Finding the balance between community and corporate design
If you’ve driven past a Royal Farms Convenience Store, you may have noticed that it stands out. If you haven’t, take a look at the website and you’ll get an idea of what the stores look like. Using a very bright color pallette, the stores are well designed but boy, do they stand out when you drive down the road. It’s not a bad design at all, it just won’t work every where you would want to put a convenience store.
However, Royal Farms is working with the community in Snow Hill, Maryland, to pacify their fears about the design of their new store on Route 113. The whole area is currently undergoing redevelopment, with the road being widened from two lanes to a four lane divided highway and this new convenience store is just the start of more long term commercial development.
From the story:
We feel like we foresee that 113 is going to be developed eventually from the Maryland-Delaware line all the way to Berlin, said Arlene Page, president of the Bishopville-St. Martins Neck Road Community Association. Before we start developing it, could we please have some thought on what it looks like and plan it?
To me this is an interesting mix of community and corporate design with an eye towards the future. I admit I don’t know much about the area, except that it is very tranquil and beautiful right now. If long term development is expected, it is good to see residents and commercial developers keeping an eye on what is to come and working together.
Much like Wal-Mart’s local store designs, Royal Farms and several other retailers are stepping forward and realizing that one architectural mold will not fit every part of the country.
Retail development doesn’t have to be ugly, it’s just that most of it is. I hope that in a few years we can look at the Route 113 corridor as an example of good, forward-looking retail development that both serves and compliments the community around it.
