When Bob Lowe, principal of Arrowstreet, sees a storefront, he doesn’t think about the clothes or shoes on display.
Instead, the design architect — who mocks up snazzy storefront renderings for owners and brokers to attract tenants — thinks about how to make both the merchandise and facade pop.
Already Lowe’s Boston-based visioning, branding and design firm has made an impact along the streets of New York with projects for buildings housing brands like H&M, Zara, Hollister and Victoria’s Secret.
For one, Lowe worked with brokers and the retail ownership at 666 Fifth Ave. for two years prior to Uniqlo’s entry to the property.
“What would bring the space to life and contribute to … and enliven that part of Fifth Avenue?” Lowe recalls thinking. He produced not just a few sketches but rather 70 or 80 versions of the corner of 53rd Street. “The brokers find it helpful to show the tenant what the space can look like,” Lowe explains. “And the owners tend to learn from that.”
Before a tenant is even locked down, his company looks at creative ideas for any given vacant space.
“We start imagining the brand and identity, and how we can convey it to make the property [attractive to a brand],” Lowe notes. Providing retailers with conceptual images helps them envision their spaces from the street and entices them to sign leases.
At 589 Fifth Ave., one of the proposals they devised for the brokers and owner included how its retail space would look for H&M. A few months later, Lowe got a call that he would be working with H&M’s Stockholm team — the fast-fashion giant had indeed decided to lease the space.
He has worked at 717 Fifth for billionaire developer Jeff Sutton with the Cushman & Wakefield team, targeting high-end automotive and luxury tenants.
“I’ve worked with Bob on several assignments, with the most notable being the retail at 1880 Broadway at the base of 15 Central Park West and, more recently, Millennium Tower Boston, which is the former historic Filene’s Department Store,” says Gene Spiegelman, vice chairman at Cushman & Wakefield. “Bob is one of the most effective talents in design and marketing — through photo-realism techniques — for complex high-profile urban retail space.”
In Soho, Arrowstreet transformed a building with a sombrero on its front —literally! — that had housed Mexican restaurant Gonzalez y Gonzalez. Lowe created a rendering of the façade with a cleaner look focused on a luxe retailer. Later, Chipotle to leased the spiffed-up spot.
A former furniture maker interested in art who trained in architecture and mechanical engineering, Lowe is also involved in actually making dramatic changes, not just dreaming them up.
“I can ask the right questions — whether we can move these columns or cut a hole in the floor — and then translate that into real architecture,” he says.
Lowe believes in using multiple layers of glass. One layer can be reflective and appear black during daylight hours. “Good lighting consultants and displays are worth the [investment],” he says. Retailers’ displays must be protected from sunlight.
Newer storefronts are also integrating sustainability with technology. Lowe gets helps select the best lighting to both keep costs down and make maintenance easy.
Many retailers are using large-screen digital displays. While expensive, the technology is becoming more affordable, Lowe says.
Arrowstreet will often create renderings to get all the parties excited about the many possibilities, but Lowe warns that they are merely a starting point. “No one gets into it thinking it will all go as planned,” he says. “It is for us to learn about the process and what is important to the various stakeholders.”