Here’s how KEEN Footwear used Basecamp to help build their flagship store in Portland.

Chazz Hacking—the project lead—chose Basecamp to help organize the store design, develop fixtures, and manage craftspeople. There were 40 people from 10 different companies involved in this 8 month project!

The first thing Chazz did was make a new project in Basecamp called KEEN Retail: GARAGE PDX Glisan St.

Then he invited a few core people to the project. He didn't invite all 40 people right away though. More people got involved as the project progressed over the 8 month span.

Chazz wrote a Basecamp message to the team explaining the goals of the project and how he envisioned everyone using Basecamp.

He also added PDF blueprint scans and CAD files for the team to reference as they started to plan the design. Since all these files were uploaded to Basecamp, everyone on the project had access to them (even people that were invited later on).

Fast forward a few months...

Chazz has invited everyone who's involved in the KEEN flagship store opening. Designs have been approved. Ideas were debated. Progress has been made. Chazz says, "I loved the sense of community it created." Here's how their active project looked.

Finding the right door...

One of the coolest things Chazz and his team did was use Basecamp's mobile app to help find the right dressing room doors. The KEEN store's design depended on salvaged architectural materials. These doors couldn't just be bought at a local hardware store.

He assigned Craig the task of searching for the perfect door.

Craig took pictures of over 25 doors and uploaded them to the Basecamp project from his mobile phone.

All the pictures were in Basecamp, so everyone in Basecamp could tell Craig what they thought of the doors—all while Craig was onsite looking at the doors. No time wasted going back and forth from the warehouse to the office. He got immediate real-time feedback.

Eventually, Craig, Chazz, and Christa found the perfect doors. This process would have been much more difficult without reviewing the images in Basecamp.

Digging in...

Chazz also used Basecamp to look at all the things he and his team needed to do in order to meet the store opening deadline.

The Basecamp calendar showed everyone when things were due and what important events to expect.

Chazz also looked at his personal page to see what he had left to do.

He and his team also worked together on a document that served as a running inventory of everything they needed to build for the store.

Celebration...

After 8 months, the project was finally complete. Chazz posted a final message to his team with links to videos and press about the store opening.