Chicago Botanic Garden Shop

Retailing at the Premier Teaching Garden
in the Country

We improved the way the Chicago Botanic Garden approached its retail activity by redefining the retail experience when we were commissioned to renovate its 2,500-square-foot store. The Garden, long known for its strength in botany science and conservation education, sought new ways to enhance the experiential value of a visit, reinforce its important messages, and improve revenue for the Garden. We began with the development of a strategic plan, which defined the overall approach to the merchandise vision, layout, presentation guidelines, and financial benchmarking.

Storytelling

The plan and merchandise fixtures were designed for versatility and to present “families” of products or groups of items that reinforce a “story” or theme. The consulting, planning, and design firm created a central “esplanade” as the preferred path, activating all parts of the space from the front entry to the back of the store and engaging visitors with nested table groupings down the center, each with a different “story” of related products around a theme in compelling displays. The creative vision for the store included incorporating the building’s panoramic windows overlooking the Garden grounds into the merchandise setups and let the outside-in, effectively using the ever changing natural light and lush views as an ideal backdrop for the interpretive product displays. A bold graphic “frieze” running along the upper wall uses subtle messages, soft color, plant silhouettes, and other images about the Garden, acting as what Sparks calls “a unified visual voice” connecting the space together.

Cultural destinations and attractions need to become much more engaging of the public and seek new ways of attracting visitors. Together with this enhancement of the experience visiting the Chicago Botanic Garden, the new vision for the Garden’s retail space and merchandising will extend the important messages of the Garden, and generate revenue for its continuing operation and research.