Buster's East Liquors and Wines

5851 Poplar Ave., Memphis, TN 38119 United States

Building Area (sf): 17,230 sf

Completion: Jan, 2024

Buster's Liquors and Wines sought to elevate their new location through a level of design sophistication, organizational clarity, and material richness. These goals drove the design process of reduction, refinement, and shaped decisions to achieve a simple, clean liquor store that is welcoming to patrons.

Occupying a large tenant space formerly housing a Staples supply store, Buster’s East brings design guided by idea and order to a nondescript environment. Balancing the need for an open retail floor plan with a desire to break down the scale of a voluminous space, the idea of creating “rooms” began to take shape. These rooms within the retail space lend order to the overall arrangement of display while decreasing the scale and feel of the large, uniform space. Rooms are defined using two contrasting design strategies. The first employs metal fabric draped from the roof structure, glistening as light reflects off the everchanging amber surface. The more substantial and permanent rooms utilized for tasting and point of sale are defined by large gypsum furr-downs descending from the roof above. Their presence offers a stark contrast to the lacy metal fabric; the juxtaposition between the two further defining each space.

A 90’ long back-lit “whiskey wall” culminating in a walnut-clad humidor, a series of fully glazed rooms including a climate-controlled wine tasting/storage room, a sales room, and a wall of coolers accented with barrel staves wrap the perimeter of the four “rooms”. The outermost periphery is occupied by offices and a stock room which buffer the store from adjacent tenants. The retail “rooms” with their textural presence enrich an otherwise mundane warehouse space, generating order and reducing scale to create a more pleasurable shopping experience.

1 - The tasting room aids in subdividing the larger space while being defined by an elegant gypsum board enclosure.

2 - The "rooms" as prescribed within the conceptual diagram are clearly defined through the architecture overhead.

3 - The glass-enclosed wine showroom is flanked by a meeting and conference room, collectively buffering the retail from back-of-house storage.

4 - Clean plan organization follows the logic set forth within the diagrams of retail and accessory "rooms" subdividing the larger, open retail floor.

5 - The back-lit "whiskey wall" forms a uniform backdrop to the lacy, amber "curtain" suspended overhead.

6 - The entry sequence is defined by a lower ceiling volume overhead and terminates at the glazed humidor.

7 - The delicacy of the amber curtain along with the custom, back-lit walnut whiskey millwork add touches of richness, fulfilling the owner's desire for a sophisticated design among typical liquor stores.

8 - The chilled wine showroom is lined with custom millwork to house unique and select wines. A freestanding table allows for uncorking and tasting when making decisions regarding purchase.

9 - The detailing of the whiskey wall is matched only by the considerations and detailing for display and storage within the wine showroom.

10 - Point of sale is clearly visible and defined as a significant "room" adjacent to exit paths. Its solid presence stands in contrast to the lacy curtains beyond.