M&M’S® Store

When M&M’S WORLD® New York opened in Times Square, the Big Apple was treated to a display of sights, sounds and colors. As one of the world’s best known brands, M&M’S® looked to outdo itself with this fully interactive and colorful entertainment store. The centerpiece of this sensory extravaganza is the “Make-Your-Mix” Color Mood Analyzer, a unique high-tech display designed to match a visitor’s personality to one of the hundreds of specialty M&M’S® colors. To help achieve a fun and dynamic look representative of the M&M’S® brand, award-winning retail design agency Chute Gerdeman Retail (Columbus, OH) chose to create the analyzer with the Confetti pattern from the Sterling Collection of ACRYLITE® acrylic sheet, a reflective metallic-looking product from Evonik Cyro LLC (Parsippany, NJ). Specializing in the creation of retail environments with a high level of sensory perception, Chute Gerdeman is no stranger to M&M’S World® stores. In 2005, the company designed an M&M’S®-themed location in Orlando, FL, which was awarded top honors in Chain Store Age’s Store of The Year retail design competition. Due to the prime location and layout of the New York store, Chute Gerdeman wanted to take the M&M’S® retail experience to the next level. The company conceptualized a flashy, high-energy environment that would serve as a 3-D expression of the colors of the M&M’S® product line. To achieve an interactive atmosphere truly reflective of the vitality of New York City, Chute Gerdeman developed the “Make-Your-Mix” Color Mood Analyzer as a main store attraction. Installed on a structural column on the second floor of the store, the color mood analyzer is designed to allow visitors to determine which M&M’S® color best fits their personality. Equipped with a digital scanning tool, the analyzer scans the participant’s body, projecting their video image onto a large screen. After a few seconds of flashing lights and sounds, the analyzer displays the person’s customized M&M’S® color, complete with a witty statement about their personality. Occupying 24,000 square feet of space over three levels on the bustling corner of 48th Street and Broadway, the exterior of the M&M’S World® New York store is comprised of three 40-ft high glass walls. Due to the high visibility of the store interior, Chute Gerdeman needed a material to fabricate the color mood analyzer that would not only compliment the store atmosphere but would also attract visitors from the outside. “In essence, the interior becomes the storefront, and we needed to create a lot of visual excitement,” commented Brian Shafley, President and Creative Director, Chute Gerdeman. “Since the color mood analyzer occupies the full height of a tall structural column, it was important to choose a dynamic material that would interact with light, color and movement.” The Confetti pattern from the Sterling Collection line features a highly reflective metallic surface that refracts light and color, changing appearance according to shifts in viewing angle and movement. The material’s unique aesthetic qualities allowed Chute Gerdeman to attain the look it needed for the analyzer display. “We originally considered designing the color mood analyzer column with real M&M’S® Brand candies, but that would not have allowed us to achieve the interactive look that ACRYLITE® Confetti sheet provides,” explains Shafley. “We wanted the analyzer to be a cool and flashy visual element that would attract visitors, and ACRYLITE’s Confetti pattern fit into that vision.” Lightweight and fabrication friendly, ACRYLITE® acrylic sheet adheres well to other materials and is easy to cut, rout, polish, drill, and line bend. These fabrication advantages were crucial to facilitate installation of the display. “To create the analyzer, we clamshelled large cylindrical pieces of ACRYLITE® Confetti sheet around a large structural column, measuring 3ft in diameter, which was covered in a wooden frame. In addition to adhering well to the frame, the acrylic material is also lightweight and can be easily shaped. This was a considerable advantage over alternative materials like prismatic glass lenses, which are difficult to mold,” adds Shafley. The “Make-Your-Mix” Color Mood Analyzer has been a hit with store visitors, serving as a gathering spot for groups of friends and families to positively interact with each other and the M&M’S® brand. The analyzer also serves to drive sales of the store’s core product – M&M’S® Brand candies – among visitors excited about their personalized candy colors. “Due to its unique interactive appeal, the color mood analyzer has become a must-see attraction for all visitors at M&M’S World® New York,” remarks Shafley. “The innovative aesthetic and performance properties of ACRYLITE’s Sterling Collection have helped us to more effectively transform the interior space into a vibrant expression of color, shape and scale.”