ChaseDesign

On January 28th, 2012, a brave ChaseDesign LLC team plunged into Skaneateles Lake for charity. Billed as “Shock and Thaw” and carrying roses for a soon-to-be-wed co-worker, the team was part of the Polar Bear Plunge that raised $6,600 for charity.

The lake was not frozen over as in past years, but wind and water temperatures in the thirties, plus a stiff wind and choppy waves, provided suitably bracing conditions. For some team members, it was a once in a lifetime experience; others are already committed to next year’s plunge.

Here are the people who have joined us in the past year, telling us where they came from, and why they came to ChaseDesign.

In July of 2011, ChaseDesign LLC president Martin Cregg was a featured speaker at the Store Brands Decisions Innovation & Marketing Summit in Chicago. In the audience, 250 industry executives listened to Marty describe how the rise of electronic shopping is influencing store design and retail formats, and how the ensuing changes will affect store brands.

Among his key points:

• Electronic commerce is shrinking brick & mortar store formats, prompting a reduction of SKUs or elimination of product categories altogether.

• As shoppers move to online commerce, private labels need to move online with them.

• Mobile technology enables shoppers to comparison shop from a single store. They know the lowest price.

• Unless you use the same language the shopper uses, they may not believe a product is for them.

Store Brands Decisions delivers information and analysis related to store brands via the Web. In the U.S., Nielsen reports, annual store brand sales exceed $80 billion.

In 1925, brothers Robert and George Marshall, with friend and guide Herbert Clark, became the first to climb all of the 46 highest peaks of the Adirondack Mountains. Since that time, many more have followed in their footsteps, and an organization known as the Adirondack 46ers maintains the list of those to reach every summit.

At ChaseDesign LLC, there is an active group pursuing the 46er distinction. Andy leads with 37 peaks and 9 left to go. He chose to start his quest with five peaks in one day; he would not do that again. His favorite moment: Reaching the summit of Mount Marcy, the tallest peak, in the month of September and discovering a patch of snow just big enough for one snowball, which found its way to an unsuspecting co-worker. On his first wedding anniversary, Andy took his wife to the summit of Algonquin; on the hike back down, it was only the promise of a lobster dinner in Lake Placid that kept her speaking to him.

Jon has 34 peaks; his first was Mount Haystack, named for its shape, part of a three-peak trip in July of 2004 that also included Basin and Saddleback. He has 12 peaks, to go. He remembers Big Slide as the most fun, an easy climb with a tremendous summit view of the entire Great Range: Lower Wolfjaw, Upper Wolfjaw, Armstrong, Gothics, Saddleback, Basin, Haystack and Marcy.

Andy and Jon agree on the most challenging peak thus far: Saddleback. To reach the summit, climbers scale a sheer rock face at a 45 degree angle, with no hand holds, no ropes, just “trust in your boots.” And once you’re at the top, you realize it’s easier to go up than down. Jon notes, “This one is real bad if you have a fear of heights, because you can see a long, long way down.”

The most surreal experience: Whiteface. After a long, tough hike, the group was confronted at the summit by neatly dressed tourists who had driven to the peak. The hikers then had to thread their way through a yoga class meditating to ethereal music from a laptop. There was one benefit to the abrupt return to civilization: a vending machine with bottled water.

Jonathan, another Chase hiker, didn’t mind the tourists and counts Whiteface as his favorite. “It was the steepest climb; I love a challenge.”

Dave’s first climb was Gothics, where cables are strung to lead and help climbers up the raw rock. For part of the climb, the hikers were in the rain, and then they climbed up into the rain cloud itself. Dave has 12 peaks, and looks forward to more.

Chris notes, “Having the Adirondacks so close and being able to enjoy them outside of work as a  group has been a real joy.” Among his favorite experiences: pre-climb power breakfasts and post-climb polar plunges.

Tanner has 15 peaks, and climbs partly for the sense of accomplishment. “You hike so long, and so hard. At the top, you feel like you’ve earned the view.” For Peter, it’s that simple. “I climb for the view. It’s the only way you can get it.”

Adirondack High Peaks Club

EuroShop

In March of 2011, designers from ChaseDesign traveled to Düsseldorf, Germany, for the EuroShop Global Retail Trade Fair. Held every three years, EuroShop draws a Who’s Who of international retail. In 2011, more than 106,000 visitors from 90 nations visited with 2,038 exhibitors.

The fair was divided into four segments:

• EuroConcept included store design, fixturing, architecture and lighting, including the use of light as an emotional design tool, and energy-efficient/sustainable light architecture.

• EuroSales spanned the full spectrum of product presentation, visual merchandising and point-of-sale marketing.

• EuroCIS offered the latest IT solutions, focusing on mobile devices operated by staff and on shoppers’ self-scanning and smart phone applications.

• EuroExpo presented the new and unusual in exhibition construction, design and special events.

In a show with more than 2000 exhibitors, there is obviously keen competition to attract and hold the people attending the show. The exhibitors’ solutions were as creative as the products on display, ranging from hovercraft controlled by iPads to indoor soccer, all the way up to fully realized retail environments with restaurants and bars at their center.

One of our attendees, Antoun, has been to many similar shows, but says that EuroShop is THE show if you can only attend one. “Everyone in the world who has something new to offer will be there,” he notes.

Another of our designers, Jason, found the Düsseldorf experience valuable as well. “Seeing how quickly things are evolving, seeing innovations we’re not usually exposed to, being inspired to try new things and push the envelope for our clients… it was really exciting. And the beer was good, too.”

The next EuroShop will be held February 15-19, 2014.