A fashion industry icon was opening a New York flagship store and launching a new line of clothing for women. Only a massive video wall of Sharp professional displays inside the store could captivate shoppers on a busy Manhattan street.

Business Environment Challenges

When a well-known fashion design company was opening its first-ever flagship department store in bustling Midtown Manhattan, it needed something special to make it stand apart from its former 35,000-square-foot location.

The store features its first-ever line of women’s clothing. For many years, the company only designed fashionable business suits for women, and never the sporty, signature look of its brand. The women’s line occupies two of its three floors and the company needed an eye-catching way to raise awareness of its latest fashion line. Located among a sea of highly competitive megabrand stores on Fifth Avenue, it was necessary to grab the attention away from competition in the tourist-heavy locale.

Business Technology Solutions

The fashion company built a two-story video wall on the second and third floors, facing a busy Manhattan street. They hired Media Services Worldwide, a company that designs, specifies and installs multi-media environments, to build an impressive 3x7 wall of 60” Class (60” diagonal) Sharp PN-V601A professional displays. The total size of the video wall is 180” wide by 420” high (15’ x 35’).

Content is displayed 24/7/365, showing video of runway models donning the latest in the company’s fashion. The video wall also has the ability to display announcements for special events and live feeds when needed. Speakers in the store’s foyer are able to be synchronized to the video wall, creating an immersive experience for shoppers.

“It was one of the most challenging installations we’ve ever accomplished,” said Media Services Worldwide Director of Technology Garry Darvin. “Since the screens were on the second and third floors, everything was done from the bottom floor. There was no room for scaffolding, so the entire video wall had to be put up one piece at a time with a bucket lift. Custom-designed pullout mounts were specially created for the video wall.”

Innovative Results

Prior to opening, the store received a special visit from its world-famous owner. “He was so amazed by the video wall that he wanted more video elements to be installed before the store opened to the public,” says Darvin. Upon the owner’s order, an additional 3x2 video wall of Sharp PN-V601A displays were added on the third floor behind the checkout stations, showing different content than the main video wall. This video wall was designed to reinforce the brand through video of active scenery and people (i.e., rowing canoes or enjoying music), while wearing the store’s clothing.

Two additional Sharp professional displays were also installed at the store.

A Sharp 70” Class (69.5” diagonal) PN-R703 display was installed in a 1940s-style restaurant and pub in the basement level. The restaurant and pub resemble a private club and use the display to show sporting events on special occasions. A one-way mirror was mounted in front of the display to keep it inconspicuous when not in use.

A Sharp 55” Class (54.7” diagonal) PN-U553 display was added to the Accessories Department on the third floor. It showcases women’s accessories and handbags in real world settings.

With the success of the video wall and other professional displays around the store in New York, Media Services Worldwide installed video walls and other professional displays in the company’s four newest stores and is continuing the rollout globally.