Refresh & Rollout: Strategic Material Selection for Scaled Branded Interiors

As a legendary pop singer once noted, “We are living in a material world, and material selection is critical when retailers begin to renovate their stores at scale.”

Perhaps not an exact quote, but the meaning is clear.

Material selection is a central focus of a store renovation, in large part because it establishes two foundational pillars of a branded interior project: aesthetics and cost. And those two qualities intersect with two other important considerations: durability and sustainability.

While material selection might seem straightforward, it often isn’t. So let’s break down how to approach material selection and consider some real-world examples to show how innovative thinking can inform your decisions and support the ultimate success of your project.

The art of design development

Moving from impressive and beautiful conceptual drawings to precisely engineered fixtures and displays that are delivered and installed on budget often is a tale of material selection.

A client once came to Miller Zell with some impressive drawings for a store remodel. It included Corian tops for tables and fixtures throughout the store. Our team suggested a switch to laminate surfaces, which are comparable in appearance but more durable. And 10% less expensive. Two words: happy client.

Looks, durability and expense typically lead material selection, but there’s more. For instance, those hardwood tables a retailer enthuses about during an early design and prototyping phase are not only expensive to buy, they also are heavy and therefore expensive to ship. And difficult to kit pack and install for thousands of stores across the country.

“...sometimes look and feel are priorities ahead of cost or straightforward utility...”

Our design development team has impressed more than a few clients when we figured out ways to design, build and install tables and other fixtures that weighed up to 25% less than the originals, while duplicating the high-quality look and feel that was the original sell point. 

Often material selections respond to specific client needs. Healthcare facilities are branded environments too, but they require material selection to be both durable and antimicrobial to support health and safety measures.

And sometimes look and feel are priorities ahead of cost or straightforward utility, particularly with one-offs aspiring for elevated branding and localized customer engagement.

For example, TD Bank wanted to distinguish a new bank branch near Boston’s iconic Fenway Park and pay tribute to the Emerald Necklace park system in which the branch was located. They asked Miller Zell to transform a 50-foot wall into an artistic and informative focal point that would engage customers while also celebrating TD Bank’s dedication to sustainability.

Using only sustainable materials, we designed a seamless, modular, multi-paneled map of the area made of Baltic birch that highlighted greenways, waterways and topography. The wall, which earned a Shop! Award, included contoured layers, and organic lichen was used to represent green spaces.

Just as you prioritize cost savings and durability for many scaled projects, this was material selection and project execution to match specific and very different client goals. 

Optimizing aesthetics while minimizing cost

Another client partnered with a high-end pet food producer for a store-within-a-store. It built a concept store inside the retailer, but then came to Miller Zell to scale its prototype.  

We value engineered just about every display and fixture, creating approximately a 35% cost reduction from prototype to the final version. And we made sure the store-within-a-store brand partnership conveyed “high quality” to customers.

A stainless-steel substrate was hand selected to match the food-grade stainless steel of the glass-front freezers. While traditional stainless steel isn’t magnetic, this version was supported by metallic backing, which allowed for the use of magnetic signage, such as a menu board.

A large, overhanging soffit was designed to be dramatic and inviting, but curves in a PVC soffit make it expensive and heavy. We were able to value engineer the parts to reduce significantly the overall cost of the project. 

The extensive and pleasing use of stainless steel and natural wood color — signature elements of the brand — tells customers they can trust the products on display. They also support a cohesive brand image and overall ambiance and can significantly influence how customers perceive the brand.

The retailers, meanwhile, get this outstanding customer experience delivered on time and below budget.  

Durability and sustainability as pro-business concepts

Many consumers are drawn to brands that demonstrate a commitment to sustainability. And some might frown at what they perceive as virtue signaling. At Miller Zell, we view doing the right thing and optimizing the bottom line as not being mutually exclusive.

With material selection, this starts with transparency with clients, particularly with the relative benefits of lower up-front costs versus long-term savings due to material longevity. 

Focusing on durability when designing and executing branded interiors supports waste reduction and material repurposing. By creating a space with longevity in mind, your company can minimize the need for frequent maintenance and replacement costs, thereby reducing waste generation and increasing long-term value.

“Our decades of experience with designing and executing retail environments at scale and knowledge of the range of materials available support cost savings and sustainability goals for clients. ”

Moreover, high-traffic retail environments demand materials that are durable and easy to maintain. Selecting robust materials ensures that stores remain attractive and functional over time. For example, high-quality flooring materials that resist scuffing and staining can maintain their appearance longer, providing a better return on investment.

Our decades of experience with designing and executing retail environments at scale and knowledge of the range of materials available support cost savings and sustainability goals for clients.

Along this line, here are some materials we often use that are sustainable because of their recyclability and/or remanufacturing ability.

• Polystyrene: A long-lasting, durable, recyclable and affordable material. Often polystyrene signage is used for non-green reasons like its weight (light) and ability to be cut and the vividity of printed colors. (Note: These products cannot be recycled in residential bins. Please work with your manufacturer to find a removal system for old and broken pieces).
  
  
• Foam core: There are many foam core boards to choose from but ULB or UltraBoard is made with at least 30-50% recycled content.^[1]
  

• Corrugated materials: This material is easily customizable to eliminate excess waste. It also reduces the material being wasted after usage by being entirely recyclable.

  
  
• Acrylics: Recrylic is a Certified Recycled Acrylic and an earth-friendly solution for sustainable retail + design.

Again, a lot of this is transparency. Vendors and suppliers — all of your rollout and refresh partners — should be open to conversations about life cycle, processes for dealing with manufactured waste and how your designs and material selections can have the most sustainable materials.

For example, as a supplier for Walmart, we’ve accepted its invitation to join Project Gigaton, the world’s largest retailer’s sustainability initiative with the goal to reduce one billion metric tons (a gigaton) of greenhouse gases from the global value chain by 2030.

Obviously, material selection touches many important bases within the scaled rollout and refresh process for retailers and other businesses with interior branding. It can be complicated.

But the payouts, from customer experience to brand elevation and loyalty to sustainability, longevity and ROI, are worth the effort.