Chicago Design Center Redesigned

March 26, 2013  by in UnCategorized   

By Home Furnishings Business in on March 27, 2013

The Design Center at the Chicago Merchandise Mart has been redesigned to create a better customer experience.

After an extensive redesign and shuffle, more than 65 home and casual furnishings tenants have been relocated into spaces on the 14th and 15th floors.

The floor renovations, by interior designer and architect Gary Lee Partners, have improved the Design Center shopping experience by creating a more concentrated, easily navigable showcase of the top name showrooms in residential and outdoor design.

More than 115 showrooms, representing 2,500 product lines, span floors 6, 14 for residential furnishings including furniture, fabrics, lighting, rugs, and wallcoverings and floors 15 and 16 for outdoor furnishings including furniture, fabrics, rugs and accessories.

"The Design Center re-launch event was a fun way to show off our new space to clients and friends, while benefiting from the increased foot traffic to meet a new audience," said Emily Mundwiller, showroom manager for Tufenkian. "The reconfigured floors provide high level focus and one-stop shopping for designers and browsers alike. We look forward to more events like this in the Mart." 

The daylong relaunch event last month featured special events including book signings, guest speakers, new product introductions, and drew key industry executives like Eric Schenk, President / CEO of Century Furniture, Holly Hunt, President of Holly Hunt,Crans Baldwin, CEO of Edward Ferrell + Lewis Mittman, Gary McCray, President of Lane Venture, and Keith and Michelle Bradley of Bradley.  

The 14th floor renovation included the construction of a designer amenity center, "Lounge 1447," which features a well-appointed conference area, lounge, café and audio/visual display. Lounge 1447 was designed as an office-away-from-the-office for designers, architects, guests and showroom personnel who do business in the Design Center.

"The relocation of more than 65 showrooms and extensive floor renovations couldn't have gone smoother and we're thrilled with the final result," said John H. Brennen III, executive vice president, MMPI. "With the support of our parent company, Vornado, they made a substantial financial investment in the reconfiguration and design of 14th and 15th floors and relocation of many tenants. We are proud to offer Midwest designers the best Design Center presentation in the country."