Global architecture and design firm MG2 has promoted Scott Owen Jr. to managing principal in the Minneapolis office.
Owen, Jr. is an MG2 principal and leads the firm’s Minneapolis office. A passionate problem-solver with more than 15 years of experience, he focuses on mixed-use and large-format retail brands, including Best Buy, Target超市, and Nordstrom, in the 消费者体验 studio.
MG2 ranks #4 in Building Design + Construction’s Top 140 Retail Architecture Firms for 2024 list.
Simon Property Group announced this summer what it calls The Village, a two-building addition at its 85-acre Tacoma Mall. That’s now underway, with Deacon Construction and architect MG2 in charge.
The owner of the Tacoma Mall has announced a multi-million dollar renovation plan for the main building, which is set to begin in spring of 2025.
Renovations are expected to be complete in the winter. The mall will stay open during renovations.
MG2 在《建筑设计+建筑媒体》最近发布的 2024 年 200 强建筑公司榜单中名列前 20 名。
Nordstrom partnered with MG2 to design and remodel an existing store in Bellevue, spanning multiple buildings with the intent to develop a new fleet-wide strategy. This new dynamic for the Nordstrom customer will set the stage for future retail success.
The goal is to establish a seamless, discovery-driven customer experience showcasing the most sought-after brands in the world. All areas of the store will be updated to create a designer-level experience—clear, light, warm, and flexible. The design and implementation of the new Fleet-Wide Strategy will focus on the following: customer experience, brand attraction, innovation, flexibility, budget, and operational efficiency.
The Navy Exchange (NEX) oversees more than 300 NEX retail stores on 92 naval bases worldwide, varying in size from small self-checkout convenience stores to large department stores. In 2020, NEX enlisted MG2 to partner with them in a department-by-department exploration into how to redefine value at its owned locations. This exploration encompassed Beauty, Consumer Electronics, Kids, Footwear, Home, Jewelry, Food Hall and Provisions – all utilizing Oceana base store as the anchor test store.
Once implemented at Oceana, the NEX team worked with MG2 to leverage learnings from the pilot location to apply a guide for further iterations and eventually a rollout playbook to adapt and scale each department’s evolution.
Due to the continued elevation of the competitive landscape, NEX has invested in evolving and elevating their value proposition to their patrons by reimagining the store experience department by department.
“Thirty years ago, it was really convenient because everybody lived on base, but now more families live off base.
It’s about creating a sense of excitement, a sense of community, a sense of belonging, and being able to allow patrons to check more off their list.”
– Rich Honiball, EVP and global chief merchandising and marketing officer for the Navy Exchange Service Command (NEXCOM)
Let’s not think of
ourselves as the military store;
let’s think of ourselves as
a retail destination.
The MG2 Advisory Team, in partnership with our design team, took a multi-pronged approach to assessing how each department could best support consumer needs.
This included:
This evaluation identified opportunities beyond price to deliver value across the fleet of locations. Through a deep dive analysis into trends and customer pain points and desires, including areas that provided demystification, we could identify drivers and preferences to inform the in-store experience evolution, allowing the Navy mission to be more deeply reflected in the spaces visited by sailors and families.
Based on the insights and research the MG2 Advisory Team brought forward, MG2 designed stores that provided greater space for storytelling, fostering excitement and a sense of community. As a result of these findings, the NEX team revamped each department, reimagining the customer journey, merchandising, wayfinding and operational change.
The beauty department redesign was first introduced in the Oceana store in 2022, followed by the Pensacola Navy base store in Florida. Post Oceana’s redesign: The beauty departments now demystifies customer discovery. The products which had been arranged by brand alone are rearranged by regimen instead. New end caps feature educational tips and how-tos and a flexible space in the new beauty department hosts special events and live streaming.
The post-redesign sales increases have been significant:
“The way that the departments are structured and organized elevates the product, elevates the experience, and makes it easier for the customer to find what they’re looking for…”
– Rich Honiball
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.
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.
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.
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.
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:
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.
建筑师兼 AIA 2030 创始人 Edward Mazria 曾说过：“当我们试图解决一个棘手的问题时，我们往往会急于求成，但在这种情况下，简单才是王道。更好的建筑、负责任的能源使用和可再生能源的选择，才是我们应对能源独立和气候变化所需的一切。”
直截了当、负责任的设计一直是 MG2 战略和理念的核心，我们始终将可持续的原则和应用融入到我们的每一个项目中。我们的三大可持续发展价值观——环境管理、目标效率和恢复性措施——既体现了公司创立之初的现状，也反映了我们未来的发展目标。MG2 一直致力于不断提升设计标准，不断改进，以达到并超越可持续认证和基准。
MG2 总裁 Russ Hazzard 表示：“我们一直在审查我们的规范，寻找机会向客户推荐可持续产品和方法，在我们刚开始时，这些只是从地点和‘对环境更好’的角度来看的更好的选择。”
如今，这些可持续供应商和材料推荐不仅带来便利，更是我们DNA和设计流程中不可或缺的一部分。因此，曾经可能不愿接受替代方案的客户如今将我们视为专家和倡导者，我们拥有合适的解决方案，能够帮助他们走上更可持续的未来之路。
作为建筑环境的建筑师和设计师，我们所做的每一件事、我们承接的每一个项目，其意义都是显而易见的。AIA 的 2030 挑战概述了承诺公司必须努力实现的两个具体目标：
“减少温室气体排放是整个行业本世纪面临的挑战。”MG2 建筑性能分析师 Johnny Klemke 表示，“我们如何在不断建造更多建筑的同时，减少对自然环境的影响？这正是 MG2 正在努力解决的问题。通过帮助各团队找到更高效、碳排放更低的设计方案，我们也向客户证明了可持续性并不一定成为项目的成本负担。”
通过帮助团队为他们的设计提出更高效、碳排放更少的解决方案，我们向客户表明可持续性不必成为成本负担。
建筑性能分析师 Johnny Klemke
“我们最大的障碍是让整个行业与我们一起努力，”MG2 的设计师 Jon Guerechit 说道，他负责领导我们的运营能源计划，“一个好处是，无可争议的数据让我们更容易说服客户，一项节省成本的措施可以 还 服务环境。但数据并不总是对我们有利。拥抱环境守护者的心态更加困难，因为它迫使利益相关者以不同的思维方式投资于长远的未来。我们正在全力倡导这种心态。
今天，随着我们继续评估和发展公司的可持续发展行动计划，我们致力于超越友邦保险 2030 年挑战所概述的目标，增加我们自己的两个目标:
从改善室内空气质量到减少建筑垃圾，我们的建筑师和设计师指定的材料至关重要。我们的选择代表着改善地球及其居民健康的巨大机遇。
除了自豪地签署 AIA 材料承诺之外，MG2 还创建了我们自己严格的材料评估系统。我们的专家采用红绿灯结构，对我们使用的每一家供应商、产品和材料进行分析和排名，以确保我们尽可能地遵守最高的可持续发展标准，共创更美好的未来。
PCC社区超市——美国最大的食品杂货合作社——多年来一直与 MG2 合作，致力于改进其门店的材料，并争取获得 LBC Petal 认证。其巴拉德门店是全球首家获得该认证的食品杂货合作社，其超过 40% 的材料（略低于 $1.4M）均来自可持续来源，其中 9.2% 的材料来自 100 英里以内。此外，该店 100% 的木材获得 FSC 认证，其中 10% 的材料经过回收或再利用。
“有一种误解，认为我们需要追求绿色建筑认证来推动可持续材料的使用，或者我们必须 仅有的 使用可持续材料来改变世界。这两种说法都不正确。
Candon Michelle Murphy，材料专家
MG2 的数据驱动材料系统带来了丰富的知识和洞察力，但持续的教育以克服误解并帮助我们的客户和合作伙伴了解财务和环境投资仍然至关重要。
“选择可持续材料的最大挑战是对其相关成本的误解。”MG2 的材料管理员 Candon Michelle Murphy 提到，“如果要选择可持续材料，市场上确实有一些特定类别的材料需要很高的成本，但也有相当多的材料类别不需要或只需支付很少的费用，就能实现更加环保的最终安装。
“还有一种误解，认为我们需要追求绿色建筑认证才能推动可持续和健康的材料，或者认为我们只有采用可持续材料才能改变世界。然而，这两种说法都不正确：任何能够减少隐含碳排放、减少室内空间挥发性有机化合物 (VOC) 排放量、实现材料回收或避免填埋的选择，仍然具有重要意义。”
水是地球上最宝贵的资源之一。虽然我们许多人在日常生活中将清洁新鲜的水视为理所当然，但在水资源匮乏的地区建造建筑环境的建筑师们，始终将水的保护、减少和可回收性放在首位。
MG2 的节水目标（我们的第四个也是最雄心勃勃的可持续发展计划）是到 2030 年底，在我们的每一个项目中，将马桶和水龙头等设备的室内用水量减少 30% 至 45%，将园林绿化和灌溉中的室外饮用水消耗量减少 50%。
“在我们的项目中，减少用水量有几十个原因，其中很重要的一点是，这样可以降低从当地水源取水量，”MG2 水资源保护目标设计师兼联合负责人 Maribel Barba 说道，“这使我们能够更好地与当地环境协调，增加所有人的可用水量，并改善社区关系。”
虽然我们的节水目标对 MG2 的许多客户来说可能比较陌生，但有些客户多年来一直致力于在其建筑环境中率先采用创新技术和节水策略。例如，长期合作伙伴 Costco 多年来一直与 MG2 合作，在其位于墨西哥和美国西南部的仓库中实施节水方案，这项计划使其每年节水量达到 20%。
这家批发巨头最近在其圣达菲门店，向节水的未来迈出了更重要的一步。圣达菲门店拥有独一无二的绿色屋顶，作为墨西哥公园的自然延伸，并采用了多项节水技术，包括利用再生水的厕所和景观灌溉系统，以及公园湖的雨水收集系统。根据基准数据，安装的卫生间设备用水量减少了50%。
“即使节水流程已经实施多年，我认为企业要让合作伙伴接受这一理念仍然颇具挑战性。”MG2节水目标设计师兼联合负责人克里斯蒂安·拉佐 (Christian Razo) 表示，“许多人并没有意识到可以节约多少水，甚至不知道不节水的后果。我们竭尽全力让每一位客户了解实施这些流程的益处，包括知道自己所做的事正在造福子孙后代所带来的满足感。”
我们在可持续设计实践方面取得了长足进步，并为众多项目和合作伙伴所取得的成绩感到无比自豪。但事实上，MG2 才刚刚起步。
“当我们着手创建 MG2 的可持续发展正式框架时，我们知道它需要引起所有员工的共鸣，并融入公司的文化。”MG2 可持续发展负责人马克·泰勒 (Mark Taylor) 表示，“我们以数据为导向的方法直接体现了公司以结果为导向的本质，并将成为我们继续前进的成功支柱。”
详细了解我们对地球未来的卓越承诺，请访问我们的 AIA 2030承诺可持续发展行动计划， 或通过 联系我们的可持续发展团队.
Last week we had the pleasure of attending and speaking at Groceryshop 2021 in Las Vegas. One of our first live events in a while, the energy was palpable and the innovations were flowing. It was an absolute joy to connect with so many and share the results of our recent grocery industry survey. If you haven’t yet, you can get your copy of our 2021 Grocery Consumer Survey Insights here.
With so much changing for grocery over the past two years, it’s seemingly impossible to keep up with consumer expectations and demands. However, here are our top five takeaways from what’s important for experience designers to keep in mind as they continue to bring future generations of grocery retail to life:
With such a significant shift to online and digital platforms, the in-store grocery experience has a bigger job to do in order to deliver upon surprise and delight. This ties into our survey results, which document consumer’s desire for discovery while in-store.
Delight is the thoughtful touches and speed bumps along the way that foster education and discovery, and are embedded into environments designed to be “in service” of their customers. These could be temporary experiential moments—like what Lionesque Group CEO Melissa Gonzalez presented on stage about Jarlsberg or the Peanut Butter Association—or permanently designed experiences.
As digital and physical continue to merge, progressive grocers are seeing themselves as media platforms as much as grocers. In the name of inclusion and accessibility, it’s important for brands to make themselves available across all channels for all consumers. With online adoption, there is also a larger opportunity to leverage data and utilize the insights to deliver more personalized content to consumers.
For example, curated recipes, tailored nutrition plans, or even entire stores and brand philosophies dedicated to nutritional health and wellness, beyond what we typically see on a shelf. Raley’s O-N-E stores are a great example. Additionally, as we have seen in our work with Target, some are taking a more holistic approach to the curation of products around life occasions. This approach is also offering CPG brands the opportunity to gain mind share as well as increase their profitability.
We all know consumer necessity fuels implementation as well as the adoption of technology. AI is seeing more prioritization to inform store teams on recommendations for merchandising, store layout, and more. Convenience and saving time are top priorities for consumers and they want tools that enable this.
For example, Kroger and Instacart—which announced 30 minute delivery to your door—are utilizing AI to better understand demand and forecasting, as well as help with planning. They’re partnering with companies like Anuit.AI to help expand offerings, SKU count availability, and ensure the freshness of groceries. Order accuracy is also a huge focus for grocers, becoming both an issue and an opportunity for building customer satisfaction and confidence. Progressive retailers are looking at systems to improve upon predicting outages and substitutions to better improve this metric.
More unexpected partnerships that enable convenience are on the horizon well, such as what Albertson’s announced with DoubleDash in partnership with restaurants. The use of voice is also seen as an underutilized opportunity that is gaining consideration, and we see a rise in successful grocers that are empowering the in-store associate with data.
In the argument to build more in-store experiences, proximity is still a motivator for consumers. Bloomberg cited that, as an established grocer, building more stores to increase consumer proximity is a tested and validated means to not only grow brick-and-mortar sales, but online sales as well. A store close to home is still seen as valuable even if the preferred channel is online delivery, and the cost of consumer preference is worth the price for multi-channel success.
Local is also important when it comes to products that are carried on shelves. Local, which is perceived as more sustainable than other products, including organic ones, offers the often true consumer perception that goods have not traveled as far, and therefore are both fresher and have a smaller carbon footprint. It’s a motivator for consumer decision-making and retailers are reviewing ways to surface suppliers, makers, and growers who are already in their supply chain.
It’s more important than ever that brands are standing behind a purpose, in addition to the products they sell. In order to garner customer loyalty, customers want to know you stand behind them, behind your staff, and behind your values.
Giving back to the local community—another growing trend in grocer brand promises—is favored 42% by Gen Z and Millennial consumers. Only 38% of consumers polled thought their grocer was giving back to the community.
A commitment to sustainability (action, not just words), a diverse selection of products, and inclusive accessibility are all at the top of the list when it comes to what consumers today are valuing from their grocers.
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Want to learn more? Find out what consumers expect from their grocers, both now and in the future, with our 2021 Grocery Consumer Insights Report.
In our constant curiosity and investigation of consumer behaviors and expectations, we utilize data insights to help uncover and validate where we can deliver true points of gratification within the customer journey. Here is a snapshot of key takeaways from our latest consumer survey. Our full deck with all our insights is available for download at the bottom of this preview.
The dynamic of modern grocery is kaleidoscopic, with its definition and experience being driven by today’s consumers and our ever-changing world. How can we create a holistic and accessible experience?
When industry leader 开市客 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.
虽然在美国的批发零售商那里购物是独一无二的，但在日本，中国，台湾和韩国这样的国家（在Costco Wholesale里度过一天可以成为目的地的家庭），体验可能会不同且新颖。范围的事件。 Costco和MG2团队认真分析并记录了每个地点的购物习惯，并考虑了容量控制，文化规范和社区偏好等变化。部门的设计旨在在商店内部进行调整，以适应地区口味，例如日本强大的寿司部门。
即使是脚印和集成技术也已本地化（移动坡道，电梯，增加停车位等等），可以确保熟悉的客户流和提升的用户体验，而这已成为一种非常流行的购物体验。
凭借我们对Costco项目知识的广度和深度以及数十年来与国家/地区经理的合作，MG2不断为特殊挑战（例如在开业后增加新部门）提供即时解决方案。根据每个地点的独特设计要求，我们的团队已与Costco Wholesale运营部门紧密合作，就每种结构的需求进行了标准化，以充分利用空间。除了简化我们的流程外，MG2还能够控制因国家/地区而异的软成本，从而确保没有任何项目超出预算。
我们的共生关系一直持续到今天，我们最新的项目利用突破性技术（例如VR演练）让高管在新地点开业之前查看楼层。随着Costco Wholesale在中国和其他地区的扩张计划不断壮大，MG2的设计不断突破界限，并彻底改变了亚洲的批发购物体验。
30多年前，我们与开市客（Costco Wholesale）的合作始于一个仓储式建筑。彼时，这个今日仓储零售业的引领者正忙于在广阔的乡村和郊区扎下根基。不过，随着该品牌越来越受欢迎，其业务范围扩展到城市社区，这为项目开发带来了更大的挑战和更多的限制条件。同时，开市客开始大胆地拓展产品范围，提供包括光学和听力中心、药房、加油站和新鲜优质的肉类、熟食和海鲜等各种产品和服务。随着项目相关的规范变得愈加复杂、要求愈发严格，需要有富有创意的设计方案加以应对，也需要一个了解他们的目标、赞同他们的价值观并有意与他们共同成长的敬业的合作伙伴，而他们的选择是MG2。
三十多年的发展，开市客在全球拥有了超过780个门店，MG2则是其延续至今的合作伙伴。我们之间的合作关系不论是在人员方面还是在专业层面都得到了发展提升。我们共同努力，优化建筑设计和交付、成本管理、授权服务、建筑资产管理和项目管理方面的组织效率。 MG2对开市客的需求会做预测，与其共同发展，随着时间的推移不断提升项目完成的速度和一致性。
有MG2作为业务版图拓展的合作伙伴，开市客优化了拓店流程，创建了白金级标准，树立起新的标杆：从施工启动到开业待客仅用110天。建筑设计中体现的“优质好价”的特质，不仅体现于开市客的产品和客户服务之中，也成为其品牌承诺的内在组成部分。
MG2每个月都会对开市客仓储建筑的原型设计进行更新变动，寻求创新方法实现升级和概念改进，同时保留敏捷的开发速度和高质量标准。
我们的合作关系超越了MG2所提供的资源深度和服务广度；我们与开市客的团队之间有着默契共识，共同推动这一广为人知的零售业巨轮不断前行。我们共同创造现代、清洁、安全且符合开市客交付质量标准的现代工业时代的零售环境。我们共同应对无数新的挑战，在携手同行中一次次从看似不可能的机遇中找到问题的解决方案。
在此过程中，我们对开市客的项目设计进行了优化，让其得以获取每年数以百万计的业务收益，同时继续帮助他们不断发展，拓展全球新的消费市场。
如今顾客逛商场期望能享受简单有趣而富有个性化的购物之旅。为了满足这一不断增长的需求，Nordstrom向MG2寻求咨询建议，对我们的团队而言也是一项挑战，要求我们为其Nordstrom Rack各个门店提供富有创意和灵活性的“未来百货店”的概念方案。
最终的设计方案为Nordstrom呈现出可信赖的新方案和优雅而大气的细节设计，包括具有冲击力的店内图示、标牌和凸显商品陈列的零售装置。MG2还设计了性别中立的试衣区和用户友好的收银区。这些成本中立的设计方案帮助Nordstrom实现为客户提供最佳的服务、选择，质量和价值的目标。
MG2 continues to work with Nordstrom in evolving the store planning and design of this concept, positively impacting the customer experience for over 50 locations across the US and Canada. The innovative design remains active today, helping consumers achieve their immediate goals while providing moments of delight.
秉持超越客户期望的共同信念，MG2和Target已携手合作了超过15年，完成了包括新建项目、适应性改造等各种项目。MG2已成功完成了遍布全美境内600多个门店设计，将店面原型设计方案因地制宜地实施到每一个项目之中，吸引更多新的顾客。
MG2升级改造的门店规模在8000多平米到13000平米之间，通过细致的项目监督和原型设计方案调整，在保有Target广受好评的品牌体验的同时，能够很好地融入本地特色元素。MG2与Target共同致力于打造让每位顾客都感到宾至如归和富有包容性的空间，为他们的购物之旅带来欢乐时刻。
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