The Eastwood Mall Complex in Niles, Ohio represents one of the best established retail destinations in the country. Operated by Cafaro, it offers a unique blend of amenities, going beyond retail to also offer corporate offices, three hotels, and close proximity to Eastwood baseball field. With help from SVT Technology Services and Solutions, CDW and Sharp Imaging and Information Company of America, Cafaro set out to add an event space to the complex.
The Challenge
The Eastwood Mall has become a thriving destination, known for its retail, hotels, restaurants, and nearby minor league baseball field. In recent years, the Eastwood Mall’s parent company, Cafaro, noticed that retailers were developing a preference for smaller footprints for their mall locations. As a result, Cafaro found an opportunity with surplus retail space.
Cafaro made the innovative decision to convert the space into a flexible event center, complete with ballrooms, breakout rooms, and its own dedicated kitchen, integrated into the mall and a hotel for an enhanced experience.
“We asked, how else can we generate traffic in our business center” said Jeff Kovacich, IT director at Cafaro. “We wanted to get people to stay in the hotel, enjoy the retail and restaurants, and ultimately we decided that we needed an event center with the latest and greatest technology to make it as flexible as possible.” Kovacich turned to Cafaro’s longtime equipment supplier, Joey Aiello, executive account manager at CDW. Aiello in turn introduced them to a Michigan-based installer, Eric Pounds, solutions architect at SVT. Together, SVT and CDW evaluated Cafaro’s needs and determined several equipment manufacturers that would be perfect for the project.
Among those manufacturers was Sharp Imaging and Information Company of America, who would provide the projectors and displays at the heart of the installation. “I wanted to show Cafaro a partner and solution that would wow them and give them everything that they could consume,” said Pounds. “The customer also wanted a solution where, if there was a problem, they knew they could depend on support from the manufacturer.” Kovacich, Price, and Pounds agreed that the best way to preview Sharp’s products was to travel to their briefing center in Downer’s Grove, IL, where they offer live demonstrations of their solutions in real-world settings. While there, they met with Sharp’s Rich McPherson, who previewed the brand-new NP-PX2000UL projector, which had yet to hit the market.
“I knew NEC was the one manufacturer who could do it all,” said Aiello. “Their products are the highest quality and built to last.”
The Installation
The Eastwood Events Centre consists of a large ballroom, floating walls able to create four breakout rooms, and a pre-function hallway that can serve as an overflow space. Each of these areas needed to be outfitted with an array of AV solutions to ensure maximum usability.
The AV solution in each of the event rooms revolves around the 20,000 lumen NP-PX2000UL NEC projectors. Each projector casts an image on a Da-Lite screen with enough brightness to be seen in any lighting condition, including when all of the lights in the room are turned on. The main screens in the ballrooms measure a large 181 inches.
In addition to brilliant image quality, the NP-PX2000UL provides quiet and unobtrusive integration. To capitalize on this, SVT worked with Draper to create an enclosure that can raise and lower the projector from a panel in the ceiling, providing a solution that melts into the environment when not in use.
The ballrooms feature an ornate ceiling, with some portions featuring beautiful wood construction. SVT wanted to avoid cutting into those portions of the ceiling, and opted instead to mount the projector further away from the screen. Fortunately, NEC offers a variety of zoom lenses, and the correct lenses were used to ensure a good image fit on each screen, regardless of projector location.
Outside the event rooms, the pre-function hallway was fitted with two C751Q 75” UHD large format displays. These displays provide information on upcoming events and fulfill other digital signage needs. In addition, in the event of an overflow situation, viewers outside the event rooms can watch presentations in uncompromising detail.
The exterior of the event rooms also feature 24” AS241F displays that function as welcome screens and display event schedules for each space. All of the content is driven through multiple inputs over an IP network, with each room’s AV components controlled by Crestron control panels. In addition, Shure provided approximately 20 wireless and hardwired microphone systems, including wall panel inputs and outputs to facilitate newsroom functions.
Finally, there are two mobile solutions that can easily be transported to any of the event rooms as needed. The NP-ME382U is a compact, 3,800 lumen projector that can provide an additional image source.
For collaborative meetings, the CB751Q collaboration board provides multi-user touch screen capabilities, as well as wireless and remote connectivity for external devices and teleconferencing capabilities for parties who want to participate in events but are unable to be physically present.
The Results
Less than a year from the conception, the Eastwood Event Centre will be finalized by the end of September, 2020. With the ballrooms, breakout rooms, and pre-function areas combined, the center provides nearly 29,000 square feet of event space. The design for the AV component was set in March, and the last components were being installed and tested at the end of August. Sharp Imaging and Information Company of America involvement in the AV industry meant their products went hand-in-hand with the components from partners like Crestron and Draper, providing for seamless integration. With the NEC projectors in place, SVT and Cafaro flipped the switch to test their new solution.
“The experience was jaw dropping,” said Kovacich. “Everything about it has been great so far. NEC isn’t just a manufacturer. There are people we can lean on there.”
The experience has forged new bonds between SVT, CDW, and Sharp “There are certain partners that I begin to trust,” said Aiello. “I wanted to make sure I was representing a technology that I could get behind and support, and that’s why I wanted to stick with NEC.”
Once open, the Eastwood Event Centre will be used for business conferences, auxiliary group meetings, catering events, and other gatherings. Cafaro says there has already been interest in booking the space, including some weddings seeking to relocate to a new venue.
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.
