Pele soccer

Location: New York City

Working with the owners of Pele Soccer as they searched for a flagship location in which to enter the New York retail market, Carlton provided concept and test fit scenarios for a separate Times Square location, but when owner Gary Davis was presented with the Embassy Theatre location, he knew he had a unique opportunity. The location is one of a handful of retail interiors in NYC that is designated a landmark by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission, whose approval required sheer perseverance with a design that had to remain flexible through multiple public hearings. Carlton’s design solution imagined the Pele Soccer store as a “stage-set” within the historic theatre. Among the many challenges was getting customers in the building, with almost no frontage on Broadway other than the entry doors, the design re-purposed the old marquee structure and created an entrance set back so as to integrate electronic and product display. The entry foyer was re-imagined as a long stadium entrance that leads one down to the playing field itself. In this case that required installing a level floor within the sloped auditorium and “staging” it as a soccer field complete with turf, goal posts, and stadium inspired light stanchions. The center-piece is the assembly of oversized LED television panels, replacing the original projection screen with larger than life soccer games. While the space is now retail, visitors will also see the restoration efforts in the restored decorative plaster ceilings, now also concealing a new sprinkler system, and the various scenic murals from the theatre’s earliest days of operation. In these days of experiential shopping, Pele Soccer entertains Times Square history buffs, and soccer enthusiasts alike.