The Container Store has an exceptional mix of products based on the central theme of storage and organization, making the task of getting one’s home in order both fashionable and fun. Functional and organizational products for the home, carefully selected by a staff of merchandisers who are genuinely interested in evaluating if the product is right for the Container Store customer. Very simple displays, the products are organized by function.
Continuously listed as one of the best companies to work for, The Container Store emphasizes employee (training and motivation) programs – and with that, has superior customer service.
Whole Foods
Setting the example to follow in lifestyle retailing, Whole Foods puts forth a careful, high-quality organic and natural foods selection and the well being of people and the planet at the forefront of its everyday operations. Whole Foods is a master of beautiful, inspiring displays and sales-provoking in-store marketing activities. They have plentiful displays of super-fresh produce. A lot of tasting and promotional stations that invite customers to taste and try the products.
Because of their attention to fresh and organic products, many of their stores tend to be on the higher end of the range, compared to the traditional supermarkets.
Jayson Home
Jayson Home sells sophisticated & unique furnishings from around the world along with a variety of plants & flowers. The store is a combination of an antique shop, a stylish furniture showroom, a flea market and a home décor boutique – old and new products, flowers, plants and exciting accents arranged in stylish combinations, creating an inspiring shopping environment and experience.
The ambience in the store is very friendly and welcoming, thanks to the warm colors and materials, and also because of the plants and flowers used in the displays. You can make real founds at Jayson Home, from antlers to old books, and see something new every time you visit the store, which makes shopping there really fun!
Vosges Haut-Chocolat
The Vosges Haut-Chocolat mission is to create a luxury chocolate experience rooted in a sensory journey of bringing about awareness to indigenous cultures through the exploration of spices, herbs, roots, flowers, fruits, nuts, chocolate and the obscure. Everything in the Vosges Purple House boutiques reflects the same mission and story… from colors and communications to graphics and from packaging to special events, the Vosges’ branding is exemplary.
Buying truffles, you’ll get them in a purple box with a purple bow, the same purple that sets the ambiance in their stores and that characterizes their website. Examples of Vosges’ events include chocolate and truffle tastings with various fun and often adventurous themes.
For information about more unique concept stores and housewares retailers in Chicago and for detailed Chicago housewares retail maps, please click here.
To learn more about the International Home + Housewares Show and to pre-register for the 2014 Show, visit here.
