Michelin adds new sign to award-winning store

The Greenville News

Saturday, March 29, 2008
by Jenny Munro
BUSINESS WRITER

The Michelin Man who’s been hanging around Michelin on Main is no longer there.

The roly-poly statue, who spent his time hanging above the entrance to Michelin North America’s retail facility on Main Street, left his perch last week, said Tate Hoxworth, Michelin spokesman.

An illuminated circular sign featuring the smiling face of the Michelin Man, also known as Bibendum, has replaced Michelin’s mascot.

“We feel the new sign does a great job of pointing people to the fact that Michelin on Main is a retail location,” Hoxworth said. The sign “mirrors other signs on RiverPlace.”

Illumination of the sign means it can be seen better at night, he said.

When Michelin requested permission to mount the statue, the city’s Design and Preservation Commission turned down the request. The city, however, initially gave the company permission to hoist the statue for 30 days around the Oct. 12 opening of Michelin on Main. The store, Michelin’s only North American retail presence, features branded Michelin merchandise.

Although Michelin considered an appeal, it withdrew its request and was given permission to keep Bibendum aloft until a new sign was designed and created.

With the new sign on the front of the store, “both Michelin and the city agree this is a good solution,” Hoxworth said.

But Bibendum hasn’t disappeared for good.

He’s gone on vacation and then “will be preparing to move to his new home,” Hoxworth said.

Michelin is still negotiating exactly where that new home will be, he said, “and we can’t give out his new address.”

Hoxworth did say the public should be able to visit him at his new location, which is a location involved with both the automotive industry and Michelin North America.

Also, Michelin on Main has earned two design awards from the Association of Retail Environments – the “Outstanding Merit” award for stores up to 3,000 square feet and a store fixture award for its tire-topped merchandise displays.

“From the initial design of Michelin on Main, our goal has been to create a destination where locals and visitors alike can come and enjoy a unique retail environment in the heart of downtown Greenville,” said Jeff Jacobs, Michelin’s director of identity merchandise . “This recognition reinforces that we have created a space where consumers can interact in a new and different way with the Michelin brand.”

About 5,000 entries from retail environments around the world were considered for the awards.
Also, the interior of Michelin on Main was featured on the cover of Visual Merchandising and Store Design magazine’s April awards issue.