Fort Wayne, IN – Do it Best Corp. is re-energizing its store environments to better reflect the needs of today’s consumers. On May 20, at their bi-annual buying market in Indianapolis, the company launched an innovative strategy—the Signature™ Store Design Program—for new construction and retrofits, that takes the customer experience to a new level while reinforcing the quality-service orientation of Do it Best Corp. members.

“The Signature™ Store Design Program works on a number of different levels to improve store performance. It delivers on the consumer’s increased demand for style and convenience and offers members the opportunity to highlight their local brand, product expertise and service reputation,” explained Bill Zielke, vice president of marketing & international development. 

Do it Best Corp. selected Design Forum, one of the nation’s top retail design firms, to work with them on the project. The new design has an upbeat ambience and contemporary flair, enhanced by updated graphics, maximum-impact displays and an improved layout that provides a more accessible and focused shopping environment.  It redefines the customer experience in a way that creates new opportunities for Do it Best Corp. members and allows them to capitalize on changing demographics, such as the growing numbers of women shopping the home improvement and hardware categories.

The program also provides signature brand tools that are flexible enough to allow local members to showcase their own personality.  The design team leveraged current Do it Best brand icons and incorporated them into the program, creating an aesthetic design that is true to the values of the company and also relevant to today’s marketplace and the needs of individual members.  Those needs can vary greatly so the store design program incorporates three separate branding strategies:

• Do it Center® (fully-branded stores with a level of consistency across all locations)
• Do it Best® (co-branded, with more flexibility for the member-store)
• member-branded stores (trades mainly on the equity of the individual member’s name and offers the maximum flexibility)

The three formats allow the retailer to accommodate a wide variety of footprints and to deliver local solutions to targeted audiences.  Members can tap into the economies of scale and other benefits typically associated with a chain operation even as they maintain their neighborhood feel.

The Signature Store Design Program, built on best business practices, reflects the Do it Best branding strategy. It is a coordinated approach with three distinct pathways, one for each retail format.  Colors, materials, fixtures and other details can vary across the three, but the end result is the same: a more visually-integrated and updated store environment, one that allows for more dynamic merchandise presentations, improved communications and better traffic flow.   “We developed the new store design program as a flexible kit of parts that can be adapted to the specific member needs, accommodating different store layouts and specific marketplaces,” Zielke said. “It is not a cookie-cutter design.”

With 4,100 independently-owned stores nationwide, there is a great deal of variation across the Do it Best retail portfolio. Members in all three formats can dial the new design up or down to meet the needs of their target market.  In some instances, customized options are also available.  “The Signature program was designed with flexible elements,” Zielke said.  “It is ‘controlled customization,’ provided to meet the needs of the diverse base of Do it Best stores.”