Four months into construction on our first McGee & Co. flagship store, construction is behind schedule, the budget is climbing, and some of Shea McGee’s biggest design decisions aren’t going according to plan.
In Episode 2 of Trolley Square: The Making of Our First Store, Shea and Syd McGee are back inside our Salt Lake City store as the project moves from demolition into the details. With the grand opening getting closer, design decisions are happening fast: brick finishes, cabinetry, paint colors, lighting, built-ins, tile, windows, and all the details that will turn this historic building into a completely new McGee & Co. retail experience.
But renovating a historic building comes with surprises. The exterior construction is already two months behind after broken equipment and a broken water main. An uneven floor adds more time to the schedule. Original windows are too fragile to refinish the way we planned, matching historic brick becomes its own design challenge, and a café Shea envisioned for the store has to be cut entirely. Add budget constraints and a deadline that isn’t moving, and the team is learning just how quickly a design has to pivot during a commercial renovation.
For Shea, designing the first McGee & Co. flagship store also means learning how to translate the Studio McGee approach to residential interior design into a commercial retail space. The goal is still for the store to feel like walking through a home, with a living room, bedroom, kitchen, kids and baby space, lighting, Design Concierge studio, and layered furniture and home decor throughout—but commercial building codes, track lighting, exit signs, storage, deliveries, and construction timelines bring an entirely new set of considerations.
Then the finishes start going in. Cabinets look mintier than expected. Another set appears to be the wrong paint color. Shea starts questioning whether walls need to be repainted without delaying construction, while other last-minute decisions have to be made on the spot. It’s the tension Shea says exists in every project: staying on schedule while still getting the design right.
And, yes, the budget is part of the conversation too. Shea admits she’s spending too much, Syd and the executive team are telling her to rein it in, and she’s looking for compromises—even if she doesn’t really want to make them.
Subscribe to Studio McGee and follow along every Wednesday as Shea and Syd take you behind the scenes of the Trolley Square renovation in Salt Lake City—from construction and interior design decisions to furniture installation, styling, and the final reveal of our first McGee & Co. flagship store.
Watch Episode 2 now.
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Credit to : Studio McGee
