A Retail Experience

Jordan Brand Station 23

Flagship Store & Event Space

32 South State Street, Chicago, IL

About Jordan Brand & Their Project

As you likely know, Jordan Brand is one of the premier athletic apparel companies in the world. Station 23 was to become the Jordan Brand Chicago flagship store and event space. In Summer of 2015 SPL was brought in as an AV consultant and contractor.

Above all, they wanted a better way to control their existing infrastructure. Paramount to us were their technical needs including state-of-the-art lighting, video, and sound controls. Finally, was their request for a tremendous roll down screen for their 3rd floor event and demo space. 

SPL was proud to be the AV integrator, and installer for Jordan Brand’s Station 23. Below we detail the challenges, solutions, and results of this project.

The Challenge

A big initial challenge of this store in downtown Chicago was working within this confined space in the heart of the city. When Jordan Brand decided they wanted a 25ft motorized roll down screen up in the third floor demo area, we knew immediately this would be a difficult task. The screen itself arrives on site in a 300lb box that is a little over 25’ long. 

Along with the technical challenges of getting the gear in place, there is also the process of selecting the right gear. For several reasons, we had to be very diligent in selecting the right equipment. 

First, there is the fact that this is ultimately a storefront and the products must look good. This means controlling brightness and even lighting across all display areas is crucial. In order for brand standards to be met, we had to carefully assess the space and the lighting control systems we installed. 

Secondly, particularly for the upstairs demo area with the basketball court we had to select equipment that was robust enough to take a hit from a basketball. We would have to tap into our experience installing gymnasium AV systems as well as providing production for professional sporting events. 

Providing this singular control system with touchscreens for the store staff to operate. With multiple floors and different space’s needs for lighting, video, and sound, this would be a big job. 

Our Solution

As with all of our projects where we are the av installer, we created many different solutions to complete this. Our chief innovation for this project was our software and hardware adaptation of the QSC Q-SYS Core technology. We also utilized a Kramer system for all of the video control.

These integrations allowed us to make a comprehensive yet easy to use platform for store employees. They could walk into their shift, go over to the touch screen device, and from that single location alter the colors of the lighting, the video on the screens, and the music volume in the space.

For the demo area we installed wireless racks for the presenter microphones, input jacks for devices, and all of the networking tech to integrate it into our main control system. We integrated seamlessly with the previously installed equipment and worked together with the store staff to make sure the control systems were easy to operate.
When it came to the giant screen getting up to the third floor, our onsite manager reviewed the space and did the math and they came up with an ingenious solution.
The team ended up using three chain hoists to thread the long heavy box up the center of the stairwell. Upon reaching the third floor, the techs simply leveled it out and lowered it down to the ground. Then they simply raised it up, hung it in place, and plugged it in. A big reason inner city installations are so difficult is because it is so hard at times to get gear into the area where it’s going to be installed.

This was a huge undertaking with many different moving pieces and we provided everything Nike requested and more!

The Results

We are so proud of how this installation for the Jordan Brand Station 23 store turned out. Our team worked closely with them and their building management to make sure everything was up to code and looked and sounded top notch. This was the culmination of many facets of our institutional knowledge. We had to tap into our sporting event AV, gymnasium installation, commercial AV installation and more to get this completed.

Jordan Brand was thrilled with the results and have used the space for countless events as well as day to day operations. They have reported no issues with the system and their staff loves the turn-key operation.

As a cool side note for film buffs, Shortly after the updates were finished, Jordan Brand hosted a special event with Michael B. Jordan in the space. It was part of a training series he did in New York, LA, and Chicago. We are always overjoyed when our AV Installations get utilized in creative and engaging ways and what better way than with a big movie star!

We are grateful to everyone at Jordan Brand Station 23 and Jordan Brand’s corporate team who gave us this opportunity and we look forward to supporting them in the future!

You’ll be in good company

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Michael B. Jordan x Michael Air Jordan Creed Event

The Jordan Brand extended its partnership with Warner Brothers and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, celebrating the upcoming release of the motion picture “Creed” by offering exclusive training experiences to young athletes. “Creed” star Michael B. Jordan led the sessions in New York City, Los Angeles and Chicago’s Nike Chicago location. The experiences mirrored aspects of the star’s intense preparation for the film, which included regular boxing workout sessions and countless hours in the weight room.

We had, of course, installed the permanent system for the space but were now tasked with amping it up for the big event.

It is activations like this one that make our job so rewarding. We got to interact with some incredible people and make the space come alive for them. Beyond meeting the star studded however, it is our passion and expertise for making every moment special that makes us a great partner. Every lighting cue, every color and sound, we make your events and installations polished and impactful.

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Michael B. Jordan Event Photo

Michael B. Jordan worked with students in a training session as a part of a series between New York, LA, and Chicago.

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INTEGRATED DESIGN STRATEGY

Our User First Mentality

The user experience always comes first when we’re thinking of how to develop the interfaces we implement. It was no different with the Jordan Store. There were a number of things when we were brought in that needed to be changed in order to accomodate the team who would be running the day to day operations and events in the store. When we first arrived the system was maxed out, that is to say, there was no way to expand or add to the system. We fixed this by digitizing the control interfaces. We also changed out old audio mixers with knobs and faders in favor of touchscreen surfaces. 

Along with the networking jacks we installed around the spaces, we made it so they could control not only the audio but the video and lighting all on the surfaces we installed. A cool addition was for them to be able to control not only the screens in the event space upstairs but the TVs on the sales floor downstairs. From a user interface perspective, this interconnectivity made managing and operating the store a breeze.

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INTEGRATED DESIGN STRATEGY

When AV Installations and Live Events Meet

It is sometimes the case that when we work with a client, whether in AV installation or live events, we have cross over between our two business units. This is a perfect example of how we helped this client grow, build, and tell their story. 

 We were initially providing AV for dozens of live events at this location. As time went on, and they saw our exemplary work, we began consulting with them as to how they could upgrade their space further. Ultimately, we helped them upgrade their space to the point that they could produce full event AV coverage without needing to hire us to bring extra equipment. This is exactly why our clients come back to us and trust us with their AV needs. Even though we may be missing those dozens of events, we helped them become a self-sustaining AV space. That is what SPL does, we help our clients grow their brand, build their business, and tell their story.

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