SCHEELS, Chandler
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The team provided preconstruction, subcontractor procurement and general contracting services for this 260,000-sf SCHEELS flagship store, our team’s 5th store together (a 6th is underway in Meridian, ID as well). A SCHEELS is organized like a mall with shops and amenities including a commercial kitchen, cafeteria, and restaurant, fudge shop, Starbucks, Ferris wheel, archery range, simulators, repair shops, a 16,000-gallon salt-water fish tank, and multiple game venues.
The features of this store require intensive coordination. A 16,000-gallon aquarium in the shape of an arched entry and placed at the front of the store is not an afterthought! One of the first holes dug on the site is for the aquarium room, which is poured in concrete, coated for waterproofing, and fitted with multiple access points for maintenance. It’s meticulously placed to coordinate with the tanks themselves. Atop the tanks is concealed access for the aquarium’s maintenance personnel (divers!) who require safe entry and exit from the archways and columns for feeding and cleaning. This one component requires layout of pre-pour sleeving, extra structural reinforcement and support, early procurement of embedded items, coordination with multiple third-party vendors, multiple layers of quality control at several milestones, enhanced commissioning techniques, and specialized equipment for tank installation.
Plenium Builders’ preconstruction team visited the existing mall building (a Nordstrom store) to review structural components with the design team and advise on how best to approach adaptive reuse from a construction and cost standpoint. Maximizing the reuse meant that existing precast paneling, structural steel, upper-level flooring, roofing could all be salvaged in place to save money. Approximately 130,000 square feet (on two levels) were added on into the existing parking lot to expand to the full capacity of the flagship store model.
The design team devised creative strategies to manage the mix of old and new components and PB followed through using quality control and assurance measures, including mock-ups, test samples, and first-in-place reviews. The building’s flagship model was adjusted to integrate key brand components like brick, stone, and
Heat was a major concern during construction as temperatures reached record highs in Chandler, near Phoenix, AZ. When the weather hit the low eighty-degree mark, the team proactively set up cooling tents, shade structures, and an air-conditioned trailer to encourage workers to take cooling breaks and avoid heat-related illnesses.
Temperature control is important to the SCHEELS operations team as well. With a large amount of sloped glazing on the roof and clerestory fenestrations beneath, the sun has the potential to negatively affect visitors, personnel, and inventory. It also would require additional or oversized cooling equipment. Scheels store standards now include electrochromic glass. This kind of glass is coated with a layer that can be electrified and dimmed to manage exterior conditions. The team coordinates this work early since large, sloped glazing installations are a national specialty (few companies locally can compete), the support requires the sloped glazing design be completed, the electrician will need to complete the wiring, and there is lead time associated with all the major components.
Working in Arizona also required relationship-building with local builders and agencies to ensure a successful project and competitive subcontractor bid environment. Arizona was really busy when we started the buyout process - inundated by billions of dollars of tech sector development and pulling in all the major resources in the valley. It was a challenge to get responsive bids even on a store that’s larger than your average data center. The team rallied by making in-person visits, cold-calling, getting recommendations and introductions from new trade partners, and managing the bid dates carefully with procurement deadlines to add more time, maintain fairness and transparency, but also be firm about when to finalize each deal.
