design:retail - November/December 2019 - 24

DESIGN:RETAIL

NOV/DEC 2019

CLICKS & MORTAR

Frame It Out
DIGITALLY NATIVE FRAMEBRIDGE
TRANSLATES ITS ONLINE EXPERIENCE
INTO ITS FIRST PHYSICAL STORES
By Erin M. Loewe

the trend of digitally native businesses jumping into the physical arena, Washington,
D.C.-based Framebridge recently opened two
stores in Bethesda, Md., and at 1919 14th St. NW
in D.C. The company partnered with D.C.-based
GrizForm Design Architects to transform the look
and feel of its online experience into physical spaces.
Founded in 2014, Framebridge's aim was to
revamp how people experienced the process of
custom framing, which is traditionally timeconsuming and expensive, says Natalia Sicilia,
senior interior designer at GrizForm. "Framebridge
wanted to bring about a new vision for framing,
making it easy, approachable and fun," Sicilia
explains. "As part of their new step in branding
direction, the brick-and-mortar store breaks down
the digital wall and makes hand-to-hand exchanges
and collaborative experiences."
With the stores, Framebridge can also test out
how different sizes and layouts could fit into its
possible future expansion, with 14th Street clocking in at 1,200 sq. ft. and Bethesda at 325 sq. ft. (The
locations opened in March and April 2019, respectively.) Prior to this endeavor, Framebridge tested
the waters with pop-ups in D.C.'s Union Market;
Nashville, Tenn.; and New York.
Sicilia says the design team wanted to create
spaces that fostered creativity while preserving the
ease of the website. "We wanted it to be a studioesque kind of space, but to have something quirky

and fun, like color pops and a gallery wall," she
says. "We also wanted to bring familiar and comfortable elements into it like it was your own living
room-like a leather sofa with tufting and a really
cool vintage rug."
Tessa Wolf, Framebridge's creative director, says
the goal was to have the brand's storytelling mission shine through. "Every single thing we frame
represents something someone genuinely loves
and wants to remember every day-and we wanted
to be sure these stories came through in our design," she says. "We have an always-rotating gallery
wall of themed customer-sourced pieces, drawers
full of surprising 'things you can Framebridge,'
and even a private 'story booth' at our 14th Street
location. Together, the space feels exactly like we
wanted it to-like a 2019 version of a '60s recording
studio that's full of little secrets."
The Story Booth is a multisensory experience
where a camera in the ceiling captures an image
of an item while recording the customer's story
about it. The customer receives the video via email
for saving and sharing.
It remains to be seen how Framebridge's future
physical expansion will unfold, but for now, customers old and new can have fun framing till their
hearts are content in the D.C. area.

Photo BY FIRSTNAME LASTNAME

➞ I N KE E PI NG W I T H

design:retail - November/December 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of design:retail - November/December 2019