Back in the '70s, it was a structure that had no problem at all attracting attention. New and more than the size of a football field, the Alperts Furniture Warehouse and Showroom stood all alone facing Interstate 195 in an undeveloped section of Seekonk, MA, just a few miles outside Providence, RI. The building was difficult not to notice, and that was very good for business.
But, as they say, "location, location, location" . . . and some twenty years later the isolated spot that the Alpert Brothers had chosen for their store was now crowded with lots of "me-too," attention-grabbing, big commercial buildings. And what once had been a virtual shrine was not looking any better for wear, if anyone was looking at it at all. This was not good for business.
So the company's president and chief executive officer, Mr. Hershel Alpert, decided it was time to give his store a make-over. The problem: how to take a large, monolithic structure and, without extensive renovation, make it stand out in a crowd of large, monolithic structures?
"We built the building in 1972," recalls Alpert, "and it then had about 60,000 square feet of warehouse space plus 45,000 square feet of showroom. In 1989 we added another 15,000 square feet to the showroom.
"The original exterior paint was pre-baked to the corrugated steel frame and had never been recoated. It held up well for quite some time, but within the past few years had started to chalk. By 1995 it was definitely in need of repainting."
Now, Mr. Alpert is clearly an astute furniture retailer (Brand Name Foundation's "Retailer of the Year" a few years ago). And he apparently has a good feel for commercial real estate. But exterior design? Alpert decided to leave that to an expert. He didn't have to search very far.
"I'd known Mr. Alpert for several years as a businessman in the community," notes Malcolm Grear of Malcolm Grear Designers, Inc. in Providence, RI. "When he called us in on the project, his goal was to raise the public's awareness of the quality of their furniture, while at the same time making the building more visible without looking so much like a furniture warehouse. And this was to be accomplished basically by re-painting the building . . . no major structural changes."
The task sounded Olympian, but Grear was ready for it. After all, his design firm had been one of five selected from hundreds across the U.S. to be part of the Look of the Games design team for the 1996 Centennial Olympic Games in Atlanta. The Look Team created the "patchwork quilt of leaves," an element of the theme important to Malcolm Grear. Malcolm Grear Designers was then contracted to design the gold, silver and bronze athletic medals, as well as the distinctive "pictograms" that identify different sporting events on signs, banners, TV graphics, and other visual aids. In addition, Malcolm Grear Designers designed the runner's torch, the commemorative medal, a commemorative poster, the travelling cauldron and safety lantern for the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games.
"We set out to make it a 'happy' building," recalls Grear, "rather than make it so high-brow that we would lose the value-conscious customer.
"The building was just a square block, like all the other buildings near it, and what we did was add a horizontal stripe to break up the large surfaces." This solid stripe creates the illusion of a two-story building.
And Grear took it one step further. By adding a small (18" wide by 16' long) section of wall to the upper side walls at the front of the store, he created the appearance that the top part actually overhangs the lower part.
Another design factor to be considered was that the Alperts Furniture Warehouse sits up high against what is often a bright blue sky for a backdrop. Choosing the proper paint colors to contrast against the azure was critical.
"We needed a color that would make the building 'pop' from the blue sky," notes Mr. Alpert, "and it surprised us when Malcolm Grear Designers picked a gold tone for the top half and an earth tone for the bottom.
"It wasn't what we had visualized doing, but when we questioned the designers about the brightness of the colors, they really stuck by their guns. They insisted it was the right way to go.
"I'm glad they did, because it really worked out. We have received a lot of compliments on the colors. We wanted the building to stand out but in a way the customers would find pleasing, and that has been the case."
Notes Grear, the designer: "It's our job to make intangible things tangible, to help the client conceive our vision."
With the new color scheme decided upon, it was now a matter of selecting the brand of paint. Ability to match Grear's colors was important, but the client also was concerned with cost over the long haul.
"Normally the most expensive part of a paint job is the labor of applying it," notes Mr. Alpert. "If you're going to spend that money anyway, you might as well go with the best product that's out there."
After extensive research, Alpert decided to go with Du Pont's IMRON® 333, a high-gloss, polyurethane coating . . . for a number of reasons. And they contacted Boyd Coatings Research in Hudson, MA, a distributor of Du Pont paint products, to match the designer colors.
Recalls Boyd division manager Joe MacPhee: "It wasn't easy. Their designer had chosen Pantone-type colors, and Pantone is mostly used by the printing industry and developed by blending printer's inks. It required a lot of trial and error, but eventually by boxing together yellow, red and white polyurethanes, we were able to get the proper blend for the job."
"We went with an IMRON® coating," recalls Alpert, "for its longevity and the ability to retain its depth of color and its sheen. After all, we're in the Northeast, we have snow, we have wind, we have sun."
MacPhee concurs: "IMRON®'s biggest benefit is that it keeps its color and its gloss longer than just about any other type of paint. It won't fade or chalk for 10 to 15 years, while most oil-based paints will start to fade much sooner. When it's dry, IMRON® is basically a piece of plastic, so it's flexible. And since the Alpert building is metal, temperature changes will cause the building to expand and contract. A very hard paint, like an epoxy, won't expand and contract with the building, and it would crack. Once it cracks it would eventually start to peel off. But being a polyurethane, IMRON® is flexible enough to move with the building."
The specific coating that was selected was IMRON® 333. "The 333 formulation is higher in solids," notes MacPhee. "There are more pigments and resin and less solvent to evaporate to the atmosphere.
"The higher amount of solids in 333 means more paint per can. For example, while IMRON® 326 covers 300 sq. ft. per gal., IMRON® 333 covers 700 sq. ft.
"It provides good coverage, high gloss and 'hiding' . . . the old coating on the building had dark vertical stripes, and the 333 did a better job of hiding these stripes. So they ended up using less paint."
It took the painting contractor, Arthur Cole Painting Corp. of Worcester MA, about 300 gallons to complete the project, using 5-man crews for about three weeks.
But, as they say, "location, location, location" . . . and some twenty years later the isolated spot that the Alpert Brothers had chosen for their store was now crowded with lots of "me-too," attention-grabbing, big commercial buildings. And what once had been a virtual shrine was not looking any better for wear, if anyone was looking at it at all. This was not good for business.
So the company's president and chief executive officer, Mr. Hershel Alpert, decided it was time to give his store a make-over. The problem: how to take a large, monolithic structure and, without extensive renovation, make it stand out in a crowd of large, monolithic structures?
"We built the building in 1972," recalls Alpert, "and it then had about 60,000 square feet of warehouse space plus 45,000 square feet of showroom. In 1989 we added another 15,000 square feet to the showroom.
"The original exterior paint was pre-baked to the corrugated steel frame and had never been recoated. It held up well for quite some time, but within the past few years had started to chalk. By 1995 it was definitely in need of repainting."
Now, Mr. Alpert is clearly an astute furniture retailer (Brand Name Foundation's "Retailer of the Year" a few years ago). And he apparently has a good feel for commercial real estate. But exterior design? Alpert decided to leave that to an expert. He didn't have to search very far.
"I'd known Mr. Alpert for several years as a businessman in the community," notes Malcolm Grear of Malcolm Grear Designers, Inc. in Providence, RI. "When he called us in on the project, his goal was to raise the public's awareness of the quality of their furniture, while at the same time making the building more visible without looking so much like a furniture warehouse. And this was to be accomplished basically by re-painting the building . . . no major structural changes."
The task sounded Olympian, but Grear was ready for it. After all, his design firm had been one of five selected from hundreds across the U.S. to be part of the Look of the Games design team for the 1996 Centennial Olympic Games in Atlanta. The Look Team created the "patchwork quilt of leaves," an element of the theme important to Malcolm Grear. Malcolm Grear Designers was then contracted to design the gold, silver and bronze athletic medals, as well as the distinctive "pictograms" that identify different sporting events on signs, banners, TV graphics, and other visual aids. In addition, Malcolm Grear Designers designed the runner's torch, the commemorative medal, a commemorative poster, the travelling cauldron and safety lantern for the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games.
"We set out to make it a 'happy' building," recalls Grear, "rather than make it so high-brow that we would lose the value-conscious customer.
"The building was just a square block, like all the other buildings near it, and what we did was add a horizontal stripe to break up the large surfaces." This solid stripe creates the illusion of a two-story building.
And Grear took it one step further. By adding a small (18" wide by 16' long) section of wall to the upper side walls at the front of the store, he created the appearance that the top part actually overhangs the lower part.
Another design factor to be considered was that the Alperts Furniture Warehouse sits up high against what is often a bright blue sky for a backdrop. Choosing the proper paint colors to contrast against the azure was critical.
"We needed a color that would make the building 'pop' from the blue sky," notes Mr. Alpert, "and it surprised us when Malcolm Grear Designers picked a gold tone for the top half and an earth tone for the bottom.
"It wasn't what we had visualized doing, but when we questioned the designers about the brightness of the colors, they really stuck by their guns. They insisted it was the right way to go.
"I'm glad they did, because it really worked out. We have received a lot of compliments on the colors. We wanted the building to stand out but in a way the customers would find pleasing, and that has been the case."
Notes Grear, the designer: "It's our job to make intangible things tangible, to help the client conceive our vision."
With the new color scheme decided upon, it was now a matter of selecting the brand of paint. Ability to match Grear's colors was important, but the client also was concerned with cost over the long haul.
"Normally the most expensive part of a paint job is the labor of applying it," notes Mr. Alpert. "If you're going to spend that money anyway, you might as well go with the best product that's out there."
After extensive research, Alpert decided to go with Du Pont's IMRON® 333, a high-gloss, polyurethane coating . . . for a number of reasons. And they contacted Boyd Coatings Research in Hudson, MA, a distributor of Du Pont paint products, to match the designer colors.
Recalls Boyd division manager Joe MacPhee: "It wasn't easy. Their designer had chosen Pantone-type colors, and Pantone is mostly used by the printing industry and developed by blending printer's inks. It required a lot of trial and error, but eventually by boxing together yellow, red and white polyurethanes, we were able to get the proper blend for the job."
"We went with an IMRON® coating," recalls Alpert, "for its longevity and the ability to retain its depth of color and its sheen. After all, we're in the Northeast, we have snow, we have wind, we have sun."
MacPhee concurs: "IMRON®'s biggest benefit is that it keeps its color and its gloss longer than just about any other type of paint. It won't fade or chalk for 10 to 15 years, while most oil-based paints will start to fade much sooner. When it's dry, IMRON® is basically a piece of plastic, so it's flexible. And since the Alpert building is metal, temperature changes will cause the building to expand and contract. A very hard paint, like an epoxy, won't expand and contract with the building, and it would crack. Once it cracks it would eventually start to peel off. But being a polyurethane, IMRON® is flexible enough to move with the building."
The specific coating that was selected was IMRON® 333. "The 333 formulation is higher in solids," notes MacPhee. "There are more pigments and resin and less solvent to evaporate to the atmosphere.
"The higher amount of solids in 333 means more paint per can. For example, while IMRON® 326 covers 300 sq. ft. per gal., IMRON® 333 covers 700 sq. ft.
"It provides good coverage, high gloss and 'hiding' . . . the old coating on the building had dark vertical stripes, and the 333 did a better job of hiding these stripes. So they ended up using less paint."
It took the painting contractor, Arthur Cole Painting Corp. of Worcester MA, about 300 gallons to complete the project, using 5-man crews for about three weeks.
Facelift Gives Retailer a New Look Without Giant Renovation Costs