Chicago’s Sweet Pop-up Adventure

The challenge: Create an 8-room adventure for kids and adults that spans 30,000 sq. ft. over three floors on Chicago’s North Michigan Avenue.

The experience needs to include a larger-than-life toy box, a zipline, and a huge ball pit that covered nearly an entire floor. Where to begin?

That’s the question that the folks at Candytopia faced recently when planning the recent Toys “R” Us Adventure experience in Chicago. They came to Chicago Scenic for a “one-stop shop” collaboration on a complex event installation.

From the start, the Experience needed to be up and running in under five weeks. When it was completed, the high-energy experience featured rooms of interactive play for kids and adults alike, a contemporary “museum” of toys, and a retail store.

According to Jim Mallerdino, Chicago Scenic’s senior project manager, Chicago Scenic was the best choice because the project required a wide variety of trades for a successful installation—from electricians to carpenters, project managers to safety riggers.

“What Candytopia got when they hired Chicago Scenic was a single team comprised of members who had experience across a wide range of trades,” said Mallerdino. “We came in, organized the project, and got to work immediately”.

Steve Hemphill was Chicago Scenic’s project lead on the Candytopia work. “This project really pushed our creativity”, said Hemphill. “We needed to think on our feet and work on the fly to meet the tight deadline and with a high quality product,” he added.

The Toys “R” Us Adventure was a big success and generated lots of social media raves—including: “A
great place for the whole family!”, “I felt the inner kid in me come out for sure”, and “It was awesome!”

#ToysRUsAdventure

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