Features

Making waxing a treat... posted OCTOBER 2011

With its boudoir design, waxing boutique Strip whose philosophy is “waxing is a treat not a chore”, dispels the idea that waxing is boring and painful. Tracy Tran looks at Strip’s latest opening at One New Change

The cold-call that led to a strong bond - posted SEPTEMBER 2011

With 22 stores in Europe and plans for further ambitious growth, Urban Outfitters is recognised as one of the fastest growing global retailers. Since 2007, the Philadelphian clothing company has recruited McCue Interiors Fit-out Solutions as its main contractors for five UK stores and a distribution centre. Tracy Tran looks at McCue’s work with the brand

The designer touch - posted AUGUST 2011

In May, Zagliani was named the winner of the retail category at the NAS Design Partnership Awards 2011. Tracy Tran looks at the winning design and shopfit.

Spec-ific design - posted JULY 2011

When eyewear brand, Kirk Originals, opened its flagship store on London’s Conduit Street, earlier this year, it presented a design that was unconventional for a spec store. Tracy Tran finds out the inspiration behind the futuristic, art exhibit-like design.

The Stealth Bomber - posted JUNE 2011

Situated in Cheapside next to St Paul’s Cathedral in the city of London, One New Change is the City of London’s newest shopping and office complex. Tracy Tran looks at the building, which has been nick-named the “Stealth Bomber”

The rise of the pop-up shop

The recession has increased competition and has forced retailers to think outside the box. Georgina Smith looks at how this has re-ignited the trend of temporary pop-up stores.

A chain reaction

London based contractor du Boulay Contracts has recently completed the fit out of the new Jamie’s Italian restaurant in the heart of the historic city of Cambridge. Here, the company talks to Shop Spec about the project brief and how it was fulfilled.

A new story for Levi's

At the end of March 2010, jeanswear brand Levi’s re-launched it’s flagship store in Regent Street, London, with the aim of providing customers with a complete brand experience. Shop Spec finds out more about the ideas behind the store’s design and fit out.

Primark goes grand

Shop Spec takes a look at the winning project of The Land Securities, Store Design of the Year at the 2010 Retail Week awards and speaks to Dalziel and Pow the designers behind Primark, Bristol.

Onwards and upwards?

Georgina Smith discusses the effects of the current economic and political climate on the retail industry

Topshop hits New York in complete style

As part of the Arcadia Group, the much anticipated Topshop and Topman store has opened its doors in New York, enabling New Yorkers, for the first time, to get the full Topshop and Topman experience on their own doorstep. Designed by Dalziel & Pow, the flagship store is located on Broadway

Westfield Shopping Centre: eight months on and still going strong?

A great, white, temple of consumerism rising from the humdrum suburbs of Shepherds Bush, Westfield London opened its doors at the end of October 2008 to crowds of shoppers with a defiant two fingers at the financial crisis enveloping the UK and global economy. Conceived and built in the boom for

Recession: is it a good thing for retail design?

The lights are going out all over Britain’s high streets. Not just for Woolworths, Zavvi and Adams, but several big retail brands have downed their shutters for good or been forced into painful retrenchments. The prolonged consumer boom may have provided a stay of execution for a number of tired and

It's not all doom and gloom

I know we are all tired of hearing about the recession, but it is a topic that we cannot escape, it effects every industry, including the shopfitting industry. However, it is not necessarily all doom and gloom for all those involved here as business continues to thrive for some companies whose clients think ‘out of the box‘ and require original and modern fit-outs to stand out from the competition.

Back to the Centre

The timing could be unfortunate. Just as worried consumers are tightening their belts, more large-scale town centre retail developments are opening for business this year than at any time in almost two decades, with 13 new schemes or major extensions in the UK. All, of course, were underway long before the

Finding Paradise

In May, following a visit by the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh, the first phase of the 42.5-acre, £1 billion Liverpool One was opened, which saw 200,000 people return to the city centre. The biggest downtown regeneration project in Europe, Grosvenor's Liverpool One is a mixed-use scheme based around four distinct shopping

A Historic Challenge

There can be few places in the UK where the importance of designing a shopping scheme to adapt to the surrounding environment is more important than Bath. The West Country city, famous for its Roman baths, abbey and golden-tinged Georgian architecture, is a Unesco World Heritage site and has attracted visitors

Shipyards to Shopping

The £300 million extension to Glasgow's Buchanan Galleries, due to be completed in 2012, is the latest step in a long journey that has seen Scotland's second city transform itself from ailing industrial metropolis to thriving services-driven economy, which began when the shipyards started to shut in the 1970s. Glasgow was

Retail Design Features