UBookstore
Empowering a local bookstore to reimagine their business model and reclaim their real estate assets
Challenge
In the face of new competitors, changing technology, and a neighborhood in transition, one of the most successful college bookstores in the country—and one of the few who operates as an independent corporation—needed a new business model and help understanding the potential of their impressive real estate assets.
Research
The project kicked off with an intensive research and visioning phase to understand the business climate, the competition, and the bookstore itself. This phase included in-person observation, customer interviews, market and revenue analysis, and a visioning workshop with key stakeholders.
Ideate
Four potential business directions were crafted from the research and visioning session outcomes, each based on a neighborhood need and market trends. A corresponding development scenario with suggested uses for each parcel and rough architectural massing was created for each business direction.
Evaluate
Once presented with the development scenarios, the team worked with client stakeholders to draft a weighted scorecard with metrics inspired by the bookstore’s mission and values. These metrics allowed the team to evaluate the probability of success for each scenario and enabled the client to create a preferred scenario based on the highest performers in each category.
Empower
As long-time property owners but first-time developers, the project empowered the bookstore to make informed decisions about the future of their assets and advocate for those decisions.
In addition to the preferred scenario, a suite of simple diagrams and flowcharts were created to explain zoning restrictions, development possibilities, associated timelines and projected schedules. These graphics helped the client understand the complicated development process and allowed them to communicate these concepts clearly to the university’s trustees.
Ultimately, this project created a language around a complicated subject that the clients could understand and use to communicate in their own right.
Details
Location: Seattle, WA
Firm: B+H Advance Strategy
Year: 2017 - 2018
Skills + Programs
Presentation, Client Communication, Visual Communication, Presentation Design, Design Strategy, Diagramming, Code Research, 3D Modeling, InDesign, Illustrator, SketchUp
More projects
