In one of my design courses I have been given the assignment to “create” the identity and then apply that identity to a specialty shop. As a portion of this assignment we where required to visit several specialty shops in Chicago, in order to gain a feel for what constitutes as a “specialty shop.”

After visiting some shops I have discovered several “generalizations”. First, they tend to be small. Several of the shops I entered could fit within my living room, and my living room is on the small side. Second, they tend to be higher end items, no off brands or low quality items in these shops. Third, specialty shops are specialized. Meaning that they carry a narrow range of products, and these products tend to not be available at just “any location,” or if they are available at lots of locations, they are not available together.

TA-ZE
This charming little store sells olives, and olive based products only. It is simple and fresh in appearance, focusing on the products and not signs or gimmicks. Although the focus is on olives the berth of products in the store was quite wide, ranging from olive based soaps to olive based wines. All the products were presented on a series of white granite toped islands–keeping it simple but tasteful.

THE LEGO STORE
Bright and playful are the first two words out of my mouth when I think about The Lego Store. Containing just about every type of Lego product released in the last few years this store buzzes with childlike intensity. Which is naturally ideal when the primary audience for this store is children and tweens. I loved the little play stations where kids and adults could just build something. And the “build your own” sections were amazing. In one you could select your own Lego bricks to in effect make your own kit and in the other you could create your own Lego men/women.

NIKE WORLD
This was by far the largest specialty shop I have visited. It contained three floors of Nike brand merchandise. Shoes, hats, tops, bottoms, plug in pedometers for the iPod, and many more products were arranged throughout the store. To be honest, I couldn’t stand this store, it smelled rank, like sweaty gym socks that had been left out too long. I wonder if this was on purpose or if they have air flow problems. Regardless, for me the smell made it a very negative experence.