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, a billion-dollar company based in China, hired to take its retail stores to the next level.

Four new 鈥渟uperstores鈥� 鈥� in Beijing, Nanjing, Shanghai and Guangzhou 鈥� now mimic large appliance stores in the United States. The decision to follow an American model rather than an Asian one was not easy, according to Craig Davenport, a principal with MulvannyG2.

鈥淭here was a lot of arguing about it,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e were working with a company that wasn’t quite sure what it wanted to do yet. Part of the process was trying to narrow down what direction they wanted to take.鈥�

Two options existed: the Japanese example, with little space and a lot of signage (similar to large markets); or the American (Sears) one, with organized areas and designated floors.

Suning officials decided to go with the latter, because it would give customers a more balanced and ordered shopping experience, which the company hoped to achieve with the new stores, Davenport said.

鈥淚t used to be where they would provide the shell space, and then companies like Samsung would come in and build their own corner,鈥� he said. 鈥淵ou’d have to go from store to store to compare. The new option is to get away from that and bring it all together so that it’s more run by the Suning employees.鈥�

All four stores are in downtown areas. Three of them are six stories, and the store in Nanjing has approximately 107,000 square feet.

The stores have similar designs: multiple levels surround an atrium in the middle. Escalators were installed throughout the buildings.

MulvannyG2 had only a few months to design the buildings because Suning wanted to open them in time for the Chinese holiday season.

鈥淭he schedule became the most difficult thing for us,鈥� Davenport said. 鈥淭here were a lot of things we wanted to do that we couldn’t do on these first four stores.鈥�

MulvannyG2 is hoping to work again with Suning. It’s planning to build 16 additional stores in the near future, and may eventually build hundreds more across the country.

鈥淭his process of going back and reflecting on what worked and didn’t work is very natural to us,鈥� Davenport said. 鈥淲e hope to do the same with them in China.鈥�

鈥淥n the Boards鈥� is a weekly feature that spotlights local firms’ best design work. Submissions from architectural and engineering firms are encouraged. Please call 503-802-7240 or email [email protected].