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Grafton, store debate logos: Village, Best Buy battle over placement of signs at proposed site off Highway 60(Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, The (KRT) Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) Aug. 26--GRAFTON -- Best Buy and Grafton are battling over the company's plans to build a store in the village that would have the company's logo -- a yellow price tag sign -- on display and a 38-foot-high blue wedge at the store's entrance. Grafton, a magnet for new commercial development near the I-43/Highway 60 interchange in recent months, seems to have begun experiencing growing pains. Menards announced last week that it had dropped plans to build a warehouse store at the east end of Grafton because the company claimed village officials had insisted on too many changes in the company's plans. Village officials also want changes in Best Buy's plans. At a meeting of the Grafton Architectural Review Board Aug. 9, Grafton planning staff members described the modifications to the architecture of the planned Best Buy store as "too eccentric in style." Grafton Village Administrator Darrell Hofland said last week that: "They want to have a blue boomerang near the front entrance, and the Review Board doesn't like it. The Review Board members recommended that the boomerang shape be altered to fit the rest of the tenant buildings." The Best Buy store is to be in the center of Grafton Commons, a new shopping complex at the northwest corner of I-43 and Highway 60, which is anchored by a Costco Wholesale Corp. store. The village staff concluded that, "This latest architectural and signage plan for Best Buy is not acceptable and is not at a level consistent with the standard of Grafton Commons or the recent development on the village's east side." Common clash A Best Buy official said it was not unusual for a national company to have design differences with local communities. The company is planning to open 100 stores next year throughout the country, including a Grafton store. Only two Best Buy stores in metropolitan Milwaukee -- one in Fox Point and one in Delafield -- do not have a blue wedge at the front of their stores, said Brendon Stuckey, Best Buy's architectural project manager for the Midwest. "The difficulty that all retailers have is being able to establish their nationally recognized brand identity in a local market," he said. When it comes to design standards, Stuckey said Grafton is not entirely different from many other communities, "but it is safe to say Grafton has more stringent requirements than do most communities." Logo debate At the Review Board meeting, Stuckey said Best Buy must retain its brand identity, and that this was a must for the Grafton site, according to the meeting minutes. He also said the yellow price tag logo sign cannot change because it is integral to Best Buy's identity. Thomas Bartlein, a Review Board member, said the Best Buy store in Fox Point has a wall sign similar to what Grafton expects without the price tag logo, and why Best Buy couldn't use the same type of sign in Grafton? "The Fox Point store hasn't done as well because people haven't been able to identify it with Best Buy," Stuckey said. But Michael Rambousek, Grafton's planning and development director told Stuckey that he must recognize how important it is that Grafton Commons looks acceptable. The road improvements Grafton made for Grafton Commons were a significant financial investment, Rambousek said. Stuckey said last week Best Buy still hopes to locate in Grafton. To see more of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.jsonline.com. Copyright (c) 2007, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email [email protected], call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA. |