New Home: West Comes East to be Part of the Furniture

west-elm-living-wall

Style travels well,

 

… and judging from the stunning arrival of West Elm on this side of the pond, the American home fashion retailer is about to make serious waves in the UK decor market.

The essential elements have been transported safely with its distinctive high wall displays, blocked shelving, colour story chic and opulent ornaments still in tact after the journey East. Particularly impressive and more unexpected is the kitchen department where beautiful boxes build authority across cutlery, cuisine, and crockery which flow into attractive displays of herbs, spices and delicatessen delights.

Customer service is special, as expected, from the home design hub to the cozy coffee bar, where the made-to-measure attention is sure to be a hit with the ecelectic mix of London’s home fashion admirers.

west-elm-food-hall west-elm-cutlery west-elm-bed-wall

Hidden Benefit: Beauty on a Different Level

benefit-beauty-bars

Something beautiful happened on the way to Carnaby Street.

 

Benefits abound in this destination cosmetic store which hides its beauty bushel beneath the streets of London. The inviting staircase leads to the hidden delights of the basement bars. From brows to nails, from body waxing and spray tanning to blow drying and champagne sipping no bar is too high.

Whether its bubbles on the lips or fizz on the face this beauty basement promises to be the destination of choice for pampering parties, corporate calming or just some personal preening below the cut and thrust of Carnaby, the sights and sounds of Soho.

benefit-beautiful-furniture benefit-champagne-bar benefit-windows

Gyroscopical; Chronological; Cosmonautical: Brilliant Breitling

breitling-interior

Time waits for no-one

…and Breitling have wasted no time at all in propelling itself to the forefront of watch design and manufacturing par excellence. Every face tells a story and Breitling communicates every story with style, with integrity and with a precision that complements the design of its watches perfectly.

The new store environment brilliantly combines the precious, authority of the watch displays with powerful store graphics, cartoons reminiscent of the halcien days of aeronautical development. Add to this the beautifully designed fixtures again drawing from the brands aeronautical and engineering heritage and the store is picture perfect, a ticking timepiece of creativity and design excellence.

breitling-display breitling-exterior breitling-graphics

 

His Magista is in Town: Nike’s Beast of a Boot

A beast awaits for the unwitting soccer star too big for his boots. The Nike Magista.

 

nike-magista-create-attack

In Nike Town there’s only one hero in a store that celebrates many, waiting to catch any passing would-be superstars tempted in by the promise of miraculous skills, fabulous footwork and a future in the fantasy world of football footwear.

The Magista is the new “super-boot” from Nike, worn by the rich and famous from the privileged echelons of the glorious game. With World Cup fever raising the temperature Magista takes centre stage, as a cunningly created giant spider, fresh from the forests of the Amazon, the backwaters of Brazil.

Fluorescent windows, inspired by the supernatural sci-fi B-films of the fifties, give the boot an almost supernatural persona as it promises to “Create” & “Attack” in the best tradition of out-of-this-world encounters.

From weird and wonderful, to gargantuan graphics here is one world superstar who has timed his run to perfection!

 

nike-magista-creature-display nike-magista-interactive-area nike-magista-star-window

How is your World Cup going?

Putting the Pieces Together: Jigsaw’s Picture of the Future

Within a jewelled cupcake’s throw from Selfridges an emporium of class and style opened its three doors to the fine people of Duke Street.

jigsaw-the-blubird-store

Under the umbrella of Jigsaw, three concepts shelter from the storms of a post-recession cloudburst, where three heads, three concepts and three propositions are seemingly better than one.  Central to the physical store is the familiar Jigsaw collection, in unfamiliar surroundings, stripped bare from its heritage of art-nouveau adoration, with straight lines, order and angles amidst the changeable moods of concrete, tiles and wood.

The open space swallows ladies men’s and kids with an appetite for more in the shape of the bluebird store, migrating from Chelsea with an eclectic mix of contemporary styles in a landscape of brickwork and neon.

The piece de resistance, in the face of unstoppable change, is the Fernandez & Hall deli where Duke Street fashionistas and bloggers pass pleasant conversations between the serenity of the Jigsaw small talk and the roar of Oxford Street, outside.

jigsaw-an-angle-on-ladieswear jigsaw-circled-message jigsaw-delicatessen-fernandez-will

Would developing different concepts allow you to speak more clearly to different customers?

The Streets of London – Primark’s Second Coming Stands Tall

OMG for HMV. 9000sqm of fashion oxygen was injected into the East side of Oxford Street with the opening of the retailers second flagship store in central London on the site of what was once HMV.

 

primark-oxford-street-wall-inspiration

One year on, and with an extension looming the Primark band-wagon shows little sign of slowing, and why should it. The Oxford Street second store proving to be a watershed moment bringing tears to the eyes of competitors across Europe.

The design marked a more contemporary move from video walls, walk-through entrance tunnels with wall to wall graphics, the continued evolution away from impractical table displays to hanging garments and a variety of display developments inspired by the relatively new visual merchandising department.

And so the empire grows across now established markets in Spain and Portugal and through the still largely unexplored but potentially massively profitable cities of Germany and continental Europe with plans to cross the Atlantic. A watershed in deed!

primark-oxford-street-denim-world primark-oxford-street-fashion-and-low-prices primark-oxford-street-sleepwear-city

Are you at a crossroads moment in your retail history?
What does the future hold for your business?

Fancy Footwork: Asics Speak for Feet

asics-shoe-lab

Bathed in a blissful blue…

the Asics flagship stores exude a confidence that comes from being one of the premium performance footwear brands. There is authority and integrity in the regimented displays, the streamlined athletic mannequins and the tactile surfaces of the store.

Focal to the proposition and the adventure through the store is the footwear laboratory where potential purchasers can participate in a plethera of tests to find the perfect footwear for their desired activities.

“Let for your Feet Speak” states the lab in a store that speaks for itself.

asics-authority-footwear  asics-running-mannequin  asics-footnotes

There are always ways to bring your brand and product to life for the customer.
It may not be as obvious or dramatic as the Asics footwear lab, but if there is a brand, a proposition and a product there are always stories to bring alive!

“Curated by”: In JL we Trust

jlewis-curated

‘Curated By’ …

is a new space in the nations most trusted retailer – John Lewis – which offers customers the chance to selectively shop key pieces from premium fashion brands. Handpicked, the first edit includes exclusives from Sacks, Pyrus, Stella Forest, Charli, Muubaa and Second Female as well as Avoca Anthology, By Zoe, Bensimon and Rene Derhy. “In John Lewis we trust!”

jlewis-curated   jlewis-curated   jlewis-curated

Furla Lining: Looking inside the Bag

furla-candy-tour

Story Linings.

Furla bring their world alive, communicating to a wider audience, with different tones and different tongues. The new “hero” Candy takes an oriental tour to the fashion capitols of the Far East, finding fame and fortune on the arms of the Candy converted.

WonderFurla takes to the streets to explore the looks that complement the totes, the satchels the clutches and the duffels. UGC takes a walk through the Furla fashion possibilities. And behind the formal facade the fashion foundation inspiring young designers to work their magic is exposed and explored adding value and integrity to this most discerning of accessories brands. And the brand played on.

furla-candy-tour    furla-fondation    furla-fondation