Whole Foods Market -- America’s Healthiest Grocery Store(TM) Opens in Detroit

Whole Foods Market opened their first Detroit city store, a 21,506-square-foot store at the intersection of John R. Street and Mack Avenue. Detroit Mayor Dave Bing and U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow joined company leaders in opening the store on June 5th with a unique bread-breaking ceremony. As Experience Designer, JGA collaborated with the Whole Foods team to create an experiential environment, providing design services related to the store's interior, colors and materials, and graphics. JGA Chairman, Ken Nisch, said, "With its

cross-cultural mix in places like Eastern Market and great restaurants, Detroit becomes a natural home for Whole Foods. The Detroit store celebrates this rich history not only in what is sold, but as well where it's sold and the environment it is sold in. JGA is pleased to be part of this partnership between the Whole Foods team, local artists, and fabricators to create a fusion of food and place through reclaiming, repurposing and even reimagining pieces of Detroit's past into an expression of Detroit's future." For more, click here.

Creating Digital
Destinations Webinar

Don't miss out... there are a few seats left for the JGA/5th Screen Digital Services webinar on June 20th at 2:30 pm EDT. Ken Nisch, Keith Kelsen and John Curran will present a live webinar addressing how retailers can combat the latest figures on E-shopping - noting how "42% of shoppers buy in-store, while 45% combine in-store with online and mobile." How can you start? Register for this free LIVE webinar today! To sign up, click here.

The Changing World's
New Rules

Ken Nisch will address the Association of Brazilian Designers when they meet for their annual conference July 3-5, 2013 in Sao Paulo, Brazil. In his session, The Changing World's New Rules: What's Next, Ken will discuss how as the world becomes more virtual, it relies more on actual experience to set environments apart. Ken will introduce how the New Rules for creating new world spaces apply to retail, showrooms and branded environments. To register, click here.

Sensitile Wows the
GlobalShop Crowd

The JGA-designed Sensitile booth was a hit at GlobalShop 2013. Previously named a "Company to Watch" by Lighting.com, this new exhibit dramatically demonstrates the unique light qualities the Sensitile product creates, as if walking through a bamboo forest where light refractions abound. The booth brings the product to life in an architectural setting, putting the product in context. Whether surfacing the archway, countertops or focal walls, JGA used the Sensitile material for the exhibit to create a complex interplay of light, shadow, movement and color. For more, click here.

Just Delivered:
Isis Parenting In-Store
Nests at Babies"R"Us

JGA recently designed the newest "nests" landing at Babies"R"Us for Isis Parenting, the nation's leading provider of prenatal and early parenting education. Now Isis Parenting reaches families through colorful in-store "nests" at Babies "R" Us locations in Atlanta and Dallas-Fort Worth. Isis offers a wide selection of products essential to families through the first three years of parenting, with class offerings related to childbirth, early parenting and child development education. For more about Isis, read here.

New York New York Dipped In Chocolate: JGA Hershey's Project To Open Soon
USA Today: Ken Nisch on Walgreens' New Decked Out Flagships
IMAGES (India): Ken Nisch on The Revolutionary World Of Innerwear
"This Space Available," a new documentary produced by Marc Gobé

An Omnichannel Approach: Why Mobile Strategy is Critical, by Marci Weisler

I believe that even if you have never been to Brazil, you probably picture it as a hot, sexy, relaxed, colorful, open, diversified, aromatic and musical country, with all the good and bad attached to its every single characteristic. If you guessed that, you're right!

Our national uniqueness is inherent and is incorporated and reflected in most of our lives. We Brazilians work hard and play hard, in our own sometimes erratic, disorganized, amusing, and not so productive way.

But perhaps, that is why we also like to believe that we are a creative group. We recognize the value of branding, and understand that Brazil's image is continually becoming stronger.

Personally I trust that we have to respect these traits and to try to incorporate those indigenous attributes into our design and work. I can assure you at our design and architecture firm, we take pride in our roots and remain committed to "hot design." And as global players, we see the shifting center of gravity and a growing middle class impacting the rate at which we get to create.

Above all, we use this creativity to present a strong point of view, bold colors, loud statements, lots of merchandise and above all, fun! But surprisingly, it's not so simple.

We recognize our position in this globalized world that keeps shrinking, where technology keeps expanding and the conglomerates (including a few from Brazil) become more and more powerful. We Brazilians also love novelty, have no prejudice; so we embrace any national or international brands that we find relevant. In the end, we understand that retail must be a fun destination not a chore, and that consumers from around the globe have to enjoy the store experience. Retail makes us happy - we want our consumers to experience the same!

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Manoel Alves Lima, is an Architect, Vice President of the Säo Paulo's Retail Design Institute Chapter, and since 1986 has served as Chairman of FAL Strategic Retail Design. Besides working with many of the most prestigious Brazilian retail chains, FAL also works for an international clientele that includes C&A, Clinique, Disney, KFC, Lego, MAC, Mattel, Nokia, Rip Curl, Sony, Timberland, and Tory Burch. As an international speaker, Manoel promotes retail marketing and visual merchandising through teaching, writing articles and posting at FAL's blog.