Investing in Good Design: Ritz-Carlton Dubai

As we emerge from the global recession, many lessons have been learned, but one theme is more resonant than ever: good design pays. Smart investment in design can produce buildings with timeless appeal and make a positive impact on the surrounding city. And as demonstrated by one of our most recent projects, The Ritz-Carlton, Dubai International Financial Centre, this is achievable even in challenging economic times.

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The Urgency of Now for Department Stores

Despite some experts’ lagging real estate worries, the future for shopping centers is bright. For the past fifteen years the department store anchor has been all but pushed aside. That, amidst the great debate about new and varying types of tenants that should be recruited to struggling shopping centers, the time is now for department stores to be, again, the icons of the retail centers shopping experience.

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Gensler Gets Fashion Forward

© Laura Schmits
Gensler’s San Francisco office is currently hosting Fashion Unraveled: Moving Beyond the Bolt, the latest installment of the 2011 Art Programme. Inspired by Stina Persson’s world renowned illustration work, and the recent Discarded to Divine exhibit, we wanted to take a deeper look at the entire fashion design process.

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San Francisco Retail

Later this year the International Retail Design Conference returns to San Francisco, and I’m already looking forward to the opportunity to show visiting colleagues and clients around my city. In fact, when IRDC’s director, Kristin Zeit, recently visited to scout locations for September’s events, I gave her some ideas about must-see shops and restaurants around San Francisco.

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The Anatomy of a Showroom

During the last two decades, retail showrooms where wholesale buyers are introduced to new products have become rigid, dysfunctional and overbuilt big mouths. With excessive merchandise choice, large inventories and mass storage, these traditional showrooms are becoming antiquated while wholesale and retail distribution and delivery chains innovate and evolve.

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