Converse found a perfect fit when it sought to renovate its Manhattan flagship store. It was imperative that the store have as little downtime as possible, and Schimenti Construction delivered a solution tailor made for the iconic sneaker retailer. After only one month of shutdown, Converse SoHo is opening in a landmark building at 560 Broadway.
To keep interruption to the 15,500-square-foot store’s operation to a minimum, the project was broken into nine phases. Phases one through seven have now been completed, and the final two phases, which will expand the storefront by 50 linear feet, are set to be completed by late 2016.

During the one-month closure, the 8,000-square-foot ground floor sales area was renovated to match the earlier phased expansion into the cellar space that highlights the Converse Blank Canvas Customization Workshop. This new customization area that allows shoppers to create one-of-a-kind Chuck Taylors in about an hour. This area features large-format printers capable of printing directly on shoes and industrial-size ovens to bake the printed images into the material.

Other distinctive details of the renovation include a glass and blackened steel elevator shaft; a blackened steel staircase; metal mesh ceiling panels and enclosures; and a new polished concrete floor custom blended to match the 100-year-old existing floor. Schimenti Construction also repurposed the building’s original timber joists to create reclaimed wood paneling. In addition to the work done on the ground floor, another 6,500 square feet of sales and storage space was created in the cellar.

“Because the building is also currently under renovation by the landlord, this project required tight coordination between their construction scheduling and ours,” said Rob Crusan, Schimenti Construction project manager. “Our whole team worked hard to complete this first part of the project with minimal interruption to Converse.”

Crusan was joined on the Schimenti Construction team by Superintendents Mike Georgakis, Bill Caracciolo and Adam Mical; and Project Coordinator JoAnn Marano. TPG Architecture was the architect and Converse project management was represented by the Mace Group.