Chicago — Englewood Construction’s retail group has started work on a new 40,000-square-foot American Girl Place store at 75 Rockefeller Plaza in New York City. American Girl will move to the new location this fall from the current American Girl Place New York at 609 Fifth Ave.
The 75 Rockefeller Plaza store will be the 12th project Englewood has completed for American Girl, including new locations and full-store remodels, since first partnering with the popular brand in 2008 to relocate its original Chicago flagship store to its current Michigan Avenue address.
“We’re incredibly proud to have become a trusted and reliable partner for American Girl in helping translate its brand into unique retail experiences,” says Bill Di Santo, president of Lemont, Ill.-based Englewood Construction. “Our work together now spans nearly a decade and 17 states, including buildouts, renovations and our facilities management program with the brand. This relationship is a real testament to our team’s ability to not only thoroughly understand a client and its priorities, but also deliver a smooth construction process and high level of quality time and time again, regardless of location.”
Di Santo notes it is especially rewarding for Englewood to be tapped for the new American Girl Place New York project because the firm also completed a major interior renovation of the brand’s current Fifth Avenue store in 2009. “We’ve been involved through the life cycle of this store, and now the brand has turned to us yet again to help realize its vision for its New York retail presence,” Di Santo says.
Designed by Cincinnati-based architecture firm FRCH Design Worldwide, the new American Girl store will span two floors, including street-level space with direct entrances from both 51st and 52nd streets. According to Di Santo, Englewood is well suited to managing the Rockefeller Plaza project thanks to the firm’s long track record building out high-profile flagship spaces in busy urban locations across the country.
“We have extensive expertise in a number of iconic retail districts, such as Chicago’s Magnificent Mile, as well as other areas of Manhattan like Fifth Avenue,” says Di Santo. “That gives us a first-hand understanding of some of the unique challenges that can come with a property like 75 Rockefeller Plaza — from heavy pedestrian foot traffic and restrictions on timing of equipment and building material deliveries, to the special considerations of working in a vertical building with landmark status.”
Inside, the new store will include enhanced versions of popular features found at all American Girl Place locations, such as an expanded salon experience as well as a café and dining room.
“Since this space did not previously include a restaurant, a key component of the project is adding new black iron to accommodate the café’s kitchen exhaust system,” says Di Santo. “Other infrastructure work includes adding new electrical service, as well as vertical transportation in the way of elevators and escalators within the space to connect the store’s two levels.”
Englewood Construction, Inc. is a commercial general contractor specializing in the construction of retail, restaurant, shopping center, hotel, education and office/industrial projects throughout the United States. Established in 2001, Englewood Construction’s executive team has more than 30 years of commercial construction experience, including executive positions with R.A.S. Builders and Capitol Construction. Since its founding, Englewood Construction has managed over 500 projects in 36 states and amassed a national qualified vendor base exceeding 20,000 subcontractors and suppliers. For more information, visit www.eci.build.
SOURCE: Englewood Construction, Inc.