Shawmut's retail group builds name and brands.

In 2004, Shawmut Design and Construction, an $800M national construction management firm headquartered in Boston, decided to stake their claim on the New York City retail construction market and increase their local presents by opening up an office in Midtown Manhattan, the high-end retail fashion capital of America. Shawmut's Retail Group was just four people strong when it opened its doors--what a difference three years makes.

Under the leadership of vice president Les Hiscoe, the group has grown to be a major force on projects that require an advanced level of construction expertise, including new construction and renovation of specialty and luxury retail stores. Today, staffed by 90 employees (up from 60 in 2006), the office supports a $250 million division of the company and is enjoying an extraordinary year. To keep pace with their growing staff and healthy growth-rate, Shawmut's Retail Group recently expanded to an additional floor at its current 3 E. 54th St. headquarters, taking over nearly 10,000 more s/f of office space.

In 2007 Shawmut's Retail Group has continued to be recognized as the "go to" firm for high end retail stores. Their latest projects in the New York area include new flagship stores for Tom Ford, Dolce & Gabbana, Chopard, Lockes Diamonds featuring Ivanka Trump, and Graff Diamonds all on Madison Avenue. In addition Shawmut is renovating the 5th Avenue Flagship store for Ermenegildo Zegna and the NHL Powered by Reebok Store in the Times Square area.

The Retail Group is making its mark not only on the NYC retail construction market, but nationally as well. Shawmut has completed a Cartier store in Union Square, San Francisco, and is currently working on Iiori, a Luxotica-brand store, on Rodeo Drive, Giorgio Armani in Dallas, a Tiffany's store in Fairfax, Va., and the Burberry, Montblanc and Apple Inc. stores in Back Bay, Boston.

Over the past year, the Retail Group has also added four award-winning projects to its already impressive portfolio.

In May of 2006, Shawmut completed Longchamp's Soho flagship, La Maison Unique which included a flowing steel staircase, peel down ceilings, and an outdoor terrace. Shawmut collaborated with designer Heatherwick Studio and architect Atmosphere Design Group on the remarkable store which was named "Merit Winner" of the Associated General Contractors of America's (AGC) 2007 Aon Build America Award, "Best NYC Store-2nd Place" by the Institute of Store Planning and PAVE, "Best of 2006--retail category" by Accessories magazinc, "Best of the Year Award--Retail Boutique" by Interior Design magazine, and "Best of 2006" retail category by New York Construction magazine. The project also graced the cover of VM+SD's November 2006 issue.

In August 2006, Shawmut completed the Nokia 57th Street Flagship store in NYC that included color-changing wall panels and interconnecting feature stairs. Shawmut worked closely with architect Eight, Inc. to complete the store which was named "Best NYC Store--1st Place" by the Institute of Store Planning and PAVE. The store was also awarded the "Grand Prize, Hardline Specialty Store 3,001-25,000 s/f" and the "Store Fixture Award, Fixture Grouping" by GlobalShop, sponsored by NASFM (National Association of Store Fixture Manufacturers).

In October, Shawmut completed its most impressive Apple Inc. store yet, Apple's Fifth Avenue Flagship in New York City. The store's entrante is a 32-foot glass cube enclosing a cylindrical glass elevator and a glass spiral staircase. Shawmut's work with architect Bohlin Cywinski Jackson helped make the project a "Merit Winner" of the AGC 2007 Aon Build America Award. Apple Fifth Avenue was also featured on the cover of VM+SD's September 2006 issue.

Also in October, Shawmut teamed up with architect Fitch to complete Motorola's unique concepts on Chicago's Michigan Avenue--Motorola RED (created to raise money and awareness for AIDS victims in Africa) and Motorola BLUE was featured in several shows and publications, including The Oprah Winfrey Show. The project was an overwhelming success and the store received the "Design for a Cause" award in Chain Store Age's 2006 Retail Store of the Year design competition, "Specialty Store Under 1500 s/f-1st place" in the ISP/VM+SD International Store Design Competition, and grand prize in the "Pop-Up Store" category of NASFM 2007 Retail Store Design Awards.