Buzzer Beater

Buzzer Beater is a high-end consignment store in New York’s Greenwich Village that specializes in rare sneakers and apparel.  There is no back-inventory -- everything on display has its own unique history. We designed the store to reflect the nature of its eclectic and highly personal inventory.

The store’s closely populated space allows for an intimate experience for customers that blurs the distinction between employee and customer. Because the stores sales are made on consignment, buyers can become the sellers and sellers can become the buyers.  Recognizing the importance of this interaction within Buzzer Beater’s community, we designed many of the store’s features to be equally as engaging.

At the front of the store we wrapped the existing walls and dropped ceiling in steel panels. This creates a continuous surface for magnetically-displayed merchandise.  It is a very flexible way to display and allows a varied density and type of product to be displayed in an almost graphic way. The bold tags attached to the merchandise introduce a repetitive graphic rhythm while emphasizing the individualistic nature of Buzzer Beater’s wide collection of luxury sneakers, T-shirts and hats.

At the back of the store all of the existing walls and ceiling were removed to reveal the brick walls and existing piping and ducts. Instead of concealing these, we added even more pipes. The additional pipes riff off the existing architecture while also creating scaffolding for display.

The check-out counter is small and non-hierarchical; promoting a more intimate dialog between customers and employees. Its rubber surfaces offer a playful allusion to the surfaces and textures of athletic equipment and urban streets. An exposed railing above the counter provides a place for merchandise to hang while it is being purchased, adding elements of ritual, convenience, and conversation to the check-out experience.