Disney’s Doorway to Dreams Opens in Illinois
Disney’s Doorway to Dreams, a prototype store offering memberships to their vacation clubs, opened recently to great fanfare at Woodfield Mall in Schaumburg, Ill. Visitors to the mall are sure to take notice to take notice of the giant Mickey Mouse ears and colorful acrylic clouds that CSSI built and installed on the store’s facade.

To fulfill the designer’s vision of a glassless storefront, there are no obvious doors or windows. Instead, Chicago Scenic provided rails that hold acrylic doors that can be shut when the store is closed. CSSI also built the storefront’s display of six hanging graphic frames, two of which house plasma screens.

Inside the store, Chicago Scenic added fiberoptic lights to the large map that highlights Disney’s 300 worldwide vacation spots.

Racetrack kicks new store’s excitement into high gear
As part of an ongoing relationship, architectural firm Gensler brought in Chicago Scenic to inject excitement into a unique interactive retail store chain.

The new chain, Raceline Motorworks, is much more than just a retail store that sells and races remote-control cars. They also encourage kids (and adults too!) to upgrade their vehicles for a customized racing experience. Chicago Scenic recognized immediately that it is the racetrack that should be heavily featured so customers see it as soon as they enter the store. To achieve this, the track was angled to provide the most dynamic positioning possible. The custom racetrack was recently installed at Raceline’s flagship store in a suburb of Milwaukee, Wis.

Working with Gensler and Raceline, Jeff Bartle, CSSI’s director of creative development, designed a 1,000-square-foot traditional curving race track. Those seeking an extra challenge can transition their cars from the racetrack to the off road space in the middle of the track that tests racers’ skills in taking on obstacles in their path.

In the future, Raceline’s tracks will feature flexible components that will make every visit unique. This will be achieved through panels that drop onto the track to create ramps, bumps and other obstacles.

Raceline Motorworks plans to open an additional 100 retail outlets nationwide in the next five years, so CSSI designed a system of standard racetrack elements, patterns and molds that will speed up future construction of the chain’s signature element.

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