"The upper floors will be upscale office, with a high-concept showroom boutique and retail at the base," Mr. Sitt said.
In 2007, G.M. pledged to take the vehicle from concept to showroom in less than three years, putting it in consumers' garages by the autumn of next year, an undertaking that company executives likened to the Apollo moon project.
"Bookshops are among the many high street retailers to be hit by the new concept of showrooming and it's interesting to see the moral divide between the older and younger generation.
It went from concept car to showroom model in only 18 months, demonstrating General Motors' new prowess in product development.
So what exactly scuttled the floating retail showroom concept?
Though it most likely will lose the massive machined alloy wheels and a side-skirt crease here or there before entering production, the concept otherwise looks showroom-ready, with a streamlined roof and angular flanks, as well as a bolder front fascia.
Soo Kang, the chief interior designer in the Lincoln design studio in Dearborn, Mich., was responsible for the interiors of the concept car and the showroom version.
Haworth showed an artistic concept in their NeoCon showroom constructed by Patricia Urquiola that entwined projectors with movement to create an interactive art display on a tabletop surface.
The presentation features the 2013 Ford Focus ST production concept, which is due in showrooms next spring, as well as more than 700 Mustangs.
From the recently opened furniture store, Danish and European Antiques, to New Design Concepts's carpet and rug showroom, a five-year tenant, to Terra Tile and Marble and Bilotta Home Center, staples of the street since 1994, the storefronts along this under-a-mile stretch of the road that runs between Routes 100 and 9A offer consumers the gamut of services for building, renovating and decorating.
The company has devised the concept of a "joint e-showroom," where a company can build a microstore that can be displayed as a special section of its Web site.
