![\"92d4b63c804a65280bcdee4c3f9c8eb9_f318\"](\"https:\/\/cdn.graphicdisplay.3acompositesusa.com\/2015\/05\/92d4b63c804a65280bcdee4c3f9c8eb9_f318.jpg\")
<\/a>For the past three years, these updates and remodels have been designed, fabricated and installed by The Store D\u00e9cor Co., of Rowlett, Texas. The Store Decor Co. specializes in \u201ccreating retail environments for some of the nation\u2019s leading retailers that welcome customers through innovative and visually exciting interior signage, graphics and decor,\u201d according to Patti Ellis, sales director, The Store D\u00e9cor Co., who says the company has completed design work for approximately 20 Lowe\u2019s Market locations.<\/p>\nWhen The Store D\u00e9cor Co. was asked to update the look of an acquired Lowe\u2019s Family Center (a combined full-line supermarket and Lowe\u2019s ACE Hardware Store totaling 52,000 square feet) in West Odessa, Texas, its graphic designers turned to Roger Lowe for his take on the neighborhood\u2019s demographics \u2013 including a large Hispanic population of middle-income to lower-income families employed in blue-collar jobs. At the same time, The Store D\u00e9cor Co.\u2019s production-department employees turned to their imaginations to develop a new time-and-materials-saving fabrication method for creating cutout letters with a trim-cap look out of Gatorfoam\u00ae and Gatorplast\u00ae graphic display boards by 3A Composites USA.<\/p>\n
\u201cRoger Lowe told us that oil and ranching played a large role in this neighborhood\u2019s economy,\u201d says Ellis. \u201cWe then did some research and decided on the direction of the design.\u201d<\/p>\n
That design included everything from departmental wall and hanging signs as well as aisle markers \u2013 all created from Gatorfoam and featuring a colorful Western theme of bucking broncos and oil rigs, as well as the Lone Star State\u2019s flag prominently incorporated.<\/p>\n
Hanging departmental signs, such as the one created to designate the deli meat aisle, repeat the Lone Star theme. A single brown star, decorated with an oil rig gushing rich Texas oil, features a Texas map image printed with the state flag\u2019s colors. A green ribbon lettered with \u201cFresh Deli\u201d designates the aisle. The hanging signs also were direct-printed on 1-inch thick Gatorfoam and cut out with a CNC router.<\/p>\n Gatorfoam, the original heavy-duty graphic display board, consists of polystyrene foam and sturdy wood-fiber veneer facers. This unique construction makes Gatorfoam lightweight yet durable, rigid and warp-resistant; its surface also is exceptionally smooth and strong. Gatorfoam may be digitally direct-printed, direct screen-printed and painted with most ink and paint systems. The white Gatorfoam graphic display board line recently has been enhanced with dramatically brighter facers that produce eye-popping graphics in both direct screen-printing and direct digital-printing operations. Gatorfoam also may be used in both dry mounting and pressure-sensitive mounting applications. Gatorfoam cuts cleanly with standard woodworking tools and will not tear, chip or shred.<\/p>\n The Store D\u00e9cor Co. turned to Gatorfoam and Gatorplast to create large cutout trim-cap-look letters with the message \u201cThank You for Shopping Lowe\u2019s\u201d for wall-mounting above the store\u2019s cash register checkout area.<\/p>\n (Gatorplast consists of extruded polystyrene foam bonded between two high-impact polystyrene cap sheets. Display and sign fabricators can direct screen print and direct digitally print Gatorplast board, saving time, labor and materials. No surface priming or pre-coating is necessary. Additionally, vinyl lettering can be applied to Gatorplast and then removed or repositioned without incurring damage to this graphic display board\u2019s tough, plastic surface.)<\/p>\n The \u201cThank You for Shopping Lowe\u2019s\u201d letters were specified to be 2-feet tall and cover 64 feet on the wall.<\/p>\n<\/a>For example, an 8-foot by 20-foot lettered meat department wall-mounted sign features a cow, pig and chicken surrounding a semi-circle image of the Texas state flag. (These images were direct-printed on multiple layers of 3\/16-inch, \u00bd-inch and 1-inch thick Gatorfoam with a Vutek Pressvu UV 180\/600 digital printer and then cut out with a CNC router.) Similarly fabricated, the large lettered produce department wall-mounted sign features the same Texas state flag image surrounded by overflowing baskets of fruits and vegetables. And, a large lettered beer wall-mounted sign positioned above a refrigerated storage case features the flag image flanked by a filled beer mug and open can on one side and a filled beer glass and bottle on the other.<\/p>\n<\/a>\u201cI like using Gatorfoam because it is lightweight, durable indoors and cost-effective,\u201d says Ellis. \u201cI spec Gatorfoam, when applicable, for all of my projects.\u201d<\/p>\n