BOB 2017 PROJECT NAME PROJECT LOCATION: TEAM: OFFICE: ID#: CHALLENGE: The Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC) challenged CallisonRTKL to help them open 10 full line department stores in The Netherlands within 19 months which is typically about the time it takes to complete one. At first, HBC did not decide which banner would fly above these stores (Galleria Kaufhof, Galleria Inno, Saks, Lord & Taylor, or Hudson’s Bay). In addition, a regionally specific design had to be developed from scratch and coordinated within a wide range of existing architectural shells. To further complicate things, design commenced well before store merchants, buyers, and visual team were established. STRATEGY: Define: the team, the site locations, the scope of work, the customer, the Brand, and the design. Given the large scale of this effort, the strategy was to capitalize on expertise from multiple CallisonRTKL offices (Dallas, London, New York, and the GEC). In order to determine locations, the team evaluated and produced feasibility studies for 28 of the original 67 bankrupt V&D department stores, effectively helping The HBC cherry-pick the top 15 locations and outlining the scope of work. In terms of design, HBC and CallisonRTKL defined the Dutch customers as “Individual, Real, Eclectic, Sophisticated, and Curated”. These descriptors guided the adaptation of the Hudson’s Bay brand in a meaningful way for Netherlands. The machined and polished white aesthetic of the Canadian stores was transformed into a warmer, more natural, palette with matte finishes and hand-finished, quality, wood tones. Ultimately the design had to fit somewhere between the two local competitors, de bijnkorf and HEMA. Both at opposite ends of the department store spectrum. It could neither be so high-end that it would alienate the savvy Dutch customer nor too promotional to be special. HBC then determined the stores would be “Hudson’s Bay” citing the strong historical relationship between Canada and the Netherlands. Being Hudson’s Bay’s first foray into the Netherlands, flexibility was a high priority. The flooring choice was monolithic with loose area rugs. The track lighting was integrated, and sales floor fixtures were modular with interchangeable hardware. 156 Dallas Multiple Netherlands Locations Loyda Whitney Mac Allen Michael Lobel Julie Lefeuvre Zuriel Zambonino Brian Fox Rory Villanueva Andrea Romero Nick Nguyen Elizabeth Canzoneri Jeffrey Clark Hong Wang Aimee Grimes Mengdie Zhou Victor Garcia Mona Lo Randi Lawrence Ashlee Bartlett David Cassidy Robert Weber Kyle Jeffery Jin Jeong Pen-Hsing Liu Hudson’s Bay Natherlands