Retail Interior Design – NYC

In 2015, The NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD), in partnership with the Design Trust for Public Space, published retail use guidelines for ground floor space in mixed-use affordable housing. The guidelines recommend that the ground floor space is flexible, distinctive, connected to the street and passerby's, transparent, and continuous. 

The guidelines go on to state, "A well-designed storefront and retail level, including community use, has the potential to provide much-needed services and amenities to local residents while contributing significantly to the quality of a neighborhood's streetscape and economic vitality." 

Good retail design is integrated and adaptable allowing for a diverse array of uses that may evolve over time. 

Designers are welcome to be more creative about how the scale of a building will fit into the neighborhood. Retail outcomes rely heavily on high-quality design, which is crucial to their success.

The guidelines are split between small retail space less than 4,000 square feet and large retail space larger than 4,000 square feet. 

The nine critical success factors for ground-floor retail and community use are:

• Maximum façade transparency with measures in place for attractive privacy solutions
• Well-defined retail presence, separate from the residential entrances.
• Organized and distinct retail signage
• Exterior lighting that promotes activity and security
• On-grade entrances, and potential for future on-grade entrances, to each retail space
• Inclusion and maintenance of peripheral amenities such as benches and bike racks to support a variety of tenant buildouts and maximize the utility of leasable retail space
• Organized and convenient column grid spacing for the most incredible flexibility across different retail program types and tenant merchandise
• Sufficient, individually metered utilities and Mechanical, Electrical, and Plumbing (MEP) service to support a variety of tenants

These guidelines are still valid today and can be a good guide for retail interior design – NYC.

Customers begin making judgments even before entering a retail store. The decision on whether to purchase products starts with the stores' exterior, signs, and window displays. Once inside, music, lighting, merchandise displays, and product placement determines if they stay and shop. A reasonable and welcoming retail interior design will encourage customers to spend money. 

A retail interior design – NYC designer meets a customer's needs making their shopping experience fun and successful.

Retail Interior Design – NYC services include:

• Graphic design and brand development
• Interior layout
• Architectural design
• Lighting design
• Custom shelving and cabinetry design
• Colors, floors, and walls
• Traffic flow analysis

The exterior retail design includes a façade design, entranceways, louver's covering heating and ventilation systems, and storefront signage. Additional exterior retail design considerations might include awnings, storefront lighting, security cameras, alarms, wide comfortable entranceways, and parking. 

Retail interior design considerations include:

• Ceiling height – higher ceilings can enhance the appearance and size of your space. Tall ceilings can also provide more visibility above objects like foot traffic and cars in the foreground
• A Footprint or area should be contiguous because it provides the most flexibility for various retail spaces. A contiguous ground floor offers more presence on the façade, contributing to a more active street life.
• Column spacing is critical because it affects a retailer's ability to layout fixtures and displays. However, column spacing is dictated by the structural demands of the overall building and cannot be moved.
• Setting the interior elevation of a retail floor slab to the exterior sidewalk is critical and can affect accessibility.
• Retail merchandise storage may be an issue and should be considered.
• The floor structure should also support any mechanical, electrical, or plumbing equipment and can be placed on vibration isolators to minimize noise and vibration.
• When designing interior retail space, fixtures, lighting, a transaction counter, shelving, and display space should also be considered.

Your retail interior design – NYC designer, should work very closely with your architect and you to design a space that fits your products. The space must be effective and efficient while matching the theme you are trying to convey.

Category of Retailers published by the New York State Department of Labor for 2019 are:

• Food and Beverage
• Clothing and Accessories
• Health and Personal Care
• General Merchandise
• Miscellaneous Retailers
• Non-store Retailers
• Electronics and Appliances
• Building Materials and Garden Equipment
• Motor Vehicle and Parts Dealers
• Furniture and Home Furnishings
• Sporting Goods, Music, and Books
• Gasoline Stores

According to New York States Comptroller Report, "The retail sector's role in the overall appeal of the City is undeniable."