RetailX Closeup - June 2019 - RX6

Exhibitor Highlights
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Photo by GAMMA COMMERCIAL PHOTOGRAPHY

Ceilume Panels Part of New Taco Bell Design Concepts

EILING PANELS FROM
Graton, Calif.-based Ceilume
are a part of the décor in Taco
Bell's new flagship Cantina
in Las Vegas. The two-story
restaurant is a far-cry from the traditional fastfood location, featuring a large central atrium,
music and, of course, a wedding chapel.
The second-floor wedding chapel is
more brightly lit than the dining room with
flatscreens on the side walls, and an enormous backlit graphic at the far end of the
room with the company's logo portrayed as
wedding bells. Ceilume's decorative ceiling

panels are relatively low and prominent-a
field of elegant white coffers that add notes
of formality and elegance, like the icing on
a wedding cake.
The Las Vegas Cantina is one of an
emerging group of Taco Bell locations that
is transforming the customer experience of
the international chain.
Taco Bell has debuted four new design
concepts that are being rolled out across the
country. One architectural enhancement
that unifies the four designs is ceilings
made of Ceilume thermoformed panels.
The Heritage concept store features

warm white walls and a coffered ceiling
made with latte- and black-colored Stratford Ceilume panels. The concept takes
its inspiration from the Spanish Mission
architectural motifs used by earlier generations of the chain's restaurants.
The Modern Explorer also uses the
latte- and black-colored panels in a concept
inspired by the farm-to-table movement
that features an open kitchen and woodgrained furniture.
The California Sol theme uses the same
style of panels, but in a bright white that
expresses daylight.
In the Urban Edge design, black and latte
ceiling panels are used to create an image
that Taco Bell says "is reflective of international high-street style and is inspired by
timeless design married with cutting-edge
urban sensibility."
The thermoformed, rigid vinyl ceiling
panels used by Taco Bell are durable, recyclable and Greenguard Gold certified
for indoor air quality, factors that help the
brand meet the environmental goals of parent company YUM! Brands.
Visit Ceilume at GlobalShop @ RetailX, Booth 4072.

Retail's Fifth Wall

GROWING TREND in retail
design is using the ceiling as an
additional space to interact and
engage with the customer. Lighting has
an overall impact to the store's ambience.
Canadian signage and graphics company
McRae Imaging recently installed a "skylight" unit for a client.
The company says, "A high-profile client
wanted to create a visual effect of a large
skylight using fabric lightboxes. The request
was for the 'skylights' to look like broad
daylight. [McRae] built the lightboxes as
requested and installed them into the space.
The vice president project lead loved the

look, but felt like he was more of a 'cocktail
hour' kind of guy. [McRae] took this feedback, went back to the shop, did all the light
measurements necessary to give this effect
for the store. They built the lights in-house
to the new specifications and installed
[them] within a week."
"Cloud" ceiling lightboxes have been
seen in car dealerships located in the malls.
The full-car-length lightbox hovers over
the car and provides perfect brightness and
intensity on the new car below. The ceiling clouds also can be dimmed to create a
different ambience. This is not possible for
most lightbox companies, but McRae is

Closeup | The intersection of e-commerce, store design and innovation.

able to test for brightness and color, create
and then build the lights all in-house with
little import requirements.
"Be innovative when it comes to incorporating your ceiling into another area of
design. Do not be afraid to step out of the
box, because being bold can be just what
your store needs to draw in customers," the
company says.
Visit McRae Imaging at GlobalShop @ RetailX,
Booth 5107.

RetailX Closeup - June 2019

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