Taking inspiration from trendsetter company stores by Disney, Nike, Harley Davidson, and Warner Brothers, Gibson CEO Henry Juszkiewicz’s store design strategy is a blend of cutting edge indoor air quality (IAQ) technology, interior design wizardry, and entertainment merchandising.

In fact, today’s cutting edge retailers could take a page out of Juszkiewicz’s design book on indoor air quality, an emerging store design strategy because behavior pattern research studies indicates comfortable customers tend to stay longer thus increasing purchase possibilities. A comfortable retail atmosphere also increases employee productivity.

While most retailers today rely on costly recessed heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) duct or unsightly exposed round duct with drafty registers every 10 feet, Gibson’s use of bright red round fabric duct adds as much festivity to the atmosphere as the musical instruments and merchandising. While offering a significant cost savings over labor and materials of metal duct, fabric also offers a softer contrast to the sterile, industrial-style interiors Juszkiewicz created after stripping the space down to its all-concrete surfaces. “We used fabric duct for its quietness in the tuning section of our Nashville guitar factory,” said Darrell Baker, Gibson’s maintenance manager, “but here fabric duct added quietness, plus the aesthetics we wanted.”

The polyester-blended fabric duct, TufTex from DuctSox, Dubuque, IA, offers more than aesthetics, according to Juszkiewicz. A sleek linear vent the entire length of each duct disperses a gentle airflow without drafts for employees as well as Gibson’s fine wooden instruments. Hung from an H-track suspension system, the doesn’t collect condensation or dust because approximately 15 percent of the airflow is purposely dispersed through the fabric.

Another advantage is flexibility. In the short time the store has been open, the sales floor strategy has changed twice leading to a quick and easy reconfiguration of the duct system. To keep the IAQ top rate, Juszkiewicz plans to disassemble the duct once a year and launder them as part of the store’s maintenance policy.

The Valley Arts store is serving as a prototype for future Gibson stores, according to Juszkiewicz. “We don’t want to open a lot of stores, but pick and choose the right location with a large amount of semi-professional and professional customers that want the high-end service and atmosphere that we can provide,” he said.