Sustainable Retail Signage

• Kohl’s, one of the world’s top discount retailers, needed to update some of the athletic apparel signage in its stores.
• Previous signs were made from traditional materials and were very heavy to handle and install.
• Kohl’s sought a solution made from lighter weight, sustainable materials.

Solution

• The Acrylic Design Associates team recommended using Aluminum Composite Material (ACM) for the sign frames.  ACM features a recycled core, making it lighter and more sustainable than other materials.
• Recrylic^® certified recycled acrylic was used for the manufacturer logos – which were created as push-through illuminated letters and shapes.  Recrylic was also used for the custom-built light-guide panels that distribute light evenly throughout the signs.
• Energy-efficient LEDs were used to provide maintenance-free lighting with minimal electricity use.
• Rather than printing lengthy installation instructions, Acrylic Design provided a 1-page sheet with QR codes linking directly to online instructions and videos – further reducing the project’s carbon footprint.

Results

• Acrylic Design produced more than 2,200 signs, with different versions for Under Armour, Adidas and Nike.
• Using Recrylic in place of virgin acrylic reduced fossil fuel use by 86%.  This avoided more than 150 tons of CO₂ emissions – the equivalent of taking 30 cars off the road for a full year.
• The new signs are not only 100% recycled, but also recyclable, helping create a sustainable life cycle.