Australian fashion brands are opening more U.S. stores & distribution centers

Modern Retail’s Julia Waldow spoke with Melissa Gonzalez about Australian brands such as Bared Footwear, Princess Polly, Camilla and Outcast Clothing expanding into the U.S. Women’s brand Outcast Clothing, for example, does not yet have a physical store in the U.S., but sells its merchandise online and has been experimenting with pop-up stores. “Pop-ups like Outcast Clothing’s can be a great way for brands to dip their toes into new markets like the U.S.”

The Home Depot

The Home Depot, the largest home improvement retailer in the United States, recognized the need for an innovative, efficient, and sustainable approach to their store rollouts nationwide after a decade of construction dormancy. The company sought a partnership with a firm that would not only elevate the customer experience in their stores but design and manage a rollout program tailored to save the brand money and time as it continued to grow.

Tackling Retail Expansion with Data-Driven Design

It faced the challenge of overhauling and transforming its development program to build new stores quickly and efficiently while also easing the burden on its administration staff.

Together in its new strategic partnership with MG2, which provides the brand expertise in cost management, entitlements, and full-scale program design and delivery services, the companies aimed to reduce The Home Depot’s new build construction schedule by 30%, as well as achieve a number of other goals including determining the right construction methods, implementing sustainable solutions, and appealing to communities and jurisdictions alike.

Using Data Analysis To Guide Construction Methodologies

To determine the most suitable construction method and location for The Home Depot’s new stores, MG2 conducted a series of data-driven site analyses comparing pre-engineered metal buildings (PEMBs) against concrete tilt-ups. These analyses, which took into account and outlined each option’s proven advantages and potential volatilities, revealed significant benefits in choosing Houston, TX, as its new location and supported the brand’s decision to invest in a PEMB for its warehouse.

Streamlining Designs for Efficiency and Innovation

With a data-driven road map established, designers at MG2 began by creating and validating an in-depth prototype. Through this process, the team confirmed the potential to transform and streamline The Home Depot’s development and build process. With MG2’s holistic approach, the home improvement leader has been able to remain virtually hands-off, overseeing the projects from a high-level perspective without handling the day-to-day tasks.

As the partnership continues to grow, MG2 continuously targets efficiencies to deliver a greater return on investment for The Home Depot. Beyond cost and speed-to-market optimizations, the resulting store designs offered customers a cleaner, friendlier, and lighter interior experience. Updated wayfinding and educational initiatives further empowered The Home Depot’s clientele in their home improvement endeavors.

Cost Savings and Elevated Experiences through Data-Driven Decisions

MG2’s data-driven site analyses played a crucial role in The Home Depot’s decision to invest in a pre-engineered metal building (PEMB) for their new Houston, Texas location and will continue to play an important part in determining the locations and construction methodologies of future stores. Despite initial higher material costs, the accelerated construction schedule of the PEMB warehouse led to overall savings of 0.7% to 3.2% for the year. In addition to its sustainability benefits—which appeal particularly to urban jurisdictions—the PEMB offers numerous advantages, including:

  1. A faster construction schedule: 130 days, compared to 190 days for a concrete building.
  2. Better insulation: An R-value of 21.6, compared to 17.3 for a concrete structure.
  3. Energy cost savings: 5% to 9% over a 60-year lifecycle, depending on the region.
  4. Greater quality control: Unlike concrete, PEMBs can be erected in nearly any weather.
  5. Smaller environmental footprint: Less maintenance and fewer repairs over time, with a more durable metal roof.

Shaping the Future of Home Improvement Retail

Leveraging combined expertise, MG2 and The Home Depot have effectively developed innovative, efficient, and cost-conscious solutions that align with the brand’s rollout objectives. The PEMB warehouse in Houston, Texas, showcases the partnership’s achievements and underscores the importance of data-driven program design in the evolution of retail spaces.

As the collaboration continues, both companies aim to further transform the home improvement retail landscape, providing enhanced value and experiences to customers across the nation.


Costco Wholesale Santa Fe

Costco Santa Fe Mexico City

A community-oriented haven blending retail and recreation

Parque La Mexicana is a 70-acre urban green space centrally located in the Santa Fe neighborhood of Mexico City. The area is home to over 5,000 trees, two lakes, a skatepark, an amphitheater, playgrounds, a dog park, bike paths, a running track, restaurants, and so much more. This award-winning, one-of-a-kind park is designed to be financially self-sufficient, strategically partnering with retailers as an integral part of its business plan.

When Costco Wholesale, which sought to take up residence in the Santa Fe district, became one of those retail partners, the company collaborated closely with MG2, the community, city, and the park itself to ensure the aesthetic and functional unity of Costco’s built environments into the existing landscapes, resources, and sustainable operations. In addition to hurdles presented by the site’s environment, teams faced the incredible challenge of virtually hiding the entirety of Costco’s massive warehouse, parking structure, and loading bays from public view. 

The resulting structures are, arguably, one of the most sustainable, beautifully designed Costco Wholesale developments in the world.

Strategic Value Engineering

Constructed on a former landfill site, Costco Santa Fe’s location also resides in a high-seismic area in Mexico City, creating soil variables and structure risks. In order to mitigate both challenges, designers implemented the use of piles and a pre-engineered metal building, which simultaneously reduced overall cost and contributed to its LEED-ready design.

Hiding a Costco in Plain Sight

To achieve this feat, designers worked to physically and operationally integrate Costco’s structures with the surrounding park, further going above and beyond by matching—or exceeding—the park and the city’s sustainability standards. 

With just one side of the building fully exposed to the public, the remaining three are strategically hidden from view, blended into the existing landscape. “Montanitas”, or tall berms covered in native plants, trees, and grasses work double duty to camouflage the warehouse exteriors while minimizing the irrigation and water usage required to allow them to flourish. Green facade screens with native crawling vegetation planted at its base as well as cascading down from the roof above will grow over time to further obscure the warehouse and parking structure’s appearance.

A Green Roof Unlike Any Other

The warehouse’s 144,522 sq/ft metal deck high-performance green roof—three times bigger than any other landscaped space for a Costco in Mexico—was meticulously curated with thousands of native plants and grasses spanning 10 varieties, each reviewed and approved by local environmental agencies. In partnership with Secretaria de Medio Ambiente, insect “hotels” have also been installed, further nurturing nearby flora.

The roof was custom engineered to collect and transport stormwater runoff to the park for landscape amenities such as fountains and ponds. Unique waterproofing and leak-detection systems were also developed to ensure the facility’s rainwater accumulation and operations function correctly and prevent water from seeping through the membrane. 

Due to the roof’s green-centric design, the installation of standard HVAC systems required customization. Just one block of machinery lives atop the building, while additional mechanics, including air handling units designed to chill the warehouse with cold water, reside underneath.

 

Seamless Integration with Community & Recreation

Atop the parking structure: a veritable playground for city residents and visitors, purposely designed with sustainability, wellness, and community in mind, and seamlessly blended into the existing Parque Mexicana beyond. Carefully configured, a fútbol field, padel court, and hybrid basketball/volleyball courts sweep across the roof, while a pedestrian bridge extends the existing jogging path, looping it back into the park. 

Adjacently overhead Costco’s receiving area lies a beginner’s roller skate park, designed for children, to get the hang of basics before graduating to more advanced terrain.

The one-of-a-kind design, solidifying the concealment of the Costco warehouse, parking structure, and loading bays, unifies the amenities’ connections to the established park experience while offering a new array of spaces for the community and visitors alike to enjoy.



Brilliant Earth

jewelry-show-room-brilliant-earth-mg2-design

Approachable luxury

Since 2005, Brilliant Earth has offered the world ethically sourced, award-winning fine jewelry through its elevated web-based platform and personalized appointment-only showrooms. When the digitally-native company sought to expand its brick-and-mortar portfolio with open retail spaces, they partnered with MG2 to seamlessly translate the spirit of their digital brand and unique offerings into a real-world experience.

Like its jewelry, the retail design and rollout program for Brilliant Earth’s new showrooms was curated with thoughtful craftsmanship in every production phase. Previously, all the brand’s in-person experiences were appointment-only, with most of their spaces hidden away from window-shopping consumers on the upper floors of retail centers.

Utilizing a light, luminous, bright, and warm palette that reflected its online presence, MG2 designers brought an approachable luxury to Brilliant Earth’s new showroom experience. This new iteration of the store—the first of its kind for Brilliant Earth—brings an inviting, interactive, and educational retail experience into the brand’s program, diversifying its real estate potential with more premium, ground-level spaces, increasing awareness and engagement.

Brilliant Earth_Brooklyn

From planning to fixture design, the team boldly broke many industry barriers often seen in jewelry, such as the traditional horseshoe-shaped counters that often act as barriers.

Instead, in a direct reflection of the brand’s unique educational approach to the diamond shopping experience, MG2 designed a fixture package program that flexes and scales with each new space; a customizable kit-of-parts that can fit any format.

An entry kiosk once used to check customers in for their appointments evolved into a multi-functional digital tool. Now used to assist shoppers in industry and diamond education, the sizing of rings, and the check-out process, it’s a feature that further underlines the seamless integration of Brilliant Earth’s digital and physical offerings.

Caseline throughout the store is designed like furniture; display cases float lightly in the space, while round consultation tables equalize the service experience. This highly customized design and rollout program was achieved without raising the cost of construction for Brilliant Earth.

Brilliant Earth_Brooklyn

The Brooklyn location of Brilliant Earth represents a step forward for the brand while still adhering to the same kit of parts utilized in their other showrooms. Its unique building in Williamsburg features a vaulted ceiling and exposed brick, giving the space a larger and more roomy feel. This has granted merchandising room to grow, expanding the brand’s retail offering with six cases, an additional appointment station, and a more retail-focused reception area. With an emphasis on showcasing its fine jewelry products, this evolution in Brilliant Earth’s showroom design successfully balances its minimalist roots with an elevated, flexible retail agenda.

Similarly distinctive in its design hurdles and opportunities, Brilliant Earth’s King of Prussia showroom location—situated within a mall with limited egress and no natural light—presented unique challenges for the team to overcome. To bring the space to life, designers reprioritized the showroom’s configuration, eliminating the need for glazing, and added greater visual impact by utilizing large format graphics, wall casework, and incorporating merchandising above the cases. The warm and inviting retail story is solidified through the incorporation of recessed lighting, plush sofa seating, and education-centric pedestals at the front of the space.

The showroom’s private appointment stations were strategically relocated to the back of the space, providing guests with greater privacy while maximizing the overall flexibility of the design. By utilizing the same kit of parts as its other showrooms while adding new elements that reflect the brand, designers ensured that Brilliant Earth’s iconic bright and light personality prevailed within the confines of the darkened shopping center.

With each showroom brought to life across the country, this global leader in ethically sourced fine jewelry continues to seamlessly preserve its online identity while defining new retail experiences for its consumers, each with its own unique flair.


Costco Wholesale Asia

The secrets to a successful global expansion

When industry leader Costco Wholesale sought expansion overseas, there were numerous nuanced considerations—culture, capacity, jurisdictional requirements, materials, cost, timeframes, structure variants, building codes, and beyond—that Costco needed to consider in order to ensure their debut in Asia would be an outright success. They employed long-time partner MG2 to help them tackle these challenges and provide a localized, reliable, inherently “Costco Wholesale” experience for new consumer bases across multiple countries.

Taking up residence in urban areas experiencing explosive population growth, real estate and structure footprint are major considerations with each Costco Wholesale designed and built in Asia. The employment of multilevel retail warehouses—a more common practice overseas than here in the United States—provide spatial solutions, but still require careful programming and custom resolutions that designers consider and tailor to each unique location.

While shopping at a wholesale retailer in the United States is unique unto itself, the experience can be different and novel in countries like Japan, China, Taiwan, and South Korea, where spending a day at Costco Wholesale can be a destination-worthy, family-wide event. Costco and MG2 teams diligently analyzed and documented the shopping habits of each location, accounting for variants like capacity control, cultural norms, and community preferences. Departments were designed to flex within the stores, catering to regional tastes, such as robust sushi departments in Japan.

Even footprints and integrated technologies were localized—moving ramps vs elevators, additional parking, and more—ensuring familiar customer flows and elevated user experiences in what has become an extremely popular shopping experience.

With our breadth and depth of Costco project knowledge and working with the country managers through the decades, MG2 continuously delivers immediate solutions for ad-hoc challenges, such as adding new departments post-opening. Based on the unique design requirements for each location, our team has standardized each structure’s needs, working closely with Costco Wholesale operations on how they utilize their spaces. In addition to streamlining our process, MG2 has been able to control the soft cost which varies by country, ensuring no project goes over budget.

Our symbiotic relationship continues today, with our most recent projects utilizing breakthrough technology such as VR walkthroughs for executives to view floors before the opening of a new location. As Costco Wholesale’s expansion initiatives continue to grow across China and other regions, MG2’s designs continue to push boundaries and revolutionize the wholesale shopping experience in Asia.



Costco Wholesale

Costco Wholesale has partnered with MG2 for over 30 years.
Costco Wholesale Santa Fe La Mexicana by MG2

An enduring partnership with a global leader

Over 30 years ago, our partnership with Costco Wholesale began with one warehouse. At the time, the wholesale leader was putting down roots in rural and suburban communities, where space was ample. However, as the brand gained popularity and expanded its reach into urban neighborhoods, development became more challenging with greater constraints. Simultaneously, Costco Wholesale boldly began to broaden its offering, with services such as optical and hearing centers, pharmacy, gas stations, and fresh, high-quality meat, deli, and seafood selections. As jurisdictional codes became more complex and demanding, creative design solutions were required. A dedicated partner—one who understood their goals, embraced their values, and sought to grow with them—was needed. They went all-in on MG2.

Three decades and 780+ locations worldwide later, MG2 remains that partner today. Our relationship has grown and strengthened, both personally and professionally. We have worked together to streamline organizational efficiencies in building design and delivery, cost management, entitlement services, built asset management, and program management. MG2 anticipates Costco Wholesale’s needs, evolving alongside, and elevating the speed and consistency of our results over time.

With MG2 as their program partner, Costco Wholesale has set the bar by creating and maintaining the platinum standard in optimized rollouts: It takes just 110 days from the time construction begins to the moment doors open to their members. Their “high quality, best price” approach toward building design—also reflected in their products and customer services—is an inherent part of Costco Wholesale’s brand promise. 

MG2 evolves the Costco Wholesale warehouse prototype every month, finding innovative ways to update and improve the concept while upholding our swift construction schedule and high-quality standards.

Our relationship goes beyond the depth of resources and broadness of services MG2 provides; there’s a consensus-driven approach across a joint team that keeps the proverbial ship moving forward. We work together to create modern, industrial retail environments that are contemporary, clean, safe, and never compromise Costco Wholesale’s standard of delivering quality. We’ve tackled countless new challenges together, leaning into the seemingly impossible to come up with solutions foundationally based on our co-journey. 

And along the way, we’ve optimized Costco Wholesale’s program to the business benefit of millions of dollars per year, while continuing to help them grow and expand to new consumer markets across the globe.



The next evolution of mission-driven design

Today’s retail customers crave simplicity, fun, and personalization in their shopper journeys. To meet this rising demand, Nordstrom enlisted the help of MG2 and challenged us to design an innovative, flexible ‘Store of the Future’ concept for their Nordstrom Rack locations. 

The resulting design granted Nordstrom a new direction they could trust in, complete with elegant, bold details such as impactful in-store diagrams, signage, and fixtures that highlight merchandise stories. MG2 also delivered gender-neutral fitting areas and user-friendly check out zones. These cost-neutral solutions advance Nordstrom’s mission to offer the customer the best possible service, selection, quality, and value.

MG2 continues to work with Nordstrom in evolving the store planning and design of this concept, positively impacting the customer experience for over 25 locations across the US and Canada. The innovative design remains active today, helping consumers achieve their immediate goals while providing moments of delight.


The joy of discovery

Based on a shared belief in exceeding customer expectations, MG2 and Target have partnered for more than 15 years on a wide variety of projects, including new build, adaptive reuse, and everything in between. With over 600 projects delivered throughout the U.S., MG2 has perfected the art of adapting each prototypical design into store experiences that attract new customers.

Able to scale projects that range between 90,000 – 140,000 square feet, MG2 incorporates regionally-relevant attributes while maintaining the esteemed Target brand experience through program oversight and detailed prototype design documentation. Like Target, MG2 is committed to delivering spaces that allow every guest to feel welcome and included while discovering moments of joy throughout their journey.