Reviving History, Building Retail Community
The Basement Reno: The Basement aimed to transform a historic United States Post Office from the 1930s into a vibrant community hub in downtown Reno. We rebuilt the brand and the customer-facing system to match where the company was actually going.
Live since 2016
Revitalizing a Historic Space with Modern Appeal
The Basement Reno operates in food & beverage · retail & lifestyle — a category that demands its own kind of attention from the brand and the buyer journey both. The work that got the company this far had earned its market share. The brand and digital surface area weren’t carrying the weight at the same level the rest of the operation was.
The Basement aimed to transform a historic United States Post Office from the 1930s into a vibrant community hub in downtown Reno. The challenge was to create a cohesive branding strategy that could unite diverse tenants, including a clothing boutique, salad bar, juice bar, and other shops, while honoring the building’s historical significance.
The brief was a system rebuild — the kind of work captured in our master frame: Creating a Flexible, Hip, and Historic Identity. Brand strategy, identity refresh, customer-facing experience design, and the post-launch measurement framework that lets the in-house team extend the work without us in the room.
Creating a Flexible, Hip, and Historic Identity
Community-Focused Design
Creating Community Through Local Renovation Lead Designer Brianna Bullentini approached Commence Studio to take charge of the creative direction and branding.
Cohesive Look for Diverse Tenants
Emphasizing Natural and Historic Elements We identified the common thread among all the different shops: their unique location within a historic building.
Hand-Lettered Details and Linework
Modern Yet Historic Logotype The design incorporated hand-lettered details and linework throughout the space, providing a contrast of clean, modern aesthetics alongside the historic setting.
Rawbry: Cold-Pressed Juice Bar
Bold and Edgy Design For Rawbry, we created menu designs and bottle packaging reflecting their bold style.
Editorial-led storefront that earns time on site.
PDPs lead with brand story, lifestyle context, and product detail before the spec table — turning visitors into engaged buyers.
Bundle merchandising that lifts AOV.
Outfit-builder modules, complete-the-kit upsells, seasonal landing pages organized by use case — drove the AOV lift against category benchmarks.
The brand and the operation now run at the same level. The system extends without us in the room — exactly the kind of partnership we were looking for.
Engagement summary · The Basement Reno × Commence Studio
Numbers that matter for the engagement.
Brand and storefront, in production.
Like what you see? Let's talk about your commerce stack.
A 14-day strategic diagnostic — we audit your current stack, identify the friction worth fixing first, and ship a phased plan with sized investments. Fully credited toward an engagement if we move forward together.
What you walk away with
- ✓A measured map of every friction point in your current commerce flow
- ✓Three phased options — minimum, considered, comprehensive
- ✓Sized investments and timelines, no aspirational ranges
- ✓A clear "don't hire us if…" section. We mean it.
