A storefront or shopfront is the facade or entryway of a retail store located on the ground floor or street level of a commercial building, typically including one or more display windows. A storefront functions to attract visual attention to a business and its merchandise. [1]
Before the middle of the 19th century, shop fronts did not have large display windows, but often included features such as awnings and bay windows to attract the attention of passersby.[ citation needed ] Modern storefronts with display windows developed at mid-century after architectural cast iron became widely available and glass manufacturers began producing large panes of glass at relatively low cost. [2]
In the United States, storefronts with large windows become available after 1883, when the Pittsburgh Plate Glass company started to produce plate glass. [3] Also architects started to experiment with iron columns and lintels at the ground floor level.The combination of these two achievements led to the storefront as we know it today. [2] By the 1920s, storefront plans with deep display windows, known as the “arcaded” front, had become popular. [4]
The storefronts of commercial buildings are often substantially altered even when other architectural elements remain intact. Such alterations can adversely affect a historic building's architectural and historic character. [2] Storefronts can also have an area in front of the unit called a "pop-out zone", which is about 500-1000 mm deep. [5] Storefronts often use channel letters. [6]
E-commerce websites are sometimes called "online storefronts" or "virtual storefronts". [7] [8]
The Queen Victoria Building is a heritage-listed late-nineteenth-century building located at 429–481 George Street in the Sydney central business district, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Designed by the architect George McRae, the Romanesque Revival building was constructed between 1893 and 1898 and is 30 metres (98 ft) wide by 190 metres (620 ft) long. The domes were built by Ritchie Brothers, a steel and metal company that also built trains, trams and farm equipment. The building fills a city block bounded by George, Market, York, and Druitt Streets. Designed as a marketplace, it was used for a variety of other purposes, underwent remodelling, and suffered decay until its restoration and return to its original use in the late twentieth century. The property is co-owned by the City of Sydney and Link REIT, and was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 5 March 2010.
A display window, also a shop window or store window, is a window in a shop displaying items for sale or otherwise designed to attract customers to the store. Usually, the term refers to larger windows in the front façade of the shop.
The Monroe Avenue Commercial Buildings, also known as the Monroe Block, is a historic district located along a block-and-a-half stretch at 16-118 Monroe Avenue in Detroit, Michigan, just off Woodward Avenue at the northern end of Campus Martius. The district was designated a Michigan State Historic Site in 1974 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975. The thirteen original buildings were built between 1852 and 1911 and ranged from two to five stories in height. The National Theatre, built in 1911, was the oldest surviving theatre in Detroit, a part of the city's original theatre district of the late 19th century, and the sole surviving structure from the original Monroe Avenue Commercial Buildings historic period.
The Wilbraham is an apartment building at 282–284 Fifth Avenue and 1 West 30th Street in the Midtown South neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. The nine-story structure was designed by David and John Jardine in the Romanesque Revival style, with elements of the Renaissance Revival style, and occupies the northwestern corner of 30th Street and Fifth Avenue. It was built between 1888 and 1890 as a bachelor apartment hotel. The Wilbraham is a New York City designated landmark and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The Jefferson–Chalmers Historic Business District is a neighborhood located on East Jefferson Avenue between Eastlawn Street and Alter Road in Detroit, Michigan. The district is the only continuously intact commercial district remaining along East Jefferson Avenue, and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2004.
The Littleton Main Street is a historic district located along W. Main Street, from South Curtice Street, to South Sycamore Street in Littleton, Colorado. The district dates from 1890. The nineteenth century buildings are red pressed brick, many with stone foundations and trim. These buildings replaced smaller frame structures from the pioneer era and proclaimed the success of their builders through solid construction and application of exterior ornament.
The Public Market, also referred to as the Morrill Block, is a historic commercial building at 93-95 Washington Street in Dover, New Hampshire. Built about 1846, it is one of the few surviving Greek Revival commercial buildings in the city, best known for its long association with the local Morrill Furniture Company. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1985.
In architecture, a slipcover is a modification of an older building facing by adding a new ornamental layer.
Taylor–Heaslop Building is a heritage-listed commercial building at 10–14 Logan Road, Woolloongabba, City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It was designed by John Beauchamp Nicholson and built from 1889 to 1890. It is also known as Ernest Reid (draper), John Evan's Cash Draper, George Logan Draper, Johns & Co Draper, People's Cash Store (grocers), JR Blane, and Moreton Rubber Works. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 6 February 2006.
The former Presque Isle National Bank building is a 19th-century commercial building at 422 Main Street in Presque Isle, Maine. Built in 1887, it is one of the most architecturally significant commercial buildings of northernmost Maine, and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1986 for its architecture. It presently houses the Maine Farmers Exchange on the upper level, and retail stores below.
The Pierceton Historic District encompasses the central business district of a small community in east central Kosciusko County, Indiana. It is next to the former Pennsylvania Railroad line. The design, setting, materials, workmanship and association between buildings give a sense of the history and architecture of a small town main street.
Barnes and Co. Trading Place is a heritage-listed former department store at 118 Palmerin Street, Warwick, Southern Downs Region, Queensland, Australia. It was designed by Wallace & Gibson and built from 1910 to 1911 by M Ivory. It is also known as Smith & Miller Furniture Store. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 21 October 1992.
The New Center Commercial Historic District is a commercial historic district located on Woodward Avenue between Baltimore Street and Grand Boulevard in Detroit, Michigan. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2016.
Hirsh's Shoes, is a Mid-Century modern store building located in Tucson, Arizona, United States. Designed in 1954 by Jewish-American architect Bernard "Bernie" Friedman for entrepreneur Rose Hirsh, the open plan storefront is an iconic retail standard. Mrs. Rose C. (David) Hirsh hired Friedman to design this building as a free standing shop in what would become an early strip mall. Though now surrounded by other buildings, it was owned and operated by the Hirsh Family from its construction in 1954 until 2016. The opening of the store was featured in the Arizona Daily Star on April 7, 1954 and for 62 years the Hirsh Family maintained the character-defining architectural features of the north facade and unique architectural expression that defined the mid-century era. In 2014 the Hirsh Family restored the roof mounted neon sign.
Window shopping, sometimes called browsing, refers to an activity in which a consumer browses through or examines a store's merchandise as a form of leisure or external search behaviour without a current intent to buy. Depending on the individual, window shopping can be a pastime or be used to obtain information about a product's development, brand differences, or sale prices.
The Mazomanie Downtown Historic District is the old downtown of Mazomanie, Wisconsin, with surviving structures built as early as 1857. It was added to the State and the National Register of Historic Places in 1992.
149–151 George Street, The Rocks is a heritage-listed duty-free store complex and former retail building and residence located at 149–151 George Street, in the inner city Sydney suburb of The Rocks in the City of Sydney local government area of New South Wales, Australia. It was built from 1913 to 1913. It is also known as part of the Duty Free Store complex. The property is owned by Property NSW, an agency of the Government of New South Wales. It was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 10 May 2002.
Grahame's Corner is a heritage-listed commercial and office building located at 142-144 Pitt Street, in the Sydney central business district, in the City of Sydney local government area of New South Wales, Australia. It was designed by G. A. Morell and built from 1877 to 1882. It is also known as Grahams Corner and the AMFIS Building. The property was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 2 April 1999.
The Cumberland Town Hall District is a historic district encompassing two buildings of civic and architectural significance in Cumberland, Rhode Island. It includes Cumberland's town hall, located at 45 Broad Street in the village of Valley Falls, and an adjacent commercial building at 16 Mill Street, which was historically used for commercial and civic functions. The town hall, built in 1894, was the town's first purpose-built municipal building, and is a prominent example of Colonial Revival architecture, designed by Rhode Island architect William R. Walker. The district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2019.
Downtown Vermillion Historic District is a historic district in downtown Vermillion, South Dakota, consisting of 34 contributing buildings all constructed between 1880 and 1942. The district was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2003 and reflects a period of substantial economic growth in Vermillion, as well as for its representation of late 19th and early 20th century architectural styles.
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