US2285962A - Shop, bazaar, and the like - Google Patents

Description

SHOP, BAZAAR, AND THE LIKE June 9, 1942. T. E. FouLKEs 2,285,962

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Patented June 9, 1942 SHOP, BAZAAR, AND THE LIKE Thomas Edward Foulkes, Ilford, England Application February 24, 1940, Serial No. 320,562 In Great Britain February 25, 1939 7 claims.

This invention is directed to the construction, lay-out and fitting of shops, bazaars, stores and the like, and whilst primarily residing in the art or sphere of building and construction, is concerned ultimately with problems economic, commercial `and aesthetic. The realm in which the invention is thought to have the greatest scope, as at present envisaged, is that of bazaar trading, such as in any of the five and ten cent store groups, wherein a sa-les fioor is usually provided with a peripheral counter, more or less continuous, and a number of island -counters surrounded thereby, these last being of Varyingsize and arranged according to the shape and size of the room so as to leave gangways or corridors between themselves, and between themselves and the peripheral counter.

The invention, however, is applicable to other types of store, shop, or the like, including those in which, instead of there being counters to display goods, there is service furniture such las chairs and fitting stools as in a shoe store. For convenience of explanation, the inventionwill be described as applied to the bazaar type of store, but is not to be considered as limited thereto.

In every store, two factors call :for iioor space, the one being the customers, land the other being the goods to be sold, with which lattermay be grouped the assistants who are to do the selling. Obviously, to make counters large enough to contain all the goods in the store will encroach too largely on the space for the customers, and it has, therefore, been customary to divide off a part of the store as a depot having parallel rows of shelving fixtures for stock, and to `arr-ange the sales counters and corridors in the remainder of the store, the counters, and possibly fixed shelving lbehind the peripheral counter, carrying sufficient stock for a short sales session, whether day, half-day or less.

Such arrangements require the frequent`V replenishing of the local stocks (on counters and shelves) which, in the case of short sales sessions, involves inconvenience and 4annoyance to customers, and also they result in the corridors or gangways between the rows of shelves in the depot, being idle for the greater part of the day and, therefore, making an uneconomic demand on the floor space of the store. Again, the necessity for a separate depot for bulk stocks often prevents a symmetrical arrangement of the sales room, and frequently forbids the provision of a double-ended store, i. e. one having a display front and entrances in two parallel streets.

The object of the present invention is to -provide a method of Iconstruction and arrangement of store, bazaar, or the like, which will avoid the characteristic disadvantages of the hitherto known art, and which will provide the maximum of economy, convenience and sales attraction.

In the accompanying drawings:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of one interior corner of a bazaar store constructed according to this invention;

Fig. 2 is a plan of the same store;

Fig. 3 is a plan of the store as it would have been set out according to the hitherto known art; and

Fig. 4 is a plan of a part of the store embodying a modied form of the invention;

Fig. 5 is a cross-sectional view of a bank of storage shelving such as is shown in Fig. 2;

Fig. 6 is a plan of a part of a shoe-store constructed and arranged according to the invention.

As shown, the store comprises a rectangular floor I surrounded by en-closing walls 2 on three sides, and display windows 3 on the fourth side. Entrance doors 4 are disposed between the display Windows 3, and exit doors 5 are disposed in that wall 2 which is opposite the display windows. In cases where the floor I extends between two thoroughfares, there may be display windows at two opposite ends of the floor I, thus making the store a double-fronted one. It will be noted more especially from Fig. 2 that no part of the floor space I is isolated as a separate storage depot, so that the store furniture and fittings may be arranged symmetrically with the rectangular shape of the enclosure, be the store single' fronted or double fronted. Arranged against the walls 2 are ranks 6 of shelving, the shelving being fixed with respect to the wall, and comprising open-fronted rectangular storage compartments. In some instances the shelving 6 may be in movable units, as is the case with the further shelving described below, but in the present instance it will be referred to as fixed shelving. Some or all the shelves of the shelving 6 may be adjustable in height between the dividing walls or partitions l, or all the shelves may be in xed positions, as desired. The fixed shelving 6 ymay be less in height than the walls 2, as in Fig. l, or may be of the same height, as in Fig. 5. Should there be windows in any of the walls 2, the shelving 6 may be omitted at such points, in the same manner as it is omitted from the positions opposite the exit doors 5. Normally, however, the side walls 2 will be division walls between the store and adjoining buildings and will be Without apertures.

Arranged in front of each fixed rank 6 are two rows 'I and B'of mobile shelving, each of these rows comprising side-by-side wheeled units of shelving arranged to run in tracks or channels 9 let into the floor I, see Fig. 5. Each unit in the rows 'I and 8 consists of base, side walls, top and shelves, with or without a back, and the units Amay be of a lesser width, that is, with one compartment at each shelf level, or of a greater width with two compartments at each shelf level. Both forms appear in Fig. 1. The bases are provided with wheels I0, see Fig. 5, and the sides of the units may have projecting buffers II, to leave linger space 'between them. The number of units in each row VI and 8 will be such as not completely to cover the xed shelving 6. In this Way, it is possible to divide the units in the two front rows so as to .give access to the shelving, behind, all the units being open to the front.

Arranged in front of each of the several assemblies of shelving is a counter, which may be substantially straight as shown at I2 in Fig. 2, or may be of improved serratedv form as shown at I3 and I4 in the same gure. Such improved counters give an increased surface area for display or sales purposes, within a given length, yet no part is of more than a little above normal distance from the reach of a customer. Again, the reach between a customer on. one side of the counter and a salesman on the other side need not be more than the smallest width of the counter.

What is a still further advantage of the improved counters is that the serrations form pockets or recesses for the buying customers, to prevent such customers impeding the general stream of customers along the corridor. This is indicated at IL' in Fig. 2. Similarly the Walking space for the sales-hands, between the counters and the storage shelving, need only be small, as such persons may stand in the recesses of the counter and leave a clear gangway behind them. The top surface of the counters may be plain, or may be divided into compartments for small articles.

In front of the rows of shelving 6, I and sliding boards or panels either merely to conceal the contents of some of the shelving, or to serve as notice boards or display panels, or even to have shallow supports on them for small flat articlesl Such boards vwill be movable sideways on suitable tracks.

In the case of a wide floor, such as the one shown, additional co-operating storage and counters may be provided in the central part of the floor, in one, two or more places. In Fig. 2, backto-back fixed banks of shelving I6 are provided,

having movable units of shelving II in front oi them, and the whole being surrounded by the improved serrated counter I8.

A comparison of Figs. 2 and 3 will reveal. the

salient advantages of the invention. The total j oor area is the same in each case, but whereas in the old arrangements of Fig. 3 approximately one-third is taken as a store-room or depot, in the new arrangements of Fig. 2 the whole of the floor is a sales room. The corridors of the separate store-room in Fig. 3 are idle for the greater part of the time and represent so much waste space, and in addition, the separate store room militates against the use of a double-fronted shop. lMore than this however, the counter area I5 may be provided, i

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in Fig. 2 is increased by 33%;%, and the cubic capacity of the storage shelving is increased by over 15%. The invention, therefore, provides, in a given floor area, greater storage for stocks, greater display, greater customer space and greater accessibility of goods than in any known arrangement.

Referring now to Fig. 4, provision is made for supplying goods to the storage shelving 6, 1 and 8 from behind, so as entirely to eliminate, any interference with the selling and buying activities. In this case all the storage shelving is made up of side-by-side wheeled containers on tracks, and a corridor or alley I9 is left between the rearmost row 6, and the wall 2, the corridor having doors 2t at the ends. Additional tracks 2| are laid in the corridor for the shunting of some of the containers into the corridors where they may be filled. The containers in this arrangement will be open at the back and front, so that replenishments of goods may be made from the corridor I9. The corridor and its doors will be such as to allow a truck or the like to enter from the street.

When the movable units of shelving are tall and extend up to a ceiling or other overhead member, guides may be provided to prevent forward tipping of the units, especially if the units are formed with ladders to give access to the upper parts. One form of guide is shown in Fig. 5, and comprises an angle iron strip 22 secured below the ceiling, and slotted plates 23 on the side walls of the units, the depending web of the angle lying in the slots of the plates.

The invention is not limited to the type of store or shop in which goods are sold over a counter, it being applicable also to shops having other service furniture. Fig. 6 shows a part of a shoe store in which are chairs 24 and fitting stools 25, arranged in rows parallel with and between compact storage assemblies. A screen 26 is shown between the entrance door and the chairs.

The invention, in addition to being applicable to shops, stores, and the like is applicable to some types of workroom or factory. For example, the counters may be replaced by machinery, such as benches of sewing machines, or packing machinery, the machine operatives in such cases taking 'their raw or partly-prepared materials from the shelving 6, 'I and 8 to which shelving the materials will have been supplied from behind, and either passing their work along the bench for further processing, or otherwise disposing of it in accordance with known factory usages.

What I claim is:

1. A shop adapted for the retail sale of goods, comprising a floor, surrounding walls bounding such oor, parallel, closely spaced rows of storage shelving on the floor and arranged near to and parallel with some at least of the walls, and service counters arranged in rows parallel with the storage shelving, the rows of shelving adjacent each wall being close together, substantially in contact, with all the shelves open to the front and the contents thereof being to a substantial extent concealed from view by the front row, and the shelving in those rows not nearest the wall being in side-by-side wheeled units mounted on tracks for lateral movement, and the service counters being spaced from its adjacent shelving so as to leave a single corridor for service at such counters and for access to the shelving. the

counters being generally parallel to and closely spaced from said shelving.

2. A shop adapted for the retail sale of goods, comprising a oor, surrounding walls bounding said hoor, parallel closely-spaced rows of storage shelving arranged peripherally about said floor, all the shelving being open to the centre of the shop, and some of it being in wheeled side-byside containers mounted for lateral movement on tracks, the rows other than the front row being to a substantial extent concealed from view by the front row, counters also arranged peripherally about said door but spaced from the shelving so as to leave a corridor sucient only to give alternative access at any point to the shelving or counters, and further storage shelving in rows arranged as islands on said hoor and surrounded by further counters spaced therefrom so as to leave a corridor suiicient only to give alternative access at any point to the island shelving or surrounding counter, said island counters and said peripheral counters being in adjacent relation and providing a corridor for the passage of customers.

3. A construction according to claim 2, wherein each island of the further shelving comprises a centrally-disposed row of xed shelves open on both sides and rows of laterally-movable shelves arranged on each side of the central row, the laterally-movable shelves all being open to the front, being in side-by-side wheeled units, and each row of movable shelves being less in length than the row of fixed shelves.

4. In a sale-room the combination of a counter having both of its longitudinal edges ofsimilar serrated form, with rows of shelving structures, the counter and rows being in substantially parallel relation, the rows being close together without intervening corridors and with all the shelves open towards the counter, those structures in the rows adjacent to the counter being in wheeled units mounted for independent lateral movement, and the row nearest the counter being spaced therefrom so as to leave a corridor whose width at the narrowest parts is suicient only to give alternative access to the counter or shelving, recesses in said counter suhicient in extent to accommodate a shop employee without blocking the relatively narrow corridor between said counter and shelving.

5. A shop adapted for the retail sale of goods, comprising a licor, surrounding walls bounding said floor, parallel closely-spaced rows of storage shelving arranged peripherally about said floor, all the shelving being open to the centre of the shop, and some of it being in wheeled side-byside containers mounted for lateral movement on tracks, counters also arranged peripherally about said floor, the counters being of zig-zag form in plan and spaced from the shelving so as to leave a corridor suflicient only at its narrowest parts to give alternative access to the shelving or counter, and further storage shelving in parallel contacting rows arranged as islands on said floor, some of the further shelving being in sideby-side containers mounted for later-al movement, and the said islands being surrounded 'by further counters also of Zig-zag form in plan, substantially parallel therewith, and spaced therefrom so as to leave a corridor Whose width at the narrowest parts is suiiicient only to give alternative access to the shelving or counter, recesses in said counter sufficient in extent to accommodate a shop employee without blocking the relatively narrow corridor between said counter and shelving.

6. A shop for the retail sale oi goods comprising a substantially rectangular floor, surrounding walls bounding such floor and one of the walls including display windows and entrances, the opposite wall including exits, rows of storage shelving along the other two walls, the rows being in contacting relationship and those not nearest the walls being made up of side-by-side wheeled containers mounted on tracks for independent lateral movement, all the shelves being open to the centre of the shop, further rows of storage shelving against the wall having exits and between such exits, those rows not nearest that wall also being made up of side-by-side wheeled containers adapted for lateral movement and all the shelves being open to the centre of the shop, a counter arranged in front of each assembly of shelving, some of the counters being of zig-zag form in plan and the counters being spaced from the adjacent shelving so as to leave corridors whose narrowest width is sufficient only to give alternative access to the shelving or counter, further rows of storage shelving arranged as islands on the said floor and parallel with those walls not having the entrances or exits, such further shelving comprising back-to-back rows with the outermost rows formed of side-by-side units adapted for lateral movement and all the shelves being surrounded by further counters of zig-zag form in plan and spaced therefrom so as to leave corridors whose narrowest width is suiicient only to give alternative access to the shelving or counter, recesses in said counter sufficient in extent to accommodate a shop employee without blocking the relatively narrow corridor between said counter and shelving, the several counters being spaced from each other so as to leave wide corridors for customers, recesses in said counters adjacent said customers corridors sufficient in extent to accommodate a customer without blocking said customers corridor.

7. A construction according to claim 4, wherein said counter substantially surrounds said shelving, the central shelving unit being xed and the adjacent shelving on both sides thereof adapted for independent lateral movement.

THOMAS EDWARD FOULKES.

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