INDUSTRY NEWS They Said It...
"Clearly one of our competitive advantages is the simplicity of our concept and how focused our stores are. We've got a very simple concept and we're a unique concept." — Papa John's CEO Ken Calwell on the brand's approach to market growth
"For us, our objective was to make sure that the methodology we were developing could be simple and you can fill it in as someone who had never measured carbon before in his life. Our whole thinking was that the industry needed to create a solution by the industry for the industry." — Denise Naguib, corporate senior director of sustainability at Marriott International, on the growing need to unite the hotel industry in calculating and communicating its carbon impacts on the environment
"The biggest surprise [this year] has been the speed by which the use of technology (web, mobile phones, etc.) has impacted bricks-and-mortar retailers, from both a competition standpoint (e.g., Amazon), as well as from a store design standpoint (smaller stores, more showroom-based retail, more experiential-based environments, etc.). The retailers that do not address this phenomenon will soon be left behind. As such, we're seeing a significant increase in our consulting
business, assisting retailers with branding strategies on how to integrate all of this – their store environment, their website, their mobile apps, etc. – into a unified customer experience." — Jeff Roark, AIA, LEED AP, principal, Little Diversified
Architectural Consulting, on the biggest surprise he has seen in 2012 to date
On Tap
RETAIL ■ RUE 21
Teen apparel retailer Rue 21 plans to roll-out a dozen stores in the Long Island, N.Y., area. The value-oriented retail already operates two stores in Nassau and Suffolk counties. It plans to open 120 stores nationally this year.
■ MICROSOFT
Microsoft plans to open 32 stores this fall in the United States and Canada. The stores will support holiday sales and promote products, including Windows 8 and the Surface tablet.
■ BEST BUY Best Buy will put up to 800 retail outlets in the vacant store-
14 Commercial Construction & Renovation September/October 2012 Circle No. 10