Bringing home the brand

Latest Boeing Store makeovers happen in St. Louis, on the Web

BY CARRIE HOWARD

The promise of refreshments and prizes drew visitors into the newly remodeled Boeing Store in St. Louis during its grand reopening in October. But it was the opportunity to view authentic aviation artifacts and take home their own piece of an aerospace legend that kept them there.

The St. Louis location is the latest of six Boeing Stores to undergo an upgrade designed to make shopping more efficient and enjoyable. An extensive remodeling added 1,000 square feet (90 square meters) of new retail space, upgraded the décor and fixtures, and improved traffic flow and display space. The result: a store that's as much an aerospace experience as a shopping venue.

"We completely changed the look and feel of the store," said James Moe, national sales manager. The store has "a lot of interactive features," he said, including six plasma screens showing aviation videos and a model wall that runs the length of the store and encompasses most of the product line.

"We use a lot of metallic finishes that are reminiscent of an airplane, to give a real touch and feel of the products we build," Moe said. "We have specially designed fixtures that look high-tech but are utilitarian at the same time, like cabinetry that resembles the ribs of an airplane."

Similar features are being added to other Boeing Stores as they come due for refurbishment. The basic design creates a cohesive appearance throughout the stores and provides a backdrop for unique elements that relate to the interests of employees at each location. A door from an actual Gemini capsule is on display in the St. Louis store, a commercial airplane overhead bin and seat are used in the luggage display of the Renton, Wash., store, and C-17 artifacts appear in the Long Beach, Calif., stores.

The virtual Boeing Store (http://www. boeingstore.com) has received a makeover as well. In December the BoeingStore.com e-commerce site will relaunch with a new look and functionality.

"We studied customer feedback, conducted surveys and updated the site based on what we heard," said Shannon Kipp, Boeing Store e-commerce manager. "The new design is friendlier and easier to use, with more product focus and less static content."

The Web redesign also is in keeping with current Boeing brand identity standards. Revised page layouts allow shoppers to see more products at once; the site now carries twice as many products as it did when launched.

At the same time the Boeing Store team is revamping existing stores, it is branching out into nontraditional venues, such as shopping kiosks and mobile stores.

"One of our biggest goals is to extend the reach of the Boeing Store to employees who haven't been exposed to it," Moe said. "The Philadelphia kiosk, which we opened this year, is geared toward rotorcraft, and especially the CH-47 Chinook. This is merchandise we never carried before because we didn't have a clientele for it. It has been a big success."

The mobile Traveling Stores reach employees in Boeing communities that don't have a permanent store.

"We tailor the product selection for the Traveling Stores," Moe said. Example: In Houston, the mobile store offers a strong selection of space exploration-related merchandise.

"Every time we go someplace new we learn more about the company, which in turn helps us bring employees the products and services they want," Moe said.

And it's not just employees who are excited about the Boeing Store. Boeing customers are, too. "Once we had an airline crew fly up from Oakland to Renton for the day-just to shop at the Boeing Store," Moe said. "That says a lot about the products and experience we provide to our customers."

carrie.a.howard@boeing.com