An Enjoyable Shopping Experience
Developer: Merit Partners, LLC
Architecture/Design: Hirsch Associates
Location: 4000 West Diversey Avenue, Chicago
Project Type: Retail
Background
Cermak Fresh Market is a fast-growing regional grocery store with 14 locations in the Chicago and Milwaukee markets. Family-owned, the grocery chain specializes in providing fresh produce and meats, as well as ingredients prized by home cooks in Chicago’s immigrant communities.
In 2016, the grocer opened a 70,000-square-foot store that anchors The Fields, a 1.5 million-square-foot redevelopment on the Northwest side of Chicago. The buildings that make up The Fields were originally built in 1928 as a warehouse for the Olsen Rug factory. Marshall Field’s purchased the warehouse in 1965 for its own warehouse needs. Macy’s acquired Marshall Field’s in 2005, and the location was closed in 2008. 4K Diversey Partners bought it in 2014 with a vision to create a mixed-use development centered on a live-work concept.
Challenge
The space that Cermak Fresh Market occupies is located on the ground floor on one corner of The Fields complex. A section of its roof is a single story sandwiched in between two five-story sections. The original building included ridge-style skylights to bring in light into what would otherwise be an incredibly dark space. These old skylights were in bad condition: discolored glass, rust, broken seals, energy inefficient and cumbersome hand-crank functionality.
The Cermak Fresh Market team wanted to include skylights in the design to provide natural light in the space, but they also had a budget and renovation timeline to meet.
Solution: VELUX Modular Skylights (VMS)
VELUX supplied two VELUX Modular Skylights solutions to incorporate natural light into the space both on time and on budget. VELUX 5-Star Skylight Specialist Houseworks Daylighting Solutions replaced four existing ridge-style skylights with VELUX Ridgelights 25-40 and an old single-slope, structural skylight with a VELUX Longlight. The VELUX Ridgelight 25-40 is a classic looking skylight solution consisting of two rows of self-supporting skylights that add natural light and openness to the areas below. It’s mounted on standard steel profiles that enables a fast installation and a safe, economical building process. The VELUX Longlight 5-25 is a single series of Modular Skylights ideal for adding natural light to larger room, corridors and hallways. It has a low-pitch design for flat roofs where a low profile is preferred. The longlight also features plug-and-play installation that saves time.
Mid-winter installation? No problem.
Houseworks Daylighting Solutions lead installer Matt Allison was impressed with the adaptability of the VMS product for cold weather installation. They staged the product on the roof in a single day and even worked while it was snowing.
“We are pretty used to working in the cold; it’s part of what we do in Chicago,” Allison said. “Having no sealants to worry about was a plus. As a result, we set 38 modules on a day that it snowed. We couldn’t have done that with other products, especially if silicone would have been required. The use of a pre-engineered modular skylight system allowed us to come in under budget and our customer was very pleased.”
The overall quality of this product is impressive” Allison said. “It’s designed for the Midwest with hot humid summers and cold, wet winters. A product that will stand up to conditions and can be installed in almost any weather gives us and our customers peace of mind that you can’t put a price tag on.
Skylight modules are mounted on a patented system of steel plates on the curbs, making installation quick and simple.
A bright, happy store
Cermak Market’s skylights make for a unique shopping experience not found at other stores. Updating the skylights creates a pleasant shopping experience for customers and working environment for store employees.
Employees said they like having a bright store to work in during the day, adding that it lifts their moods.
“I notice that I smile a lot more at customers when I’m stocking the isles where the skylights are located,” one employee said.
Others noted that customers talk about the light the skylights bring into the store.
“Customers comment all the time how it’s so nice we have skylights in the store,” another store worker said. “They even notice when it’s overcast and rainy.”