All Topics
The Arrowstreet Drawing Challenge
Starting February 1, Arrowstreet is hosting a Drawing Challenge. In this electronic age of non-stop emailing, texting, and media consumption, we’re challenging everybody who wants to participate to put down the phone and pick up a pencil.
We’re doing this in the office, and we’d like to invite any of our readers to join us!
Here are the basics…
A Time to Look Back
The start of a new year brings optimism and refreshed energy for the future, and also a chance to look back on accomplishments from the previous year. 2012 was a busy year at Arrowstreet. We celebrated the opening of two new charter schools in the Boston metro area, the corporate headquarters for Rechler Equity in Long Island, White Elephant Village Inn in Nantucket, a T-station garage and cool new bridge in Revere, and an LL Bean store in Danbury. The Arrowstreet construction banner was flying high in 2012…
How Play and Humor Help Us Innovate
[Part 2 of a series of posts from ICSC’s RetailGreen conference.]
In a unique presentation at the ICSC RetailGreen conference, Professor Barry Kudrowitz of the University of Minnesota demonstrated “How Play and Humor Help Us Innovate.” My friend and fellow conference committee member Ed Doyle of Target discovered Mr. Kudrowitz at a company team-building retreat and was so impressed that he brought Mr. Kudrowitz to our conference. Now, this presentation was not directly about sustainability or retail development. Instead, it was about “innovation.” It was fantastic! Via a series of hands-on activities, Mr. Kudrowitz led the audience through mind-mapping exercises, word games, and even a game called “the bears and tigers”. The most interesting thing we learned was that more ideas equals better, more creative ideas…
Disrupt and Interrupt: Thoughts from Retail Green
[Part 1 of a series of posts from ICSC’s RetailGreen conference.]
In the first General Session of the ICSC RetailGreen conference in Phoenix last month, I moderated a panel discussion called “Disrupt and Interrupt”. Since it was the beginning of the conference, we wanted to speak broadly about sustainability issues that retail developers encounter when planning projects and business initiatives. The panel consisted of Audi Banny of Estée Lauder, George Caraghiaur of Simon Property Group, Jim Hanna of Starbucks, and Riggs Kubiak of Honest Buildings. Some of my questions were pre-planned, but we had fun taking live questions through an email account and a scrolling twitter-feed which we projected above the stage. It all worked quite well. Audience members kept me well-stocked with comments and questions.
Speaking at ICSC RetailGreen
ICSC’s RetailGreen is the premier annual conference that gathers leaders in sustainability to focus on the retail development industry. Those of us on the programming committee have seen the conference grow, largely due to the interest shown by the developers and retailers in attending, and also because the program content is so strong. Along with highly technical workshops and “big-picture”…
Arrowstreet at the Bisnow Retail Summit
Arrowstreet Principal Scott Pollack recently moderated a panel of real estate giants at Bisnow’s Annual Retail Summit. Terry Brown, CEO of Edens, joined Barry Rodenstein, SVP of Brixmor; Michael Jammen, Principal of UrbanMeritage; Ed Mitchell of Legal Seafood; and Steven Kelly of Timberline Construction to discuss the current state of retail development. Panelists agreed that deals are happening, but financing…
L.L. Bean Danbury Opens!
Arrowstreet and L.L. Bean teamed up again to open a new store at the Danbury Fair Mall, in Connecticut. Since recently acquiring the mall, Macerich has repositioned a vacant department store into a format of mid-size tenants, like Forever 21, Dick’s, Cheesecake Factory and now, LL Bean. Our task was to give the Danbury shopper a taste of the Maine company’s catalog of comfortable clothes and outdoor adventure. It starts on the porch with its heavy timber posts and beams, and continues inside where customers can try on Bean boots, polo shirts or even a colorful array of kayaks. We’ve designed many of LL Bean’s stores, but this one was special: the grand opening was July 13th, the week after L.L. Bean celebrated their 100th birthday. We’re honored to be a part of this celebration, and even more proud to be part of the team.
Magic Beans at the Prudential Center
Arrowstreet has been helping Boston Properties with retail tenant coordination at the Shops at Prudential Center for years, so when Magic Beans signed a lease in the retail mecca in the heart of Boston’s Back Bay we were happy to assist them. Magic Beans is a locally-owned mom & pop store that sells toys, strollers, car seats, and baby gear. Their brand is upscale, their service is high-quality and attentive, and their store design needed to match who they are. The space we designed for them is colorful and easily accessible, with the merchandise areas coded by their branded colors. It’s packed with toys and gear, but spacious where needed for equipment testing. And to occupy the little ones while mom is settling the bill, a set up of figurines in a full landscape is built into the cabinetry underneath the check-out counter.
Breakfast with Congressman Mike Capuano
In a talk that touched on Washington gridlock, the MBTA Green Line extension, and the Main Street Fairness Act, Congressman Michael Capuano spoke at the kick-off of the Somerville Chamber of Commerce’s new monthly “Government Affairs Breakfast Series”. The late January event was held in the Mount Vernon Restaurant, a short distance away from the new Assembly Row development and the future Orange Line T stop…
Nordica Theater Opens
After over a year of hard work, the Nordica Theater at Freeport Village recently opened. John, David Burn, and I were able to attend on Arrowstreet’s behalf, joining our friends Al Yebba and Mike Murphy of Berenson Associates and Mark Benvenuto from Belmont Capital. It’s always satisfying to see a building we designed in use, and this was no exception- though this was the first opening I’d been to that involved watching movie previews in 3-D! Nordica Theater is a success and a great addition to Freeport.