The Estridge Companies in mid-February unveiled a design studio and corporate headquarters in an unusual place — a mall — giving the company a new way to brand itself in the communities it serves. And if the concept works the way the firm's principals envision, the Carmel, Ind.-based custom home builder could be blazing a new path.
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Estridge has taken its design studio and placed it within a retail storefront, plunking it in the middle of a high traffic, high-end-lifestyle shopping center, Clay Terrace Mall, in Carmel, Ind., just north of Indianapolis. The center even has a trendy name: HOMExperience.
Although it's primarily a design studio for new Estridge home buyers, casual mall shoppers are welcomed to peruse and purchase home decor in a sales area or even attend one of the gourmet cooking classes held on a regular basis — all subtle tactics to get the Estridge brand burned into shoppers' minds before they are in the market to buy a home. Indeed; since opening, Estridge neighborhood sales staff have made more than 40 appointments with mall shoppers — about one every three days.
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To top it all off, the Estridge logo is emblazoned high on the headquarters', lest anyone miss the fact that the home builder is dedicated to planting a foot in the community.