Client story

Gourmet City Stars Store

Gourmet’s New Store Design Concept

Location

Cairo

Spotlight

Project Management 

Size

400 square meters, 90 square meters back area

Time

75 days

Client’s ambition

Gourmet Egypt was established in 2006 to deliver wholesome, delicious food with top quality service. Gourmet are currently rolling-out 5 new prestigious stores in Cairo- one of which is the CityStars Store.

Overview

Gourmet wanted to replace their existing pop-up store in CityStars with an innovative, larger store. The elegancy of the design aimed to create a flagship store that is differentiated from previous venues. Appointing a prominent Egyptian Design Studio (Alchemy) to envision the design, Gourmet also introduced a new branding scheme. The project scope encompassed Fit-out activities. During the project timeline, we collaborated smoothly with the tenant coordination team to reach a successful outcome. The obstacles we had to overcome were mainly concerned with navigating construction activities amidst the COVID-19 outbreak.

One of the main goals of fit-out work in this market is to ensure all project parties are in agreement on the ambitious vision of the final design and operational output.

Key Challenges
  • Fast-track Timeline: The project was on a tight schedule and had to adopt a highly agile plan where design and construction activities were carried out in parallel. The Mall also had their own inspection approval protocol which the project had to abide by.
  • COVID-19 Impacts: Equipment deliveries and construction activities coincided with the curfew imposed in Egypt due to the outbreak. The mall also limited opening hours, affecting the duration available to complete the project. This situation also imposed difficulties to the JLL team, who needed to be on site frequently.  
  • Operation Logistics: Several activities need to be performed once the equipment is delivered on site. All teams have to ensure that technical utilities are in the right locations to serve their designated purpose. The challenge lies in coordinating this while the operations team stocks products in a short time frame. 
Our solutions
  • We made sure all project parties were on-board with this fast work pace and were aware of all construction updates. JLL set up an effective communication protocol that ensured open channels between all parties. This allowed us to act fast across the board and absorb new technical requirements in a timely manner.
  • We informed the contractor promptly on all new restrictions imposed. Coordination was carried out to obtain entry permits in advance. In order to avoid reductions to work hours, night shifts were introduced. The JLL team also keenly followed health and safety recommendations by utilizing gloves and masks in site visits.
  • During project close-out, daily inspections were held by JLL to ensure that the contractor was assisting with equipment placement and utility connections. This allowed for efficient project activity overlaps. JLL also made sure that the contractor was finalizing all snags with extreme care and precision in order to protect food products.
The big picture

Ensuring high quality design and protecting the integrity of all displays and the Gourmet Brand was one of our main targets.