WAINWRIGHT JEWELLERS, WAINRIGHT, ALBERTA, CANADA

The specs: Our client owns a 2500 square foot building in downtown Wainwright, a town north and west of Edmonton, Alberta.

Client’s challenge – The store had a very outdated design, both inside and out.  Not only was it not presenting the merchandise that he presently sold, including a great number of diamonds, both loose and mounted, but also it didn’t function well for the staff.  One of the things we had to keep in mind was the store dog, who came to work many days but couldn’t be allowed to run freely into the store when customers came.

GRID/3 solution – Much back and forth between the customer & GRID/3 resulted in a new layout with straight forward cases and a new service desk.  In addition, we reworked 1/3 of the rear space to include a staff office, a new customer bathroom, an updated staff room where customers are often invited plus a “dirty room” for polishing, steaming and minor repairs of customer jewelry.

Wainwright has serious winters, so the materials in the store had to be practical to make it easy to deal with snow, rain & mud.  Porcelain ceramic floor tiles that look like wood, with carpet tile behind the cases for staff comfort, a custom mural to invoke spring with the new logo prominently displayed plus sound absorbent material on the back wall comprised the final material decisions.

New lighting includes a stunning customer chosen contemporary chandelier.  GRID/3 designed casework highlights the merchandise plus gave our customer additional display space for his merchandise.

The final coup, which took a long while to accomplish due to our client’s demand for quality finishes, was the GRID/3 redesigned front with big windows, new sign illuminated with lighting on a timer plus a new front door.  Now, winter or summer, the storefront attracts customers.

Final word – We visit with our customers annually.   Despite the downturn in the oil and gas business, which strongly affected Alberta, the Texas of Canada, our customer continues to be satisfied with his sales.  Design, with a creative, demanding customer, can result in a better functioning, more profitable store, in addition to being beautiful.