Kuma's Corner Vernon Hills

A suburban translation of the Kuma's language: perforated steel bar panels, illuminated boxes, rusted signage, and a patio fence with integrated lighting.

The Hawthorn Mall location opened in November 2018 and needed the Kuma's identity to survive the move from a Chicago storefront to a suburban mall shell.

ChiLab designed, engineered and fabricated the metal package: twenty perforated steel bar panels carrying the Kuma's bear in rust patina, twenty illuminated light boxes, a rusted steel wall sign, twenty sixteen inch round logo medallions, custom logo planters, and a bespoke patio railing with lighting built into it.

Because the engineering had been developed for an earlier store, the kit could be reissued and expanded rather than redrawn. The light boxes came in roughly five thousand dollars under the previous year, and the logo medallions were added as a new Vernon Hills element.