In 2007, Mehmert Store Services was chosen to build a small grocery store to serve the condo residents of the John Hancock Building in downtown Chicago. The John Hancock buiding contains retail and office space on floors 1 through 41. The floors above the 41st level consist of condos as well as support functions for the residences with the exception of the 95th floor, which is a restaurant open to the public. At face value, building a 5,000 SF grocery store isn't the biggest challenge Mehmert has faced. Building it on the 44th floor of one of Chicago's landmark skyscrapers, however was a new and exciting prospect. This store was to replace an existing small store that was dated and unappealing. The new design needed to be visually stunning. In addition, it also had to appeal to a very select, affluent customer. The team at Mehmert Store Services designed a beautiful store that feels larger than 5,000 SF. From the onset, produce has a very prominent position within the store. As you shop, the windows allow an unencumbered view to the north towards Chicago's Gold Coast. Although small, the grocery and frozen departments are sufficient. In inclement weather they supplement the residents' needs until they are able to shop at a larger store. As you continue to shop the store, it leads you to the other strengths - the deli, bakery, and salad bar. As you might expect, challenges building within this space were numerous. Mehmert's first challenge was to engineer a refrigeration rack that could be custom built on-site. Next was the larger problem of bringing full-sized grocery cases up to the 44th floor. The elevators for the upper floors were intended for residential use only. We found that the best solution was to carefully disassemble and then reassemble the deli cases within the space. Unfortunately we couldn't disassemble all of the cases. We found the length of the produce, dairy, and frozen door cases were slightly larger than the length of the elevators with the doors closed. The solution was to have the elevator tech ride on top of the elevator with the doors open the entire trip. With patience and creative thought, Mehmert was able to design a store that effectively utilized the small space in an attractive way. In the end, Gourmet 44's design proved the view wasn't the only breathtaking feature on the 44th floor.