Friday, November 30, 2012

Process Work for Radford's Dick's Sporting Goods



I first began with a criteria matrix to gather an idea of exactly what I wanted next to each other and what elements each room need such as a window or plumbing. This gave me the starting block to complete my adjacency diagram, bubble diagram, and blocking diagram which are preliminary steps to my final floor plan.
My adjacency diagram shows what rooms need to be next to each other my showing primary and secondary adjacencies. Primary adjacencies are most important and need to be met when drafting the floor plan. Secondary adjacencies are adjacencies that would be nice to have, but don’t necessarily need to be drafted.

My next steps were to complete a bubble and blocking diagram. The bubble starts with an idea of where the rooms are going within the floor plan. The blocking diagram gets more precise and is closer to getting actual measurements of the room I will later be drafting.
Finally, my floor plan which shows exact measurements and everything that will be in the design.

Thursday, November 15, 2012

My Ideas for Radford's Dick's Sporting Goods

Open Plan of Dick's Sporting Goods

                So I decided that I wanted to try and follow how other Dick’s Sporting Goods are laid out. I wanted my store to be open and free of clutter. Many Dick’s Sporting Goods you walk into have a lot of items for sale, but keep it clean and up to date. With areas instead of rooms in my design I will eliminate the cluttered feeling of walking into a small, closed off room.
                To start off, I wanted to have the very minimum amount of walls in my design. That would keep the area open and appear larger. With a space that appears bigger, customers will feel as if the store has more to offer and continue to shop at the store. Space has a huge effect on a customer. Imagine walking into a local store that barely has enough room to supply what they have in storage. Not only would some goods go off the shelf quickly, but they might also not restock an adequate amount in order to keep their store full. With an open floor plan, there is plenty of space not only to store merchandise on the floor, but also in closed storage. Overall the business would be able to maintain a better image creating happier customers.
                I also thought about having two different sex bathrooms. However, while drawing out the preliminary floor plan I started to realize that two different bathrooms that both have to be accessible were taking up a lot of room within the floor plan. I changed from two different sex bathrooms to still having two different bathrooms, but made both of them unisex. Now only one of them has to be accessible. That provided me with more room for my store layout and a overall, more open and bigger floor plan.
Gun Selection at Dick's Sporting Goods

What could Radford Be?

Radford, Virginia
               
           When searching for comparing town areas that needed just a little push to jumpstart their local economy, I found a sight about Los Angeles and how adding a successful business really helped their area. Before Los Angeles was a city filled with nothing anyone wants to experience. With the rise of business, the city has really grown. There is less crime, more businesses booming, and more jobs to provide families with a better life. The increase in businesses helped the city as a whole reach towards a better future for generations to come.
Now granted Radford doesn’t necessarily have the problems that Los Angeles had, but we are a small town, a small town that could use some help. We need booming businesses that can help support local families. We need an area that can provide not only financially to locals, but also a place that can provide families with the products they need to have fun with their life.
I found another article that talked about a Dick’s Sporting Goods that came into the town of Moore. This town had never had an outdoor supply store in their area. People from all across the town were excited to see the grand opening of a store that could give them support and products that they weren’t able to get before.  A good point that was brought up in the article is that not only does it benefit Radford, but also other local areas near Radford. It draws customers in that could make the business very successful and help out Radford even more.
With a Dick’s available to make the outdoors activities around Radford possible, people can shop with ease and find what they need to complete their adventures to come.

LA Changes for the Better

New Dick's Sporting Goods Enters Town

Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Dick's Sporting Goods Could Come to Radford

I decided to make the store located on the strip a Dick’s Sporting Goods to put into the available retail space in Downtown Radford. Dick’s carries a wide variety of sporting equipment, athletic clothing, and shoes for any outdoor activity people might want to participate in.
                Since the space is limited here in Radford, I decided that I would have some sort of express shop. Instead of it being a huge commercial building, the Dick’s would only carry a little bit of everything. However, knowing that, If someone comes in looking for something that they need to let’s say, go hiking the store will be able to meet their needs. The store will carry more of what will be needed depending on what is available to do in Radford, Virginia.
                I believe that putting in an outdoor apparel and equipment store would increase business flow on the main strip. Everyone around Downtown Radford has at some point gone on adventure that Radford has to offer. For example, if you want to take a stroll in Bisset Park, you might need athletic shoes, shorts and maybe a jacket to really feel comfortable while exercising. Let’s say you might want to go fishing on the New River. With a Dick’s right in town you can have a nicer quality fishing pole than other stores and be able to purchase it less than a mile away from where you want to fish. It will also provide customers with a wider range of fishing poles considering that Dick’s specializes in outdoor products.
                With everyone in need for a baseball bat for their high school team, or a pair of running shoes for the running club at Radford University, or even a canoe to paddle around on The New River, Dick’s Sporting Goods would be a great investment to add into what the town of Radford already provides with us. Putting in a Dick’s will provide Radford with a larger target market meaning everyone will be able to find something they need at Dick’s Sporting Goods.

Check out these articles to see what Radford could be.


Bisset Park

Friday, November 9, 2012

What does Downtown Radford Need?

I believe that downtown Radford needs an area that better suits their culture and society. In Radford there are a lot of young people between the ages of seventeen and twenty-two because of the college. There are also local families who some of which are looking for jobs. We need business that can provide to all of our Downtown Area.
I believe that Downtown Radford specifically needs an affordable clothing store especially for the college students. In town there are not many stores where college students would be able to shop to update their wardrobe. The closest shopping area is about twenty-five minutes away. For college students on a budget and local families that are currently looking for a job, this doesn’t help out Radford. If a TJ Maxx was put in Radford, it would provide everyone with the new style they are looking for plus an increase in jobs to employ those who love Radford and would do anything to stay in here.


I think another successful business would be an outdoor center. For example Dick’s or Sporting goods would do really well in our area. With all the hiking trails, canoeing, biking and every other outdoor activity that can be done on our mountains, it would be great to have an affordable outdoor activity supply store. Without the space to build a huge commercial Dick’s we could always have some sort of express shop where it has a little of everything. With the closest Dick’s at twenty-five minutes away we could chain with them and make the business more likely to succeed. Radford’s locals would love to have a store that could provide them with the products to accomplish what they have always wanted to do in their beautiful, mountainous town.


Another business that would do well in Radford would be a day care center. With college students who might have newly born children and can’t be home to watch their kids during the day while at school, they could drop them off for a lower cost facility that would safely watch them. With a day care in Radford, not only would college students benefit but also the local families who might be looking for a job, but can’t leave their children alone at home. Having a day care facility would allow the young kids of Radford to meet other kids and enjoy the company of others while their families are working or attending school.