The Estridge Companies in mid-February unveiled a design studio and corporate headquarters in an unusual place — a mall — giving the company a new way to brand itself in the communities it serves. And if the concept works the way the firm's principals envision, the Carmel, Ind.-based custom home builder could be blazing a new path.

Estridge has taken its design studio and placed it within a retail storefront, plunking it in the middle of a high traffic, high-end-lifestyle shopping center, Clay Terrace Mall, in Carmel, Ind., just north of Indianapolis. The center even has a trendy name: HOMExperience.

Although it's primarily a design studio for new Estridge home buyers, casual mall shoppers are welcomed to peruse and purchase home decor in a sales area or even attend one of the gourmet cooking classes held on a regular basis — all subtle tactics to get the Estridge brand burned into shoppers' minds before they are in the market to buy a home. Indeed; since opening, Estridge neighborhood sales staff have made more than 40 appointments with mall shoppers — about one every three days.

To top it all off, the Estridge logo is emblazoned high on the headquarters', lest anyone miss the fact that the home builder is dedicated to planting a foot in the community.