Creative Collaboration

Trend is Not Our Destiny

Collective Knowledge

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ABOUT

Charles Sparks + Company is a leading interior design and consulting firm, specializing in retail store design and planning. Since our founding in 1989, our continuing goal is to effectively orient, engage, inform—and ultimately persuade action to purchase. Applying a multidisciplinary approach, our integrated interior designs set the stage for the optimal consumer experience.

PRACTICE

Our design approach is based on the idea that good design is central to creating powerful retail experiences.

We strive to introduce new vitality to every retail space we design. Not only is the store commercially successful, it also becomes a place for reflection and celebration.

We believe that trend is not our destiny. The best solutions are those that are rooted in timeless design and lasting quality. Above all, we pay attention to how today's consumers live, work, and play.

PEOPLE

Our most important asset is our people. Our experienced and talented interior designers envision a variety of options, and then execute the best among them.

We believe that knowledge gained during each design process builds a solid platform for the discovery of new opportunities. Consequently, our adaptive process goes beyond merely identifying solutions to immediate problems. We encourage continuous collaborative inquiry and exploration, to create a synthesis of ideas.

Our vigorous work sessions take place in a studio environment, where we seek new sources of inspiration. To attain fresh insights, we often look to unexpected sources in art, theater, special effects, new technologies, architecture, music, fashion, and other market innovators. This flexible approach means that we are able to move beyond merely addressing immediate problems; we devise extraordinary retail design solutions.

CLIENTS

Each interior design project presents its own unique challenges and complexities. With every client partner, our approach is collaborative, because we know that collective intelligence is important. Our continuously adaptive process applies best-practice methodologies to cultivate original insights, knowledge, expertise, and leadership. As a result, we create extraordinary retail stores that are recognized as among the most successful.

Client List

Adler Planetarium

Akron Art Museum

Al Tayer Group

Ambassador Cards

The Art Institute of Chicago

Baltimore Museum of Art

The Barnes Foundation

Best Buy

Binney & Smith

The Blanton Museum of Art

Bloomingdale's

Chicago Botanic Garden

Cleveland Museum of Art

Colonial Williamsburg
Foundation

Contemporary Jewish
Museum

Country Music Hall of Fame
and Museum

Custom Companies

de Young Museum

Dominick's Finer Foods

DuPage Children's Museum

Duty Free Shoppers
(DFS Galleria)

Famous Liquors

Fannie May Candies

National Corvette Museum

The Farmers' Museum

The Field Museum, Chicago

Follett

Georgia O'Keeffe Museum

The Getty Center Museum

Hagadone Corporation

Hagkaup hf.

Hallmark International

Harvard Art Museums

Hollywood Bowl

Illinois Holocaust Museum
& Education Center

Isabella Stewart Gardner
Museum

Jefferson National Parks
Association

Jamestown Visitors Center

Kaehler TravelWorks

Kennedy Space Center
Visitors Center

Kimbell Museum of Art

LA Philharmonic

LaFayette 148

Lincoln Park Zoo, Chicago

Luxottica

Macy's

Mark Shale

Marshall Field's

May Company

Milwaukee Art Museum

Miss Jackson's

MoMA Design Store

Myriad Botanic Garden

Nasher Sculpture Center

National Corvette Museum

Neiman Marcus

The Nelson-Atkins
Museum of Art

NPR

Nykaup hf

Obama Presidential Center

Omni Superstores

One Vanderbilt

Parisian

Paul Stuart

Philip Morris

Ravinia Festival

Restore

Saint Louis Art Museum

Saks Fifth Avenue

San Diego Zoo

Sara Lee

Shaw's Supermarkets

Spertus Institute

Sportmart

Target Greatland

Ulta

United Audio Centers

Universal Studios

Urban Retail Properties

Virginia Museum of Fine Arts

Virgin

Westbrook Corporate Center

Wisconsin History Center

Younkers

Testimonials

We like working with you and your team. It is nice to see creativity married with style and taste!” James Damian, Senior Vice President
Experience Development Group
Best Buy Co., Inc.
Response from customers has been terrific. People stay in the store for longer periods, and the average transaction has shown an increase. We were very pleased for the opportunity to work with such professionals.” Barbara Voss, Retail Manager
Chicago Botanic Garden
They helped us integrate retail activity seamlessly into our permanent and temporary retail locations. Their balanced strengths in design and execution are a real asset for us.” Laura Sadler, Senior Vice President
Business Enterprise
The Field Museum
They are great partners in listening to our needs, digesting the information, and delivering highly creative, resourceful, and well-thought-out design solutions. Everyone on the Sparks team is a joy to work with.” Ignaz Gorischek, Vice President
Visual Planning and Store Development
Neiman Marcus
Charles Sparks and his team created a solution that complements the architecture of our new building, while providing the beauty and function inherent in successful retail design. Charles was a tremendous partner for The Nelson-Atkins in this project.” Mark Zimmerman, Director of Client Services
The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art
I'm happy to report that the Getty Center Museum Store has been a huge hit aesthetically, and we are finding it to be a far more functional and dynamic space than the previous incarnation.” Thomas Rhoads, Associate Director for Administration
The Getty Center Museum