Window Dressers Not Needed In Modern Shop

Press, Volume XCVII, Issue 28758, 2 December 1958, Page 18

Window Dressers Not Needed In Modern Shop

Window dressers are not needed for the new shop, of Drages Company, Ltd., for the whole ground floor becomes a shop window. This is one of the hew overseas ideas incorporated in the building after research on modern research display developments and services by the company architect for the building, Mr F. Miles Warren. The whole of the High street frontage of the building has been modernised. Gone is the old bullnosed veranda, and the building now is flush with the pavement and practically all glass. But the entrance way is recessed, and this is bound to be popular with bus travellers using the shop as it provides a shelter. Light wells have been filled in to provide added floor space, the staircase has been redesigned to give a modern sweeping effect, and a modern express lift has been installed. Pastel painted walls and ceilings form a soft background to the multi-coloured goods on display in the shop's three floors, and fluorescent lighting has been used to such effect that there is a bright daylight look about the shop.

A ground floor feature is assured of popularity with children. It is the centrepiece that greets visitors—a fountain which plays in several colours, and a goldfish pool. Boxes of flowers complete the display, which will be a permanent feature of the store. A new service provided by the company is a quick lunch and coffee bar on the ground floor. On the first .floor, which is also on the open display layout, unit bays around the walls permit kitchen, bedroom and lounge furniture to be displayed as suites or as they would appear in a room. The third storey is not yet completed, except for a modern carpet workroom for the employees, but plans are ready for its conversion. A powder bar has been provided for women shoppers, and in the office block there is a public telephone in the foyer. With an eye to the winter. Drages has installed infra-red gas heating throughout the modernised building.