The commercial freight elevator can lift a full pallet load of products.

The custom concrete floor contains a variety of colored stones and a high gloss finish.

A climate controlled wine cellar / tasting room, and spirits center includes rare and imported cognacs.

The large on-site beer cooler is large enough to stock chilled supplies in excess of 300 domestic and imported beer labels.

Client Profile - France 44 Wine & Spirits is a unique seller of a wide selection of wines and spirits from around the world.  Located in the Minneapolis Minnesota metro area, France 44 is one of the only retail stores in the Midwest where customers can sample wines in a private tasting room or purchase cognac that sells in excess of $4,000 per bottle.

Client Needs – A number of significant challenges had to be resolved before the project began.  The location that France 44 wanted to use for it's new store was occupied by the old but very active original France 44 store.  Although this project began in May of 2000, the owners of France 44 wanted to re-open the new store before the traditional holiday shopping season began in earnest after the Thanksgiving holiday.

Karkela’s Solution – Prior to the demolition of the existing France 44 building, Karkela Construction arranged and coordinated the move of the entire store's operations (and a smaller inventory of wine and spirits) into several temporary buildings in the parking lot.

Almost one year of budgeting and planning went into the new France 44 store.  In addition to Karkela Construction, the architectural firm of K K Design was hired to layout and design the new store.  Because of the small, gas station sized "foot print" provided by the building's location, the new building planning by Karkela Construction was critical to the project's success.  Demolition containment and tight scheduling of construction materials and equipment had to be managed within the confines of a busy city corner intersection.

Construction began based on preliminary plans.  The brick, stucco, and steel to be used was decided upon and detailed as the old structure was being demolished.  Once construction began on the new building, the pace of work was often "in front" of the available plans.  To speed up communication between the architects and the construction crews, Fax machines were attached to the scaffolding so that architects could send updates directly to the construction crews.