By Jenny Callison
Enquirer contributor

The spacious lobby welcomes visitors to the 264,000-square-foot headquarters building. (Glenn Hartong photos) | ZOOM |

MASON - It was part strategy session, part family reunion and part pep rally. Luxottica Retail's "Visioning" event at the Albert B. Sabin Convention Center downtown was the Italian corporation's largest gathering of its North American brands.

Several thousand associates attended the conference last week, at which Luxottica Retail affirmed its vision, mission and core values and celebrated the recent consolidation of its North American corporate operations under one roof in Mason.

"The new building houses all Luxottica Retail's brands: Sunglass Hut, LensCrafters, Watch Station, Watch World and EyeMed," said Scott Stoelting , executive director of corporate culture and Gift of Sight program. "About 1,000 people work here." The process of making those folks feel like family began when the new building was still in the design phase.

"Our move began Nov. 1 and ended Dec. 31, but we started involving our associates about a year before that," Stoelting said about the company's move from Symmes Township to the new larger location. "It's so typical of our approach to something like a move to involve all parts of the company as much as they wanted to be in the process."

Associates enlisted in teams that explored issues of food service, decor and wayfinding around the 264,000-square-foot center.

The food service task force visited other corporate dining facilities, researched food service vendors and determined priorities for the Luxottica work force.

Employees have their own workout facility. | ZOOM |

"We were unanimous that Aramark was the company we wanted to work with," said Rhonda Wilkinson, administrator of building services.

"We wanted to reflect the culture of the company in the artwork and wayfinding," said Stoelting, who headed that team.

A brainstorming session in May led to the concept of using Cincinnati-area geography and landmarks to identify parts of the building, said Elizabeth Kokotajlo, associate manager of environmental graphics, who served on the task force. The idea appealed to the many Cincinnati natives who work for Luxottica here and helped transcend any potential dominance by LensCrafters.

Once the building was divided into East Side, Downtown and West Side, Kokotajlo said, "we attached landmarks and parts of town to different parts of the building."

So conference rooms in "downtown" are named Music Hall, Race Street and Roebling Bridge. On the West Side there's Rapid Run and Western Bowl; the East Side has Lunken Airport and Coney Island.

Classrooms in various locations bear the names of educational institutions: University of Cincinnati, Xavier University and College of Mount St. Joseph.

And the dining room? It's the Mason-ette, whose legendary namesake agreed to the pun.

"We really wanted the folks in this area to know that we want to be an important part of it," said Bill DiGrezio, Luxottica retail vice president who worked closely with the building project.

The inspiration for building-wide art came during a team visit to Xavier's Cintas Center, which is adorned by large images of the school's athletic endeavors.

"Our creative people said they didn't want to go out and buy art; that the art should be us," Stoelting said. "So we used pictures from our missions to provide better vision to people all over the world. They tell the Luxottica story."

In strategic spots, banners reinforce the corporation's values, such as "Quality" "Improve" "Nurture." "We have made it a point to say that the culture of the association is wanting to do good work in the world," DiGrezio said.

Associates also had input into design of work stations. Money saved during the building and furnishing process was directed into amenities for employees.

The move, headed up by communications director Cathy Clark, was titled The Amazing Move and managed through an Intranet site. Each staff member got a packet called Departure Documents.

"I think the communications team got associates excited about the move. And the building design has been very well-received," Wilkinson said.

Added Stoelting, "It's so neat to be able to take someone on a tour of the building and let the building speak for itself."

E-mail jcallison@zoomtown.com