Projects: Video Walls As Retail Store Banners For Gap

March 23, 2015 by Dave Haynes

Gap Yorkdale 2

Yorkdale is by most measures the top shopping mall in Canada.

There are larger footprint ones, and ones that get more people through the doors. But the mall along Toronto’s teeming 401 highway is where most or all of the big retail brands put in a splashy flagship store.

You see a lot of digital, and often big, splashy digital – like the big Nanolumens panels outside the Holt Renfrew, slightly abstract MicroTiles clusters over Scotiabank, and the big digital walls of a Microsoft store.

The latest high retail banner to go big on digital in there appears to be Gap, which now has a set of very nice video walls mounted above the entry of both the regular Gap and Gap for Kids looking out into the mall concourse.

Gap Kids Yorkdale3

Usually, the big video wall feature is in behind cash or on some main wall by the entrance. At Yorkdale, both stores have three 3-wide by 3-high video walls on the bulkhead above the entry.

Haven’t seen that before, and it definitely has some visual pop, though it fights a little with natural lighting. It looks slightly off to have the blue GAP boxes in front of the middle array of screens, but the signs are several feet out from the LCDs. When you come at the displays from the side and below, the blue signs aren’t in the way.

Based on my remarkable powers of deduction, I’d say this is ComQi’s software driving the programming. I’ve not seen an announcement to that effect (the bigger the client, the harder the PR), but ComQi’s DSE booth had a pretty prominent, branded endorsement from the big apparel retailer. I am told these are Samsung super narrow bezel displays.

No digital evident INSIDE the stores. If there’s a flagship install here, I assume there are others like it in the US – like New York in a few place – and perhaps beyond.

  1. Nosson says:

    “Yorkdale is by most measures the top shopping mall in Canada.” Do you mean Ontario? Because West Edmonton Mall is much larger and sees more shoppers than Yorkdale.

  2. Bob Pedrazas says:

    Just learned about your fantastic blog.

    I am in the purchasing stage of a video wall for use at over 10 tradeshows a year. Considering 6 monitors, 55 inches, 2 rows of 3 units.

    Can you/do you offer recommendations as to the media player. Does your group offer creative packaged graphic templates for purchase. I understand about the need for thin bezel monitors and adjustable wall mounts.

    Haven’t determined the right media player to purchase for the six monitors.

    Thanks for reading this email and follow up.

    Regards,

    Bob Pedrazas
    Marketing Manager
    KMT Waterjet
    417-291-14233 cell phone

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