"The name says it all," commented a juror of this exuberant retail space; another dubbed it "Captain Nemo meets George Lucas." They found it a dynamic, interesting space with multiple levels of fun detailing. The centerpiece of the Shedd Aquarium's expanded and renovated store is a cable-suspended, fiberglass octopus 28 feet wide and 14 feet high. Its tentacles wrap around eight structural columns whose presence originally suggested the octopus motif. The store's five thematic departments radiate from the great looming octopus.

Special features include super-scale fiberglass aquatic creatures, theatrical lighting, multimedia video and audio effects, and macro-enlarged, 35-foot-long photomurals. According to Paul Bluestone, the Aquarium's vice president of planning and design, the store has been very well received by the public and its excitement and novelty have set the right tone as the kick-off point for a 5-year master plan.