This might be derailing the thread a little, but I actually admire the structural honesty of big-box stores, with the exposed columns, CMU walls, exposed trusswork, mechanicals, and metal roof decking.

That said I hate the design of them, but I still find myself looking at the ceiling in these stores more often than the merchandise.

If you can live with yourself knowing you sold out go for it. Be forewarned the architects of record you hire will always think you're an incompetent idiot. That I speak from experience...

Do you have to sign anything in your own blood to work for them? If so, you might want to sleep on it a bit first.

store planning sucks....seriously....dont do it
i used to design sephora stores and best buys....ugh. just thinking about it makes my stomach want to purge

But is there any money in it?

dont listen to people who say that you will be a sellout...fuck em.

if the $$$ is there, go for it. If anything, try to make the designs better than they are. We can bitch about big box all we want ($5 says that 99% of us here shop at Home Depot) or we can try to make these buildings better

The upside: you will learn a lot. $$$ and hours are usually better.

The downside: you will learn a lot about 1 building type and typical details.

Be sure that you will be involved in the coordination and construction processes.

some stores do a lot of design work in-house.

other stores send it out and their in-house architecture people work more as clients and project managers.

so your experience may be very different in the gap (former) than in best buy (latter).

Thanks for the Info. I actaully have an interview on Thur. It's three fucking hours with 6 different people. I guess thats a sign of things to come if I due end up working there.

due=do in my iilliterate world!

I started a thread awhile back about this: the adventures of the in-house designer.

Not a lot of response, but what is there is meaty and full of things to think about.

As mdler said, ignore catcalls of "Sellout". Follow your own interests and learn what you can, keeping in mind that the field is enormous and there are all sorts of niches for all of us to fill.

Ive never worked on the retailer's side but i did know an architect for walgreen's, in house. They had their own firm, small but decent work, and left to be an architect for the Walgreen's vs. CVS epic expansion war. From what I can tell, the money is very, very good, at least at the managerial level.

Coolfoot, is this why you are considering such a move?

-- about 5-6 years back, I interviewed a young man who had spent the prior 4 years running the design department of a franchise food service company. In this job, he had a lot of responsibility and made a TON of money. Yet, he despised the lack of design opportunity inherent in his job and was desperate to get back into private practice.

We thought the guy had a good portfolio and experience - we wanted to hire him. However, he had grown accustomed to (dependent on) the lifestyle his current job could support and his economic expectations were 30-40% above what we (or any of our competitors) could afford. In the end, he decided to stay where we was. When he told me his decision, he looked like a condemmed man.

In my 30+ years of professional practice, I think this was the most pitiful situation I ever experienced. This poor schmuck was totally trapped in a job he hated. He couldn't stand to stay - he couldn't afford to leave.

I expect there's a lesson (or so) in my story that you may want to consider before you make this leap.

Good luck.

just make sure the prototype sets you send out are tight

Coolfoot - I'm interested to hear how the interview goes.

I applied to the Starbucks Global Design Group and was rejected right off the bat