[A time lapse video of the build of the new Crate & Barrel store at Shops Around Lenox. Video courtesy of Healey Weatherholz Properties.]
Well, that was fast, kind of. Back in September, Crate & Barrel announced it would leave the front door of Lenox Mall for a fancy new build-out across the way at the renovated and re-imagined Shops Around Lenox. As shown in the above video, the painstaking process of building a store for a home design megalith in a 35,000 square foot big box that sat vacant for 5 years can be completed fairly quickly these days, even when the task involves some herculean numbers: some 120 tons of steel were used in construction, 1300 square feet of skylights were installed and 5,000 square feet of cedar shiplap from Colorado's Rocky Mountains was applied to make the place look purdy. Design was handled by Crate & Barrel's in-house team.
The new C&B has some green cred as well: they used all low-impact LED lighting and built a sustainable roof. The store is open for business, still no official word on what will replace Crate & Barrel at Lenox...though speculation centers around Apple or Urban Outfitters.