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.
For example, last October, design consultancy, JHP, was appointed to work on the design of a new O2 store at Manchester’s Arndale Centre, and due to its success, the concept used here has been rolled out across 55 stores so far and JHP is continuing to work with O2 on a further 150 stores this year. The telecoms retailer approached the design firm because it wanted a new concept; it wanted to move away from being a ‘phone shop’ to being a ‘platform for total connectivity’ and truly evolve the format of retailing communication devices. The planning of the store has been carefully built around the needs of O2’s customers who wanted an easier way to shop for phones, accessories and other telecoms devices.
As a result, phones and technology are displayed on bespoke pieces of furniture rather than the standard approach of using wall bays. Devices are laid out on fixtures to tell complete stories, with phones connected to accessories such as headphones, printers and speakers. All products are live to encourage customer interaction and to discover the world of O2. A futuristic bar starts in the window and sweeps around to form a service area at the side from which an ‘O2 guru’ staff member can operate. Here, the guru can offer help and answer customer questions.
The window display aims to bring the tangible benefits of being on O2 to life rather than the technology itself. The company worked with advertising agency, VCCP, to create visual merchandising that connects directly to the product and category, facilitating ease of orientation around the store.
The store environment seamlessly links the worlds of the contemporary home and future technology without alienating the everyday customer. Concrete floor tiles and dark timber flooring are used to differentiate various zones within the store. Overhead, the ceiling features sinuous interlocking blades, reflecting the form of sound waves.
At the back of the store, is the ‘lounge’ area. Relaxed and inviting furniture is positioned around a coffee table which faces a huge 65” flat panel screen, displaying product demonstrations, gaming, video clips from The O2 and sponsored sports events. Timber flooring, textured wall-covering and lampshades bring warmth to the environment and adds to the homely feel. Future proofing has been considered in this project as the white unitary on the shopfloor can be easily changed as the product range evolves.
Customer experience instore is enhanced further with the introduction of a ‘self service’ table, enabling customers to check their account, ‘top up’, and buy O2 event tickets. The new concept also boasts ‘green’ credentials, employing the use of energy efficient lighting, digital ticketing instead of paper, digital screens instead of posters and managed power sources which accommodate different requirements. With this design, the store elevates itself above competition. Commercially, the store is said to have outperformed its targets and marks a positive step change in how communication devices and services are sold on the high street.
So, it is set to be a good year for JHP despite the economic challenges that every industry is facing. But the design firm is not immune to the recession. When asked, if business has been affected, Steve Collis, joint managing director of the company, said, “Clients are taking longer to come back following a pitch. Many are dragging their heals when it comes to making a decision on which agency to hire.” However, it is overcoming the current economic climate by “...creating innovative economic design solutions appropriate for the specific market,” Collis added. As advice to fellow designers, Collis recommends that you look at diversifying your offer by sector, discipline and country where possible.
In another example, Checkland Kindleysides also spoke to Shop Spec about how the recession is affecting business. Jeff Kindleysides, founder of the company, said, “Inevitably business has been affected by the recession, however it’s not all as negative as things suggest. Whilst some of our Eastern European projects have been put on hold, work in the US has increased with new clients and projects. We have continued to work with most of our long standing UK clients and have seen business shift from completely new retail concepts to far more initiatives which engage consumers within existing retail environments. Overall business has been very good for us with only a marginal shrinking of overall turnover.” And this shows in the successful completion of a new Timberland store which Checkland Kindleysides designed. The 238m² store is situated in the Westfield Shopping Centre and opened in October 2008.
As part of the design brief for Timberland, CK was challenged to bring the brand’s iconic tree logo to life and show its environmental values in action. Dynamic tree-like roof supports form the architecture of the centre, and the company created a lattice of reclaimed timber branches that stretch the full 25m length of the side elevation, the 11m storefront and the 8.5m height of the store, wrapping the store in the brand’s iconic logo. The façade creates such a strong brand statement that the fret cut steel signage merely acts as endorsement that this is Timberland.
The structure creates interesting views into the store and the expanse of unusual shaped display windows allow almost every item of footwear to be showcased in a simple framework. While in the windows at the front of the store, displays are set against crafted, repurposed furniture and props.
The 3.5m doors, constructed out of salvaged planks, open wide to flank the entrance and welcome customers into the store.
At the front of the store, glass and slate topped display tables showcase the company’s latest footwear and clothing ranges. Above, a reclaimed beam allows for intriguing merchandising and lowers the focus in this 4m high store. The store is navigated by gender, signposted with graphic imagery. To the centre of the store is the ‘community totem’ dedicated to explaining how Timberland helps and supports community and environmental projects, such as reforestation.
Timberland stretched its environmental concerns to the products used to build the store. More than 85% of the materials used are recycled, with salvaged props and wood from reclaimed or sustainable sources used in flooring and merchandising furniture. This, of course, eased the cost burden for the client and designer.
Kindleysides commented, “The Timberland project was not really blown off course because of the economic climate, as a client their ethos is totally focused on sustainability and environmentally sound policy. As such the stores are designed to have as minimal an impact on the environment as possible, which includes reclaiming and repurposing, which also takes into account how far things have to be transported and refinished. This brief inevitably brings financial benefits.”
The store uses a variety of mid-floor fixtures at different heights, including different sized display tables made up of timber stacks with changeable tops, and reclaimed items of furniture, all of which can be mixed and matched and moved around the store to subtly change product displays.
The overhead, wooden (paralam) beams draw customers to the heart of the store and to the main footwear display, an area which incorporates two feature walls. To the right, the curved footwear wall is clad in Timberland original boot leather, displaying the key footwear display. It uses a specially designed display bracket, allowing footwear to be merchandised at any angle, with large scale seasonal graphics depicting the great outdoors. The ‘shoe-lath’ wall, which is made up of vintage shoe-laths, is set against a hot rolled steel back panel, allowing for the relaxed and versatile visual merchandising of footwear, clothing and accessories.
Furthermore, the walls of the spacious changing rooms are covered in large scale graphics, inviting customers to try on clothes surrounded by trees or snow covered mountains. To the front of the store, the desk where customers pay, is carefully constructed out of layers of timber and leather off-cuts, and is set against a backdrop of reclaimed doors. Ales Kernjak, Timberland’s head of store design and visual marketing, said, “This store provides a perfect example of what we stand for as a brand. It reflects our heritage in craftsmanship; our relationship to the outdoors; as well as our environmental values in action. The store front and ‘Market Place’ interior design represents Timberland’s iconic landmark in the retail world.”
To help others in the industry, Kindleysides recommends the following ‘recession busting’ tips, “Hard times focus the mind on what’s important and essential to make every investment deliver. I’d suggest that every designer has harder and more informed choices to make on behalf of the client in these times when creating consumer facing environments, those choices today will in the short term deliver a return in financial and brand equity measures, and must in the long term create a foundation to build upon, and not something to be written off.”
Many stores are being built during this tough time, such as already mentioned stores - Westfield and Topshop, but also Dalziel & Pow recently refurbished Next in Oxford Street and has revamped Store Twenty–One’s brand identity, showing that times are not as bad as we are led to believe. Because whether it be innovative store design or just the fact that the store is ‘new’, which in itself is intriguing, new stores attract customers, which in turn will do the economy good.