MAY 2021 VOLUME 20 | NUMBER 5 VENUESNOW.COM
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MAY 2021 | VOLUME 20 | NUMBER 5
COURTESY HUSSEY SEATING SPOTLIGHTS &FEATURES gearing upforgearing areturn. (Adam Latham) ON THE COVER: 32 30 20 AMPHITHEATERS about theirplansfor ramping up. happen outdoors. tous Acoupleofampstalk When crowds return itwilllikely toconcerts, when events aren’t happening. are thatbettors addinglounges canvisiteven gamblingexpands,As onlinesports somevenues didn’t still. stand When COVID-19 companies camecalling, seating
FOCUS: SPORTS WAGERING INVENUE: SEATING INVENUE: TheHollywood Bowl, Tinseltown’s iconicshed, isamongamphitheaters 20 from a recent project at United Center in Chicago. Chicago. in Center United at project arecent from handiwork Seating’s Hussey at Alook SEATS: OF SEA 39 36 hour are nottheonlyway theair. toclear Increasing MERV ratings andairexchanges per compatible. but somesay safety health, are andsustainability Compromises may term, intheshort beessential SUSTAINABILITY FOCUS: HVAC SYSTEMS MAY 2021
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OAK VIEW GROUP 16 AMPHITHEATERS PRESIDENT, IN EVERY ISSUE MEDIA & CONFERENCES Billy Strings helps former racetrack get off to fast start. Ray Waddell [email protected] FRONT ROW VICE PRESIDENT, OPERATIONS, MEDIA & CONFERENCES Jon Guynn [email protected] 18 CONCESSIONS 5 CALL TO THE FAITHFUL VICE PRESIDENT, Food service companies bringing SALES AND SPONSORSHIPS, Country star Eric Church leads workers back to ballparks in phases. MEDIA & CONFERENCES the way with return to arenas. Aki Kaneko [email protected] SENIOR DIRECTOR, INTEGRATED SALES 6 VAX OR STAY HOME? BOOKINGS John Walberg [email protected] Debate simmers over requirements. SENIOR DIRECTOR, FINANCE Maggie Nguyen 7 BRINGING IT ALL BACK HOME 43 LIVE! LANDMARKS [email protected] New coffee table book chronicles Past holiday weekends that kicked SENIOR DIRECTOR, struggle, wonder of indie venues. off the summer live music season. MEDIA & CONFERENCES Erin Grady, [email protected] 10 Q&A WITH PAT NAGLE 44 LIVE! ROUNDUP SENIOR DIRECTOR, Allstate Arena GM recalls more It’s just one additional page, but MEDIA & CONFERENCES Taylor Johnson, [email protected] than 30 years in Rosemont, Illinois. our monthly charts are growing. COORDINATOR, MEDIA & CONFERENCES SECTIONS DEPARTMENTS Alexa Benudiz, [email protected] MARKETING DESIGN MANAGER Darrian Warach COURTESY BILLY BOB’S TEXAS 13 CLUBS 9 INTERNATIONAL BEAT SALES COORDINATOR, Billy Bob’s wrangles challenge of MEDIA & CONFERENCES 10 FACES & PLACES Elaine Lai-Lakusta balancing safety, personal choice. [email protected] 45 TOP STOPS / HOT TICKETS BOX OFFICE LIAISON Bob Allen [email protected] CIRCULATION MANAGER, MEDIA & CONFERENCES Jodi Di Pasquale VenuesNow is published monthly by OVG Media & Conferences LLC, 1100 Glendon Ave. Ste. 1000, Los [email protected] Angeles, CA 90024. Periodical Postage Rate is paid at Fresno, CA. EXECUTIVE EDITOR, POSTMASTER: Send address changes to VenuesNow c/o OVG Media & Conferences LLC, 1100 Glendon Ave. MEDIA & CONFERENCES Ste. 1000, Los Angeles, CA 90024. Andy Gensler [email protected]
4 MAY 2021 INVENUE Seating
SETTLE IN: Spec Seats pro- vided portable seating for The Shell, new in San Diego. CUSHIONING THE FALL
PROJECT LOG: Spec Seats
Client: Las Vegas Raiders Cost: NA Venue: Allegiant Stadium, Project: Portable seating Las Vegas for ADA companion, locker SEATING COMPANIES WEATHERED room, event level, and Completion Date: meeting rooms. THE SHUTDOWN BY CONTINUING July 2020 Quote: “The beauty of our products is that they are designed and modified to meet each client’s specific need. We can TO MAKE PEOPLE COMFORTABLE customize seat heights, widths, armrests, accessories and more. Also, our storage cart systems can be designed to best utilize specific space areas.” — Jordan Hergott BY ROB KNAPP
OVID-19 forced busy even as venues around the parts of the live industry world had gone dark. VenuesNow to a halt, while others spoke to the businesses as part of continued to hum along. InVenue, a new occasional feature Count seating companies, that offers a tour through some of which continued fulfilling the businesses that help make up Corders while taking on the occa- sectors of the industry. sional new one, among the latter. When the shutdown hit, some In conversations with companies companies at first didn’t have a that provide seating for arenas and way to fulfill orders. Both outside stadiums, theaters and convention suppliers and their own manufac- centers, as well as other kinds of turing units were emptied of em- institutional facilities, executives ployees as businesses and health said a healthy backlog of orders experts figured out safe ways for that had built up before the corona- production to continue. virus-caused shutdown kept them “Like many U.K. manufacturing
20 MAY 2021 CUSHIONING THE FALL
PROJECT LOG: 4Topps
Client: City of Austin / Cost: $1.75 million Austin FC Project: Manufactured and Venue: Q2 Stadium installed all 6,000+ pre- mium seats in the venue, businesses, concern for our staff educate them. And above all, it Completion date: March roughly 750 of which are led us to shut our factory for a was about communication with 2021 HighBack Suite Seats. period of time in spring 2020,” our employees. It was how do you Gary Pillinger, sales director for make sure that they’re aware of Audience Systems Ltd., said by what we’re doing as an organiza- Quote: “We are no longer a seating company that lives email. “Much of our supply chain tion to keep them safe and also to only on the margins of new stadium builds and renova- shut down too.” maintain their livelihood.” tions. We have a diverse product line to do it all. When Coke Irwin, senior vice pres- That community spirit included Austin FC chose our breathable mesh seats, it not only ident of sales and marketing for manufacturing 50,000 masks for showed they care about their fans, it deepened our belief Grand Rapids-based Irwin Seat- local hospitals, shelters and other in our core mission — to revolutionize the spectating ing, said, “In late March through nonprofits in need, he said. experience with products that focus on fan comfort and the first week of May, we were drive revenue.” — Deron Nardo actually shut down in Michigan,” ‘WENT OFF WITHOUT where the state government was A HITCH’ using some of the country’s most But for the most part, the restrictive measures at the time. sector’s COVID story was about Irwin has just over 500 employees manufacturing chairs and install- including manufacturing workers ing them in venues, which was in Michigan and at a telescopic good news for everyone. seating division in Altamont, Maine-based Hussey Seating is Illinois. fresh off playing a part in college In seeking a way forward, Irwin hoops hysteria, completing a said, the company emphasized major installation at San Anto- communication, both internally nio’s Alamodome just in time for and externally. “It was a lot of the NCAA Women’s Basketball networking here locally with Tournament. The job involved other firms and how they were replacing more than 12,000 seats managing their way through … to on telescopic platforms that were figure out how you can keep peo- designed for the stadium when it
COURTESY SPEC SEATS SPEC COURTESY ple in the building, how you could opened.
MAY 2021 21 INVENUE SEATING PROJECT LOG: The updated seats provide fans ADA companion chairs, which Hussey Seating with additional comfort, and the offer adaptations for armrests efficiency of the engineering de- with cup holders, and locker Client: City of Cost: $10 million-plus sign gives the Alamodome more room chairs and the different San Antonio flexibility, something every venue requirements for both. Both must Project: The largest tele- is seeking, said Sean O’Leary, be comfortable, but in the locker Venue: scopic platform in North vice president of sales and mar- rooms, “the NFL guys will sit on Alamodome America currently, the keting for Hussey. our stuff, so our chairs are pretty Alamodome boasts over Completion date: 12,000 Hussey seats on “Everybody has events that heavy duty,” he said. March 2021 you can convert from basketball Spec Seats found itself with a MXP telescopic platforms. to hockey, but where we really starring role in one COVID-era pride ourself is how quickly, how icon, thanks to its partnership Quote: easily can you do that? How little with the NBA. “This project epitomizes our focus on customer-first manpower can you use to make “We’ve been doing a lot of the solution development. We worked closely with the team that happen efficiently?” O’Leary player seating,” Hergott said. at the Alamodome to design a telescopic seating solution said, adding that the product “Actually, at (Walt Disney World), that would align with their goals. Today, you’ll see the must also be able to endure many those were all our chairs used in Alamodome on the national stage whether it’s building years of use. the ‘bubble.’” two simultaneous basketball courts for the Women’s The Alamodome has 15 major The company has been working NCAA Final Four, a Monster Jam event or an upcoming configurations, he said, including on taller chairs for NBA players, Def Leppard concert. Their crew is well equipped to move one seen for the NCAA tourna- and with social distancing during these systems with ease to maximize the functional space ment that placed two courts on the pandemic that gives players of their venue.” — Sean O’Leary the floor with a curtain dividing more space than in a traditional them. bench area, the chairs include “All of this just went off without some improvements. a hitch, which is a little nerve- “They don’t need to have wracking when you’re talking (bench seats) packed into a about a thousand moving parts certain area as much … so it gave that aren’t in place until a month the NBA teams and some of the before the big event,” O’Leary college teams the opportunity said. “But that’s a great example, to expand their player seating you know: huge engineered solu- areas,” he said. “So we designed tion, truly multifunctional.” more of a taller chair with a fully Hussey’s other recent projects upholstered back that would be include work at United Center in beneficial for the players.” Chicago and Bridgestone Arena Some non-bubble locations to in Nashville, Tennessee, both spot more of Spec Seats’ recent longtime clients of the company. work include the refurbished dium, he said. “We only recently other places in the stadium that Spec Seats pulled off a triple Phoenix Suns Arena and The started doing custom mesh colors we know the seat will work.” play among the three big stadi- Shell, the new permanent outdoor … so a really cool project with Thanks to the interchangeabil- ums that opened in 2020, said venue for the San Diego Sympho- some of our newer features.” ity of parts in its system, 4Topps Jordan Hergott, the company’s ny. The mesh-backed chair is a was able to modify that original sales director. It supplied its cus- selling point for 4Topps, but it swivel seat and create row seats tom portable chairs for Globe Life ‘WE WANT TO didn’t start out that way. The first as well as caster seats. “We had Field in Arlington, Texas; SoFi MAKE IT EASY’ thing the new company came to so much demand particularly in Stadium in Inglewood, Califor- North Carolina-based 4Topps market with in 2011 was a half- the college space for caster seats,” nia; and Allegiant Stadium in Las Premium Seating spent the moon high-top table with four Nardo said, “For whatever reason, Vegas. last part of 2020 putting its swivel chairs that could create the college football stadiums all At Allegiant, home to the NFL’s mesh-backed chairs into several instant loge seats on a once-emp- have these terrace boxes or loge Raiders, the company delivered facilities. One was Q2 Stadium, ty concourse, but “the evolution boxes where they like, like, an portable seating fo ADA compan- the new home of MLS expan- of that was it started with a plastic office chair.” ions, locker rooms, the event level sion team Austin FC, for which seat that we had another manu- That versatility, along with the and meeting rooms. several seat companies supplied facturer make,” Nardo said. “We comfort of the mesh backing for “With arenas, we’ll do more products. designed the mesh seat, and (it) warm outdoor settings, is now concert floor seating for mass set- “We did all of the premium really just came down to the reac- part of what 4Topps takes to the ups,” Hergott said. “But what’s re- seats for the soccer stadium, tion to the breathable mesh was table when it talks to clients. ally nice about our product is the 6,000 roughly, including field so overwhelming that we knew “Our goal ultimately has been flexibility and also the different suites, all the luxury suites, the we needed to make a more robust to, if a team were to build a new areas where they can be used.” club levels, so that was the biggest product line with that seat.” stadium, we want to have a prod- That’s an advantage as big (project) by far, a really cool Generating new product ideas uct for every part of that stadium venues continue to segment their project and some new stuff for was “as simple as looking at a sta- and we want to make it easy,” seating into more categories, us,” said Deron Nardo, 4Topps dium map,” he said. “We thought, Nardo said. offering opportunities for more principal and president. well, we have a great product for Other recent installations differentiation in seating. “We designed a sweet seat like niche spaces, group areas, you for 4Topps include a multicolor Taking Allegiant Stadium as an a high-back seat, and they use know, maybe restaurants (and) mesh row seating installation of example, Hergott compared the that in a lot of places” in the sta- bars, but, boy, there’s a lot of 2,000 or so seats at home-state
22 MAY 2021
INVENUE SEATING
Charlotte Motor Speedway and several 15,000 Capacity category, and Irwin said he Southeastern Conference projects: caster was proud to be part of the project. seats for football loge boxes at Alabama “I guess I’ll toot our own horn here in PROJECT LOG: and South Carolina and row seating behind Grand Rapids,” he said. “It’s one of the home plate for baseball at Auburn. best-run buildings in the country, and it Across the country, the soccer stadium was an opportunity that just presented itself Irwin Seating business is booming, with three opening because of how they run their business at Client: this season, and Irwin Seating is there for Van Andel. They were in a good position City of Austin/Austin FC all of them. financially, and during a period in which “It’s been hot,” Coke Irwin said. “We they weren’t able to host events, they decid- Venue: Q2 Stadium just finished up the MLS stadium in Austin, ed that it was an opportune time to replace Completion Date: Texas. We’ve begun work on the Columbus their seating.” May 2021 MLS stadium. (We’re) also putting seating Among Irwin’s other recent projects is in Cincinnati’s new MLS stadium.” You can the Steven Tanger Center for the Perform- Cost: NA add to that the stadium for Nashville SC, ing Arts in Greensboro, North Carolina, which is scheduled to open in 2022. which was supposed to open about the time The 20,000+ seat Austin Project: “For the most part it’s our beam mount coronavirus shut down live events in March FC MLS stadium was designed application,” he said. The chair “mounts 2020 and is now pointed toward a fall 2021 by Gensler and constructed by to a beam in the general area and then you debut. Austin Commercial. It is owned might see a little bit of differentiation in the by the city of Austin. Irwin collab- club and the suite offerings. Some may be ‘WE’RE STARTING TO orated with Gensler, Austin FC, more traditional, our Marquee-type chairs SEE OPPORTUNITIES’ and other partners to create fan or Signature chairs, which we often put in MTS Seating, another Michigan-based seating for general admission, suites.” company, does a considerable amount of clubs, suites, and a safe standing Q2 Stadium, the Austin MLS stadium, business supplying chairs to conventions area. Custom colors and logo isn’t the only project for Irwin in the Texas centers and the hotels that serve them. plates reflect the team’s brand. capital. It will also be working on the Moody Because local governments hold the purse Groundbreaking occurred in Center, the arena set to open there next strings to many convention centers, orders September 2019, and the stadium April. took a hit once COVID-19 shut down those will host its first game on June 19, “It’s a really exciting project, a unique buildings. 2021. The venue will also be used project in that it’s on the university cam- “Large convention center business has for amateur sports, concerts and pus,” Irwin said of the building, which will really been nonexistent because they’ve community events. seat 10,000 for basketball and up to 15,000 been paralyzed with absolutely no custom- Quote: “This has been a great for shows. “UT will be using it, but it’s er revenue coming in,” said John Menas, opportunity to work closely with primarily a concert-type venue.” (Oak View senior vice president of sales and marketing Gensler and Austin FC to help Group, which is developing the arena, also for MTS Seating. The same is true of what them realize their vision for a owns VenuesNow.) Menas calls big box hotels, with 3,000- to stadium that reflects Austin’s In keeping with its hometown spirit, the 8,000-person meeting space capabilities. vibrant community and provides company “just reseated the upper bowl at “Now, as we’re seeing that starting to a a premier experience for fans.” our local arena here in Grand Rapids, Van open up, we’re starting to see opportunities — Spence Benedict, director of Andel Arena.” The venue often shows up in with some of these places,” he said, citing sales, Irwin Seating VenuesNow’s Top Stops lists in the 10,001- a current project with the Gaylord Palms Resort & Convention Center near Orlando, Florida. “We’re looking to see some larger venue opportunities happen soon,” Menas said. “So we think that by the third (or) fourth quarter we’re going to start seeing move- ment and (expect) next year to be the full recovery year.” In the meantime, MTS used the diversity of its client types to stay busy, including hotel chains. “We’ve consistently enjoyed a great deal of business, what I like to call our spec business, with large hotel chains,” he said. “When you’re written into their spec package, when they need something, it gets COURTESY AUSTIN FC written into a proposal and then we get an order. And so that work has paid great divi- dends for us throughout this entire COVID crisis, because many of the limited or focused-service properties have been rather vibrant with their business activities.” Menas said the company also, like others that VenuesNow spoke to, had a backlog of business about the time the pandem-
24 MAY 2021 PROJECT LOG: MTS Seating
Client: StadCo LA LLC Venue: SoFi Stadium, Ingle- wood, California
Completion Date: August 2020 Cost: NA Project: Client specified and purchased 1,500 of the firm’s 07/1 Mendola Stack Chair. Made with a high-strength lightweight aluminum alloy frame, an up- holstered lightweight plywood shell with a contemporary and ergonomic design, capable of stacking 10 high.
Quote: “As the leader in Made In The USA metal frame hos- pitality furniture, MTS is proud to be included in the $5 billion SoFi Stadium sports entertain- ment complex. Our modern Mendola stack chair is right at home in the ultra-modern aesthetic of SoFi Stadium.” — John Menas
BALCONY BONUS: At Wilton’s Music Hall, a historic venue in London, Audience Systems put seats, in some cases multiple rows, in the narrow balconies.
ic struck, giving it a chance to fulfill those entire genealogy of our chair.” orders. Among other projects, MTS Seating has With that, he said, it will be good to see big 1,500 of its Mendola model of stack chairs convention centers get back online and return in SoFi Stadium, which opened last year in to their cycles of replacements and upgrades. Inglewood, California. Menas said the chair’s “Three years ago we had an incredible cycle, design matches the modernism of SoCal-cool a huge amount of activity with convention SoFi. centers,” he said. “We did the Orange County For U.K.-based Audience Systems, last (Florida) Convention Center for 70,000 year’s factory shutdown upon the coronavi- chairs.” rus’ arrival gave way to a busy summer for One lesson from the pandemic, Menas said, the manufacturing team, Pillinger said. was the wisdom in the company’s decision “Some arts venues understandably to produce all its products itself and use raw delayed purchasing decisions until there materials suppliers who are domestic, some of is more certainty,” he said. “Luckily, our them local. education, arena and aftersales businesses “I can tell you that for items that there just have remained strong, which has sup- isn’t anything available and you have to go ported our business through the last 12 offshore in order to get it, those items are prob- months.” lematic right now,” he said, “because there’s He spoke of flexibility as a theme in so many ships that are sitting off the West orders the company was working on, Coast that are loaded with products that can’t particularly tied to VIP areas. “We see dock and they can unload. more venues wanting to create highly
PHILIP SPARKES / STAGE AND TIERS AND STAGE / SPARKES PHILIP “For us, being domestic, we control the customized VIP areas within the main body of
MAY 2021 25 INVENUE SEATING
PRED CRED: Hussey Seating recently replaced the seating at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee.
PROJECT LOG: the seating. VIP guests are there well as fabrics we are able to offer not just for the hospitality, but which are treated with antibacte- Audience Systems Ltd. for the vibe in the arena itself — rial agent.” sometimes difficult to find in the Client: Interbuild Project: A new multipur- rarified atmosphere of a box!” GA = GOING AWAY? pose hall, part of the Euro- Pillinger said. One question that has been Venue: Multipurpose pa Point Sports Complex As part of a renovation at asked since COVID arrived is Arena, Europa Point built for the Island Games. Cairns Convention Centre in whether general admission areas, Sports Complex, Gibraltar Audience Systems pro- Australia, now undergoing refur- where personal space is more Completion date: vided tread fixed and VIP bishment, Audience Systems is difficult to regulate than in seated July 2019 chairs plus retractable and laying out new seating in such a areas, may lose popularity. The re- stacking seating to help way that areas can be sectioned port from seating execs is mixed. Cost: NA the hall to adapt quickly for off with removable rails to create 4Topps’ Nardo said he has had large seated events, small- flexible VIP zones, Pillinger said. conversations in which venues er events and nonseated The rails also provide space for are looking to move away from events alike. advertising. general admission in areas such as Another installation, at The O2 tiered picnic areas. 4Topps is now Quote: “The project management, sales and installation Arena in London, is “a self-con- offering to lease its loge box tables teams were flawless from conception to completion. If I tained, customized retractable and seating to organizations look- had to rate my overall experience in comparison to the seating system solely for the use ing to experiment with reserved many other installation works we undertake for various of a sponsor,” he said. “The seat- seating in those areas, in some type of projects, I would put Audience Systems in my top ing forms part of the main arena cases as part of a revenue-sharing three, if not THE top company I have dealt with.” bowl, but is accessed from an deal. “So we’re giving them a low- — Reagan Lima, director, Interbuild atmospheric private lounge, and er entry point,” he said, adding, is finished with high specification “We’re bullish on it.” flooring and trims to mark it out Irwin, on the other hand, said his from the general seating. It also, company isn’t seeing that kind of of course, has a great view.” appetite for reducing capacity. So Pillinger noted an increase in GA may remain another COVID demand for plastic seats, partly mystery until more venues hold driven by ease of cleaning in the more events at greater capacities. COVID era, and said plastic is One answer that seems certain being used for installations at across seating companies is “Yes.” Meadowbank Sports Centre in It’s the answer those companies Edinburgh and a new Sheffield want to be able to give, no matter arena. what kind of seating a client might Fabrics aren’t going away, but desire. As Karol Stefanski of Po- “choices have been more driven land-based Nowy Styl put it: “We by hygiene too,” he said. “We’ve will make anything you want. definitely noticed a rise in popu- General seat, VIP, semi-VIP, fur-
COURTESY HUSSEY SEATING HUSSEY COURTESY larity of vinyl and faux leather, as niture for an entire VIP suite?”
26 MAY 2021
Nowy Styl founders Adam and Jerzy Krzanowski ADVERTORIAL owy Styl helps people all over the world arrange their offices and public spaces – stadiums, passenger terminals, multifunctional halls, cinemas and theaters. Currently HOW Nowy Styl is Europe’s largest manufacturers of chairs and professional furniture. The growth from family business Nto international player would have been impossible without constant progress, while never forgetting its NOWY STYL own history. Having never strayed from this philosophy, Nowy Styl today assists its clients in creating a reality born out of dreams. But how did it all start? CONQUERED Brothers Adam and Jerzy Krzanowski founded the company in Poland almost 30 years ago, yet its history is intricately linked to the U.S. In 1990, THE WORLD Adam crossed the pond as a student to do a gap year working for a chair manufacturing company called Whyte. In the beginning, he was — FROM U.S. THROUGH POLAND TO EUROPE just unloading trucks, but company owner Henry Stern sensed Krzanowski’s genuine interest in the business and promoted him. When Adam returned to his hometown of Krosno, where Jerzy had successfully launched a restaurant in his absence, Puskás Arena, Budapest, Hungary the two brothers decided to start their own chair manufacturing business.
Henry Stern provided them with start-up support, encouraged them to open their own furniture factory and helped them build business relationships with suppliers. He didn’t anticipate how this decision would change offices and public spaces all over the world in the nearest future.
The first product manufactured by the Krzanowski brothers was named Nowy Styl, which translates as “new style,” and became the official company brand. The 1990s were spent expanding the product range as well as the number of markets Nowy Styl has a presence in. The company sold its millionth chair in 2000, supplying stadiums, concert halls, auditoriums, José Zorrilla Stadium, Valladolid, Spain educational and medical facilities, airports, cinemas, hotels, shopping malls, countless office buildings and Nowy Styl has realized projects in more than 100 more, with clients including international giants like countries, the U.S. isn’t one of them, yet. The Siemens and Toyota. company’s International Sales and Project Support Manager Forum by Nowy Styl Karol Stefanski tells In 2006, the Forum Seating brand (now Forum by Nowy Styl) was created in anticipation of the growing demand VenuesNow, that the product range first needs to be from multi-purpose venues, including stadiums and upgraded. “The stadium seats for Europe and the U.S. indoor arenas. The building of the Forum brand identity have different dimensions, [they’re] bigger, deeper, was an important step in the development of the more foam, higher backrests, a nice armrest with organization. The FIFA World Cups and UEFA Euros big cup holders. In Europe, you’re just going to see hosted across the world, from Europe to South Africa to the game, but in the U.S., you go to a meeting with Qatar, and the stadiums built for the occasions, came friends. Our designs for Europe or even Qatar are with a high demand for seats. considered too small,” he explains.
28 MAY 2021 It won’t be a problem to meet the requirements, Nowy Styl prides itself on its nimbleness, keeping the entire production in-house to maintain maximum autonomy. The in-house designers are able to conceive new solutions from scratch. When 67,000-capacity Puskás Arena in Budapest, Hungary, asked the company to design the entire bowl, including camera stands, press tables and metal railings, Forum was ready. It was the company’s biggest commission yet. “If one company does the seats, and another one does the railings the designs might clash. We draw all our designs ourselves, there’s no clash, and usually the client gets a better deal,” says Stefanski, adding, “had you asked me a year prior, if we could do such wide scope of works at Puskas, I’d have said no. But they asked, we got our guys back here to draw up prototypes and found that we could deliver.” Allianz Riviera, Nice, France
18 production plants equipped with state-of-the-art One reason you may not have heard of Nowy Styl is the UEFA Euros 2016 and has a capacity of 59,186. It was technologies are located in Poland, Germany, France, Krzanowski brothers’ habit of leaving management, designed by London-based architects Populous, who Switzerland, Ukraine, Russia and Turkey. Their creations staff and brand names of the many companies they’ve also designed the new Tottenham Hotspur Stadium are presented in 33 showrooms located in Warsaw, acquired over the past 25 years untouched, while in London and won the bid for FC Cincinnati’s new London, Paris, Düsseldorf, Munich, Prague, Bratislava and injecting their unique know-how. After all, the local staff West End Stadium. “It’s a beautiful, modern stadium, Moscow, amongst other places. Including all subsidiaries, know their market best. The Germans, for instance, love with a strong emphasis on sustainability. Our work the Nowy Styl employs some 7,000 engineers, designers, sturdy-looking seats with lots of metal parts, in Finland, there led to other projects in France. Every time factory workers, and the back office, which oversees Nowy Styl got asked to design seats with a natural we come back, it puts a smile on your face,” says production, logistics and orders coming in. Around 50 wood look. Some of the most prestigious places will Stefanski. of them are working under the Forum brand, which sometimes forgo beauty in favor of price, as long as has built a reputation for bespoke solutions that can be stability is guaranteed. In countries where soccer is a The 2016 European soccer championship also led to reconfigured easily, aimed at venues hosting a variety religion, a simple shell might be all that’s required for an another commission that exemplifies the lengths to of event genres. “We have control over the entire audience that’s mostly on its feet anyways. The Qataris which Nowy Styl and Forum will go in order to satisfy production economy, all things concerning logistics, are picky, they might request 10 to 20 mock-ups before a client’s needs: The French city of Nice had a pretty and we provide our own installation crews. It also means making a decision. The U.S. audience wants comfort. new stadium that didn’t meet the UEFA’s seating that if there are problems, you cannot blame anyone but requirements. The operators called Nowy Styl. “They SA ASSOCIÉS & WILMOTTE : STADE DU ARCHITECTE - RIVIERA ALLIANZ yourself. It keeps us focused,” says Stefanski. “We will make anything you want. General seat, VIP, had very limited time between the regular soccer semi-VIP, furniture for an entire VIP suite? You can pay season and the tournament. Two months to replace Apart from a slower period in the first two to three anything from €50 to €2,000 for a seat,” according 36,000 seats. We had to get rid of the old seats, months of the pandemic, during which most of to Stefanski, who observes a trend that started in recycle them, produce, supply and install the new Nowy Styl’s staff worked from home, business hasn’t the U.S. and has already swept over to the UK and ones. But when they asked, ‘Can you do that?’, we been affected by coronavirus at all. The emphasis on Europe: selling advertising space on seats. It can be said, ‘of course, no problem!’ Even though we would reconfigurability by some clients may have increased a way of refinancing even the most elaborate chair, usually calculate about seven to nine months to do but making it easy to add and remove seats at will which may include USB sockets, internet connection, that kind of job. But you find solutions, hire extra has been part of Forum’s philosophy from the start, heating and a touchscreen – particularly in times when people if you have to, you get real creative under even if it wasn’t with distancing mandates in mind. venue operators are thinking of ways to avoid human pressure.” The company has also received inquiries from clients interactions on site. Stefanski recalls requests that asking how best to protect their chairs and has were simply not feasible. “We had one inquiry from In 2017, Forum began a partnership with Coastal Qatar. provided them with instruction manuals specifically the Netherlands, where they wanted a heating and a It licensed the production of Abacus stadium chairs to created for Covid. Stefanski’s overall impression, cooling system inside the same chair,” he remembers, the Qatari manufacturer. It also supplied technological however, is that venue operators are preparing for adding that the only reason Nowy Styl didn’t bother know-how to support the construction of a modern a return at full capacity, the only return that makes researching a way of realizing this was the small factory with the launch of production in the Middle East. sense for this business. “We are working on many quantity ordered by the client, which would have As a result, these seats will fill six of the seven stadiums projects simultaneously. We’re building new plants and rendered the operation economically unviable. at the FIFA World Cup 2022. warehouses while creating new production lines as we speak,” Stefanski continues. Stefanski’s favorite project so far is the Groupama Egypt is currently constructing new stadiums, as well, Stadium in Lyon, France, which was built for the embedded in entire entertainment districts that will require many, many chairs. And then there’s the U.S., where the market is huge and competition small, according to Stefanski. “They’re building two to three stadiums every year; the MLS is growing. And then there’s Spain. Valencia, Real Madrid, and FC Barcelona are about to replace their seats,” he says, showing both great excitement at the prospect but little hope of winning the bid for Barcelona’s famous Camp Nou. The club’s in financial dire straits. “We have also supplied the seating for Real Valladolid lately – the club owned by former Brazilian soccer star Ronaldo Nazario,” Stefanski concludes.
With the U.S. increasingly exporting its most popular franchises, including the NBA, NFL and WWE, there seems to be no shortage of future prospects for Nowy Styl and Forum – once people are allowed to gather again, that is. The company is in talks with OVG (VenuesNow’s parent company), which is busy building arenas across Europe and wants to introduce the audience across the pond to some of the American comforts when it comes to seats. Esports has created a demand for modified chairs that is still limited but may increase. “We want to be recognized as a one-stop shop and long-term partner. We are not going to disappear tomorrow. There’s no way we’re not going to fulfill our contracts, even in these difficult times.” says Stefanski.
And he highlighted, “At the core, Adam and Jerzy Krzanowski are still the same people they were when Adam left for the States. Throughout our growth, their motto has always been to respect and help each other. You have to be good to people, that’s their and our business philosophy. They’ve remained grounded, never forgetting where they come from.”
MAY 2021 29