Design Forum Partners With Frontgate To Bring Luxury Catalog To Life

Furniture World Magazine

Frontgate is well-known for its catalog "outfitting America's finest homes," but wanted to extend its brand into a brick and mortar retail environment. They partnered with retail design firm, Design Forum, to create a three-dimensional version of the catalog. Frontgate opened its first store November 15, 2003, with a 10,600-square-foot space at Phipps Plaza in Atlanta's upscale suburb of Buckhead. "We wanted the store experience to have a one-to-one correlation with the catalog," said Scott Jeffrey, senior vice president of design and creative innovation, Design Forum. "Their brand is about offering the best quality products. In the catalog this is communicated through the stories that they wrap around the merchandise, so one of our goals was to create a store environment where the stories could be told." The connection with the brand begins with the store's entrance from the mall. The stone pillars and wrought iron façade signal the shopper that they are entering a very selective environment. The storefront features Frontgate's home of the month at one window and a letter from president Paul Tarvin in the other, mirroring the opening pages of the catalog. From there you step into Luxury, Harmony and Artistry, areas offering, respectively: indulgences for home spa and bath, the finest in entertainment and electronics, and stylish partywares for entertaining. There is a residential feel to the entire store with wood floors, large crown-moldings and limestone ceramic tile. Light-grade veneer wood adorns the fixtures, which are designed to be "personal" displays of individual items. No mass merchandising here. A neutral color palette allows the product to come forward, much like the unobtrusive white background of the catalog. Each luxury product gets special treatment, posing with its corresponding image and accompanying narrative. Design Forum's plan achieves a one-to-one correlation, a retail showcase that changes with the catalog. The new or seasonal items highlighted by the current catalog take center stage in the store. And since Frontgate also outfits America's finest gardens, there's an appropriate area for outdoor items enhanced by a skylight above and slate paving stones underfoot. Marvin B. Cooper, president of Cornerstone Brands, Inc. Retail, Frontgate's parent company said, "Customer reaction has been exciting. The Frontgate brand translates well to bricks and mortar. We look forward to actualizing our vision throughout the coming months." Frontgate's unique environment leverages the catalog and maintains a consistent brand image. On the page and in presentation, the distinctive merchandise has the same authority and atmosphere, so that loyal customers with a passion for the best will have the best retail experience possible. About Design Forum: One of the nation's top retail design firms, Design Forum is headquartered in Dayton, Ohio with offices in Chicago, Detroit, London, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Paris and San Francisco. Design Forum offers a comprehensive range of integrated services including strategy, research, design, branding and architecture. Design Forum has produced award-winning designs for an international client list that includes Best Buy, Washington Mutual, Nebraska Furniture Mart, Wild Oats, Subway, Frontgate, Land Rover, Yankee Candle, Ann Taylor and Porsche. For more information visit www.designforum.com or contact Beth Ling, 937/439-4400. Design Forum is a part of Interbrand, which is an Omnicom company (NYSE: OMC) (www.omnicomgroup.com). Omnicom is a leading global marketing and corporate communications company. Omnicom's branded networks and numerous specialty firms provide advertising, strategic media planning and buying, direct and promotional marketing, public relations and other specialty communications services to over 5,000 clients in more than 100 countries. About Frontgate: Frontgate (www.frontgate.com) is a recognized leader in catalog and online shopping for the home environment, circulating 40 million catalogs a year. In 1996, Frontgate was recognized as one of the nation's 500 fastest growing companies. Frontgate is part of Cornerstone Brands Inc. (www.cornerstonebrands.com), a family of leading catalog companies for the home, leisure and casual apparel. In the past eight years, Ballard Designs, Frontgate, Garnet Hill, Smith+Noble, The Territory Ahead and TravelSmith Outfitters have joined Cornerstone's lineup of direct marketing brands serving the most discriminating consumers in America.