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Under Armour boosts customer experience with digital signage in new Chicago store

Athletic apparel and gear retailer Under Armour recently opened the doors of its newest specialty retail location on Chicago's Magnificent Mile – and the new space is a high-tech wonderland.

April 17, 2015 by Christopher Hall — w, t

Athletic apparel and gear brand Under Armour has moved into Chicago, recently opening newest specialty "Brand House" on the city's iconic Magnificent Mile retail corridor. According to Under Armour, "with a focus on cutting-edge products and design, the Chicago Brand House will serve as a stunning example of the brand's commitment to offering customers a superior shopping experience."

"Opening a Brand House on Chicago's Magnificent Mile allows us to establish Under Armour's presence in one of the most vibrant and iconic shopping destinations around the globe," said Susie McCabe, the athletics company's senior vice president of global retail, in an announcement. "The Under Armour Chicago Brand House will be our largest retail location in the world, highlighting our commitment to innovation while providing consumers with an elevated experience when shopping for apparel and footwear, as well as digital devices and wearables."

The Chicago Brand House features nearly 30,000 square feet of interactive retail space and delivers a fully immersive brand experience, telling the brand story through digital displays designed to inform and inspire visitors. The brand partnered with AV systems designer, fabricator and installer Activate The Space to integrate digital signage and digital design elements for the store in Activate The Space's largest retail store project to date. The new location features five digital design elements created by the firm.

Under Armour's newest store will feature two floors of the brand's newest innovations across various product categories, including outdoor, team sports, training, running, golf, studio, youth and footwear. Chicago's Brand House is also the first to offer specialized shops for UA Hunt and UA Fish, featuring technical apparel and footwear for this audience.

Serving as a retail hub for the Under Armour Connected Fitness platform, the Chicago Brand House also holds the brand's first-ever "wearables bar," offering a range of intelligent fitness devices from brands such as Garmin, Pebble and Misfit, with others to be added in the near future. These activity trackers and sports watches will all integrate with UA Record, the brand's comprehensive health and fitness network "dedicated to changing the way all athletes train, perform and live."

Under Armour's newest specialty retail location also reinforces the brand's connection to Chicago and the surrounding areas. A large living wall inspired by the Wrigley Field ivy will be a focal point within the space, and the Brand House will also offer localized Chicago apparel that celebrates the legacy of the city in both sport and style. Under Armour has existing partnerships with iconic local athletic institutions, including the Chicago Cubs, University of Notre Dame and Northwestern University.

As part of that brand experience, Activate The Space created five distinct digital design elements for the Brand House:

1) Five-sided suspended LED cube - The five-sided LED structure was built with custom-made LED modules allowing for less than 3 mm on its edges, making it nearly on all five sides, according to Activate The Space. The Cube is suspended from the ceiling over the escalators approximately 24 feet from the first floor, and features 725 square feet of surface area.

2) 30-foot diameter LED ceiling structure - The 30-foot diameter ceiling structure LED also was made with custom LED modules. The LED Ceiling is suspended from the ceiling over the first-floor rotunda 50 feet in the air, and it features a 706-square-foot surface, a 30-foot diameter and a 94-foot circumference.

3) 30-foot diameter ring structure LED - The 30-foot ring structure LED, also of custom-made LED modules, is suspended between the floors in the entrance rotunda. The 94-foot in circumference display features 366 square feet of surface.

4) Optojump Interactive Experience - Activate The Space developed custom software to interpret the light sensors built into the Optojump to measure and display the height a person jumps, according to the company. It allows shoppers to register their score and receive an email about their experience, and the custom software was integrated with Activate The Space's ~sedna presenter CMS. The firm provided all of the systems required, including a 46-inch 3M touchscreen display, an Apple Mac mini and the custom software.

5) Under Armour Record Kiosks - Activate The Space said it integrated ~sedna presenter onto Mac minis to retrieve screen data and run attraction loops from mobile devices running the UA Record app. 

All images courtesy of Activate The Space.

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