newwavearch90:

Wall to Wall Sound & Video - Philadelphia, PA (1990)

“Wall To Wall Sound and Video, a large chain of electronic and recorded music stores wanted a unique environment for a specific location. The location is on South Street in downtown Philly — a sly and sassy area that is frequented by a young, hip crowd. The store had to sizzle with excitement and stress the recorded music in a stimulating setting. The main emphasis of the design is on the large, ceiling mounted transparencies of record covers. These covers become the fabulous pieces of up-to-the-minute graphics with which to decorate the store — they are constantly being updated by new releases and they offer renewed interest to the customers with each visit. Also, by using them overhead they leave the floor and wall space free for the display of the vast amount of product. The overall effect that the designer conceived is that of a ‘‘volcanic eruption where the walls, floor and ceiling are shattering — even the display platforms look like fragments. The ceiling appears to be splitting apart with giant transparency boxes falling through.’’ This effect was achieved by the use of one half of a light box mounted to mirrored ceiling tile in the cracks. The fragmented, eruptive concept is followed through in the Jagged diagonal lines that separate the shiny light floor on the aisle from the dark areas of the floor near the slat-walled walls. Neon bands outline the cracks and fissures and lend an extra sizzle and sputter to the neutral colored interior.This store is playing to a packed house — bringing the house down — and getting rave reviews from the young, fun-loving shoppers.”

Designed by Gilbert Design, Inc.

Scanned from ‘Stores of the Year 6′ (1991)