Polished concrete floors was installed recently at Bloomingdales in Short Hills, NJ using a self-leveling concrete overlay and concrete micro-topping.
Retailing is all about image, and nothing sets the tone of a store like the choice of flooring. The feeling customers get from a store’s flooring can affect how a product makes them feel, which can in turn determine whether they shop in the store or not. The polished concrete grey color keeps the ambiance neutral and emphasize the products that are displayed on the floor. The lighter the floor, the grander the space looks and the more open and inviting it will see to the consumer. As one of the largest components of an interior decor of a retail store, the flooring plays a very important role. While it may be considered as simply background for more bold features, it actually covers one of the largest surface areas and therefore has a subtle but all-encompassing effect on the overall look and feel of the place.
Bloomingdale’s Short Hills, NJ
Recently in the Bloomingdale’s store in Short Hills Mall, Mancini-Duffy Architects and Designers specified Duraamen concrete floors in the second floor of their store. The total are of the floor where concrete flooring was installed was 4,500 square feet. The existing carpet was removed and the carpet glue was removed by shot-blasting. To bring the floor to the match the level of the adjacent flooring, a self leveling concrete (Param 4500) was installed for a thickness of 3/4″. The designers were after a hand applied concrete finish look. To achieve this appearance a concrete overlay micro-topping was installed at a thickness of 1/16″.
Maintenance of flooring is a huge factor. It can take a little time or a lot of time. We always recommend applying a thin coat of epoxy primer and a coat of thick epoxy body coat followed by couple of coats of water based polyurethane (matte). The long term performance of any decorative concrete flooring is directly dependent upon the quality of the sealer/topcoat applied on the flooring.
