St. Louis Union Station Soda Shop-A Retail Product Development Case History

By: Success Brands

The city of St. Louis has long been historically known as the Gateway to the West; and the famous St. Louis Union Station is an iconic landmark that created opportunity as a Gateway to all of America.

Throughout its history Union Station continues to re-invent itself throughout the times. Today, Union Station is a balance of nostalgia and re-invention, featuring an elegant hotel, a state of the art St. Louis Aquarium, the St. Louis Wheel Overlooking the city, and many unique dining experiences throughout the grand floorplan.

One such dining destination is the St. Louis Union Station Soda Fountain. This charming and fun diner captures the history and fun of St. Louis featuring a full diner menu and fun confectionary creations that stand out against the traditional milkshake! Diners can step into the past with tried-and-true favorites or walk on the creative side by ordering a custom boozy shake!  It is a refreshing blast from the past with sweets, treats, and eats for everyone.

So, when Success Brands partnered with The St. Louis Soda Fountain to design and create their retail brand; our creative team brought the best in fun, ideas, and a modern city style to coordinate with the retro vibe the Soda Fountain represents!

Our chief designer on the project Marisela Camacho and Project Manager Chrissy Ikemeier gathered the initial thoughts and ideas for each piece and design. Good reference photos of the Soda Fountain along with photos of their servers, uniforms and hairstyles were important to layout the initial sketches and ideas for the product designs. Open communication and feedback were key!

Marisela used an app called Procreate to design the initial ideas and drawings. It records your progress and tracks your time spent on each design! From there Marisela was able to utilize those initial designs and finish up the details in Adobe Illustrator.

See the process on our youtube channel here!

The results are a colorful and unique collection of Soda Fountain Caps, T-Shirts, apparel, and color changing souvenirs.  The Soda Fountain team were ecstatic, and the gear is on consistent re-order as tourists and St. Louisan visit for a treat and leave with great memories!