Storefront

{{Short description|Facade or entryway of a retail store}} {{For|the theatre in Sydney, Australia| Shopfront Arts Co-op}} {{use dmy dates|date=November 2025}} [[File:Charles Scribner's Sons.jpg|thumb|The flagship storefront of Sephora on Fifth Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City]] A '''storefront''' or '''shopfront''' is the facade or entryway of a retail store located on the ground floor or street level of a commercial building, typically including one or more display windows. A storefront functions to attract visual attention to a business and its merchandise.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.somervillema.gov/sites/default/files/documents/SignAndFacadeGuidelines.pdf |title=Sign and Facade Guidelines |publisher=City of Somerville, Massachusetts |year=2008}}</ref>

==History== [[File:Isaac Israels Hoedenwinkel.jpg|thumb|''Hat shop'', painted by Isaac Israëls c. 1895]] [[File:2018-04-21-16-35-49-IMG 7638 (33078447038).jpg|thumb|Storefront of a bookshop in Tallinn]] Before the middle of the 19th century, storefronts did not have large display windows, but often included features such as awnings and bay windows to attract the attention of passersby.{{citation needed|date=August 2021}} Modern storefronts with display windows developed at mid-century after architectural cast iron became widely available and glass manufacturers began producing large panes of glass at relatively low cost.<ref name=nps />

In the United States, storefronts with large windows become available after 1883, when the Pittsburgh Plate Glass company started to produce plate glass.<ref>{{cite journal|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=l01IUIQ7hNUC&pg=PA38|title=Glass Notes|page=38|last=Bock|first=Gordon|journal=The Old-House Journal|date=1988|issue=August|access-date=August 1, 2021|via=Google Books}}</ref> Also architects started to experiment with iron columns and lintels at the ground floor level.The combination of these two achievements led to the storefront as we know it today.<ref name=nps>{{cite web|url=https://www.nps.gov/tps/how-to-preserve/briefs/11-storefronts.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130619215434/http://www.nps.gov/tps/how-to-preserve/briefs/11-storefronts.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=June 19, 2013|title=Rehabilitating Historic Storefronts|last=Jandl|first=H. Ward|publisher=National Park Service|year=1982|access-date=August 7, 2021}}</ref> By the 1920s, storefront plans with deep display windows, known as the “arcaded” front, had become popular.<ref>{{cite journal|url=https://dahp.wa.gov/sites/default/files/MainStreetNow_Summer_2014.pdf|title=Main Street meets Mid-Century Design|last=Jackson|first=Mike|journal=MainStreetNow|year=2014|issue=Summer|page=10|access-date=August 7, 2021}}</ref>

==Storefront designs== The storefronts of commercial buildings are often substantially altered even when other architectural elements remain intact. Such alterations can adversely affect a historic building's architectural and historic character.<ref name=nps /> Storefronts can also have an area in front of the unit called a "pop-out zone", which is about 500-1000 mm deep.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=x-g4DwAAQBAJ&pg=PT147|page=147|title=Basics Interior Design 01: Retail Design|last=Mesher|first=Lynne|publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing|year=2017|isbn=9781350034495|via=Google Books}}</ref> Storefronts often use channel letters.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.frontsigns.com/blog/full-look-into-your-storefront-sign-cost-main-points/|title=Full Look Into Your Storefront Sign Cost: 6 Main Points|last=Davies|first=Helen|website=frontsigns.com|date=April 20, 2021|access-date=August 7, 2021}}</ref>

==Other uses== E-commerce websites are sometimes called "online storefronts" or "virtual storefronts".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pcworld.com/article/146032/article.html |title= Most Virtual Storefronts Fail |first= C.G. |last=Lynch |date=May 18, 2008 |work=PC World}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.zdnet.com/finance/virtual-storefronts-vs-brick-and-mortar/ |title=Virtual storefronts vs. brick-and-mortar |first=Scott |last=Raymond | date=March 2, 2011 |work=ZDnet}}</ref>

==References== {{Reflist}}

{{Commons category|Shopfronts}} {{Wiktionary}} {{Authority control}} Category:Retail buildings Category:E-commerce Category:Electronics industry