A good read

Most customers walking into "book" stores these days are looking for far more than a book. Although referred to as a bookstore retailer, Borders Group Inc., Ann Arbor, Mich., offers much more than the written word. The retailer also carries a vast selection of DVDs, CDs, gifts and stationery, as well as having an in-store café so customers can enjoy their purchases with a beverage of choice. Operating more than 1,200 stores internationally, including mall-based Waldenbooks stores, Borders opened a new prototype for its Borders superstores last summer in Louisville, Ky., that continues to roll out in other cities this year.

The overall goal in the new design was to create stores within a store, catering to many types of Borders customers. When new management came into the company about five years ago, Borders took on a substantial expansion, says Paddy Karve, manager of architectural services, Borders Group Inc. Then, in 2002, executives were looking to tweak the in-store environment to better serve customers. In response, Karve searched for a design firm that could address the company's concerns. "We wanted a design consultant to take a fresh look at the store," he says, adding that input from someone outside of Borders may bring new ideas to the table. The consulting design firm selected was GRID2 International, New York. As a result, a new floor plan, signage and graphics program, color palette, fixture program and state-of-the-art in-store technology inhabit the new space.

For the Borders project, one of the first challenges in creating a new design was to understand the client's customer audience. "We began to understand there were different target audiences with what they were offering in each part of the store," says Martin Roberts, president of GRID2. "There are the reference customers, usually 15-30 years of age, who are looking for specific information. There are customers looking for CDs, usually 30-50 years of age, who buy new wave and international music. There are moms in the children's area, and then there are the DVD customers," he explains, describing only a handful of Borders' customers.

"The new store concept was developed around a racetrack layout, where the tendency in America is to go to the right and move clockwise around the store," Karve explains. "A square donut racetrack plan was created with the prominence of the launch pad—where the best of everything is displayed at the front of the store."

The entrance, or launch pad, in the new Borders stores is positioned on a corner, allowing consumers optimal visibility throughout the store from the entry point. Customers quickly notice an offering of bestsellers and the latest in CDs and DVDs at the launch pad.

Moving to the right of the launch pad, along the racetrack or the "yellow brick road," as Roberts refers to it, the beginning of the book department, which is scattered throughout the floor plan, greets customers. In the initial Louisville store, as well as identical prototypes in Arizona and Florida, maple fixtures with a charcoal gray finish allow the colorful book covers to stand out, a departure from Borders' previous oak fixtures. "All the bookcases are perpendicular to the racetrack, so at any given time, they would not restrict the view to the entire store," Karve explains. Red walls allow bay fixtures to stand out along the perimeter. Karve adds, "In the book section, we have bright red walls with quotations from authors and pictures of books and people, creating an environment to browse books."

A more open, colorful and contemporary space was the overall goal in the new design. Although Borders intends on keeping a 20,000-sq.-ft. footprint for its stores, it widened aisles along the racetrack to allot space for promotional displays. With the new design, 14 ft. separates gondolas from each side of the racetrack.

Adjoining the book department as customers walk along the racetrack, Café Borders allows room for people to gather, whether they want to read a book, glance at the newspaper or even see a community event, such as a music show or book signing. A cantilevered ceiling is suspended above gray ceramic tiled flooring. The space is brightly colored, adding a contemporary aura. Borders formerly positioned the café at the front of the store, but GRID2 challenged this decision. "One of the questions asked by GRID2 was, 'Why don't you put your money where your mouth is?' and we realized our core business is the book business. We don't want to give the impression to the customer that we are a café and then you incidentally buy a book or DVD in the store," Karve says.

Borders Kids follows the path after the café and offers children a reading place at the back of the retail space. Child-sized tables and book-shaped stools sit in the center of the space, and a circular track on the ceiling provides lighting from above. The space is predominantly a brilliant orange color and serves as a background for light-colored maple fixtures.

The Borders Music & Movies section comes next in the scheme, with more in-store technology than ever before. Fixtures with LCD monitors show music videos and film trailers, showcasing the latest releases. Illuminated album covers hang on the wall above fixturing. Domed CD listening stations encourage customer interaction. Customers can also scan CD barcodes to hear track samples. Blue, gray and green finishes cover the walls in this department.

Both the Gifts & Stationery and the newsstand departments are located near the end of the racetrack. More than 60 percent of Borders' customers buy gifts, so the retailer decided to separate this area with taller fixtures and give it more of a boutique feel with sisal-like carpeting and decorative and elegant ceiling hangings. The newsstand, like the DVD/CD area, incorporates in-store technology. Complete with plasma screens tuned to CNN and an elliptical LED ticker above that runs the latest news headlines and stock quotes, customers are encouraged to browse before they approach the cashwrap, just around the way.

Stepping up signage and graphics, GRID2 used Borders' logo colors—red and black—to highlight the various category sections within the store. The design firm also incorporated lifestyle graphics that show relaxed people reading books. The prototype utilizes new spotlighting with long-life bulbs, in addition to recessed fluorescent lighting. The cashwrap even incorporates technology, thanks to plasma screens that have messages regarding new products and store events. "When people are standing in line, they aren't looking at a blank wall but seeing something dynamic on the plasma screens, which are also present at the Infodesk, DVD area and the newsstand area," Karve comments. Further, self-service information kiosks, positioned throughout the store, allow customers to access not only the price or availability of the merchandise, but also its location in the store.

Borders will roll out the new prototype into some 20 stores this year, and the design continues to undergo examination. The initial prototype came to fruition in only six months, so currently, Borders and GRID2 are revisiting certain elements. "Because we had a such a short period of value engineering, now we are reviewing what the most effective tools (of the new prototype) are and how to bring the costs down," Karve says. And Roberts concurs, "Retail is an evolutionary process."