Value City Furniture

Chicago, Illinois

Value City Furniture approached OKW to design its first flagship location. On a well-trafficked stretch of Elston Avenue in Chicago, this store marks the retailer’s entrance into a more urban and design-oriented market. To appeal to their new target demographic, VCF asked OKW to entirely re-think the exterior design of their store in favor of a more modern paradigm. 

OKW’s solution features an epic glass wall opening into a large centralized atrium that completely re-imagines the display of their exterior signage and graphics. The design maximizes use of the new VCF brand through a couple of key moves. First, it uses wood-look cladding to tie the exterior environment to the store’s products themselves and secondly, it creates an over-sized arch that allows their signature red color to traverse the exterior and interior environments.

The atrium in the store provides a unique opportunity for more visibility throughout the store’s various departments. During design, OKW studied ways to balance this visibility with the necessary screening for the backs of certain displays. The resulting solution flanks the atrium with full-height walls that feature two-story openings. The openings are used for either visibility or signage, depending on the specific location within the store fixture plan.

Photography by Wayne Cable