Planar Displays Create Customer Interest and Support Commercial Business Strategies for Retailer
The Nebraska Furniture Mart of Texas (NFM), located north of Dallas-Fort Worth, is the newest retail store in the Nebraska Furniture Mart chain. The 560,000 square-foot store is an anchor to Grandscape, a 400+ acre mixed-use development that when fully completed, will provide a unique destination for retail, dining and entertainment for up to 10 million visitors annually.
The NFM design included leading-edge digital signage technology to attract customers into the store and help them easily find products and services. For these reasons the retailer chose two of Planar Systems' most advanced display solutions, the large-scale Planar® UltraRes™ Series 4K LCD display, and the one-of-a-kind Planar® Mosaic™ Architectural Video Wall.
Lee Summers, NFM's Marketing/Technology Manager says, "The two products make a strong statement about the store and demonstrate our ability to meet the needs of both consumers and commercial customers." The digital media and integration firm, Reflect, based in Dallas, was fully on board with this vision for NFM, and played a key role in getting Planar Mosaic video wall and Planar UltraRes Series display installed and up and running.
Planar Mosaic's design and display capabilities capture customers' attention
Planar Mosaic is a family of video tiles – including the industry's first truly square version – created to provide a highly creative video wall on which to deliver brand, business and other messaging. It was seen as an ideal solution for the east entrance to Grandscape where a main "boulevard" will lead into all stores, including NFM. "Installed here, Planar Mosaic will help create an experience which amazes customers as they enter the country's largest furniture store," says Arnie Rivera, Senior Vice President of Solution Delivery and Client Services for Reflect.
The "draw" of Planar Mosaic is its use of the different sizes of video tiles, which can be installed in virtually any position relative to each other and at almost any angle. "We can separate, rotate, stack and place each tile to create an artistic visually pleasing pattern that attracts your attention and sets the stage for the rest of store experience," says Rivera.
The Planar Mosaic video wall is comprised of 27 tiles arranged in a symmetrical layout whose 16:9 aspect ratio allows NFM make use of its library of stock imagery. The layout consists of Planar's 46-inch Planar® Pablo™ rectangle tiles (AD46) and the 22-inch Planar® Salvador™ square tile (AD22). The content is high definition video of nature and Texas-inspired images that can be changed to support the store's many merchandising themes and promotional strategies, as well as appeal to different viewer demographics.
Planar Mosaic's design flexibility and ease of installation also make it appealing to the integrator. Installation is simple since each Planar Mosaic tile is has its own mount, which allows for any rotation or pitch. Built-in push-in/push-out snap catches and auto-alignment posts eliminate the need for fine tuning." Other important features include, for Planar Salvador and Planar Pablo, respectively: slim bezel width (5.9mm/5.7mm), brightness (450 nits/700 nits) and native resolution (960x960/1920x1080).
Planar UltraRes Series is proof of NFM's commercial solution capability
The Planar UltraRes Series (84-inch Ultra HD display) was chosen for NFM's electronic design, installation and consulting department (EDIC), where it occupies a prominent position above the reception desk. "It is definitely a show-stopper," says NFM's Summers. "It is proof that we are able to serve the commercial market, which is what the EDIC department is all about."
A big driver for the Planar UltraRes Series is its UltraRes™ MediaPlex™ multi-source viewing capability, which allows Summers to divide the screen into four quadrants and show four different sets of content simultaneously — MediaPlex allows up to eight sources to be viewed, four at a time in full HD, and any can be up-scaled to fill the entire display area. Currently, content ranges from a two-minute video loop of EDIC messaging, to an action feed of sporting events or area entertainment. Further, the display is used to help consumers schedule appointments with EDIC consultants to plan out a customized Planar UltraRes Series install for a commercial-grade home theater system or a large-scale display platform for their restaurant, bar or other business.
Other important UltraRes features include fanless, whisper-quiet design, low to modest power consumption, fail-over design for continuous operation, up to 500-nit brightness, 1600:1 contrast ratio, native 3840x2160 resolution and the very latest LED backlight design.
Planar display platforms are a powerful visual merchandising combination
"Taken together, the Planar Mosaic video wall and Planar UltraRes Series display are significant business assets," Lee Summers says. "They contribute to a personalized shopping experience for a large-format store, they give us platforms on which to uniquely present our offerings, brand heritage and values, and they are visual merchandising elements that provide the flexibility to create an ever-changing and fresh experience for customers."
A graduate of DeVry Institute of Technology, Doug has been in the Technology industry since 1976 and actively oversees Fearing’s daily operations. Along with his wife, Lois, and three others, Doug started Fearing’s in a 600 square-foot facility in Portage, Wisconsin. In the 25 years since, the company has grown to over 30 employees with offices in Madison and Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Doug likes to say he’s a “TV Technician with a dream� going back to his history with the family’s original business-Fearing’s TV and Appliance.
Doug values time with family, watersports, hiking, snowshoeing and skiing. In addition to being a devoted member of his church, Doug serves as Board President for Kinship Mentoring of Columbia County, Board member of Schools for Haiti and Scripture Chair of the Gideons-Portage camp.
A graduate of MATC, Lois oversees Fearing’s daily book keeping along with various HR responsibilities.
Along with Doug, Lois is deeply connected to community outreach, serving as a Board member and Fundraising Committee Chairperson for Kinship Mentoring of Columbia County. She also serves on the Schools for Haiti Fundraising committee. In addition, Lois’ ongoing passion and commitment to provide care for the elderly comes from her 10-year history of working in a Reedsburg, Wisconsin Nursing home.
Lois enjoys singing, hiking, sunny days on the pontoon, and spending time with her 4 grandchildren.
Ehren drives Fearing’s technology by continually seeking out trends to enhance capabilities while supporting Sales, Engineering and Installation teams. Throughout his years with Fearing’s, Ehren’s talent and vision have joined forces to create a wide variety of projects and strategic solutions that exceed expectation.
Ehren loves music, family time, movies, nature, sustainability efforts and electric vehicles.
With 10 years with Fearing’s and over twice that long in the industry, Ben continues to lead, coordinate, and develop the Commercial AV team.
By consistently delivering an outstanding experience and outcome, Ben contributes to the Fearing’s legacy of long-lasting partnerships that truly make a difference. Whatever the Commercial AV need may be, Ben and team deliver at the highest level.
Ben is an avid fisherman and photographer. He enjoys coaching his sons and other youth.
Chris has been with Fearing’s for 20 years and in the industry for over 2 decades. As a Certified leader in Sales Acceleration and trained in EOS (Entrepreneurial Operating Systems), Chris successfully utilizes his skills to lead the Fearing’s Salesforce. Chris and team are motivated and driven to develop new client partnerships while continuing to reinforce loyal long-term relationships with ongoing Service excellence.
Married for 19 years with 3 children, Chris enjoys skiing, hiking, fishing, boating, hunting, camping and golf. He’s also been actively involved as a Youth Football and Softball coach for his family and others.
