Retro-Techno Pull & Bear: A Colour Daze of Future Passed

A colour, graphic explosion lights up the latest store incarnation of Pull & Bear, the young casual concept from Inditex.

But this is no blind leading the colour blind, no random application of hues and tones to randomly revive a fading friend. In a very cool but classic way Pull & Bear has combined the innocence of classic times with the dynamic technology of today.

 

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Imagery abounds from the fun of the fifties with retro posters in glorious Technicolor saturation, and then adds the complementary neon highlights from a thousand timeless fun fares and fairground attractions to create a space of life and fun.

New technology is integrated in a subtle sympathetic way not clashing but complementing the simplicity and naivety of the bold shapes, spinning circles and shining stars. Its value is in the dynamic changes it offers the stores from seasonal backdrops to promotions and hero pricing. The low resolution, large pixel delivery is deliberately dumbed down to fit perfectly with the show-time signage throughout the store.

This is technology taken from Lefties but exploding centre-field to transform Pull & Bear from a moody moribund teenager of a concept into the fun-loving, life enhancing brand now bursting onto a street near you.

 

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Are your graphics centrepiece or peripheral to your store experience?

Are you harnessing the dynamic opportunities offered through in-store technology?

VM-unleashed has worked with a variety of brands and retailers on visual communication strategies, store delivery and dynamic retail calendars.

For more information…
tim.radley@vm-unleashed.com

VM-unleashed monitors and celebrates best practice such as Pull & Bear, to advise our clients and make then more profitable.

Visit the blog: www.vm-unleashed.com

Horti-Cultural: The Centre of the Gastro Gardening Universe

Notcutts have embarked on a journey of discovery from languishing local garden centres to regional destinations for the horticultural and gastronomic worlds.

The newly opened Nottingham store features a food extravaganza turning the traditional top soil of garden centre cafes on its head, as it creates serious furrows in the brows of Beefeaters, Harvesters and other nearby eateries.

 

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The concept has taken the cup of tea and daily hotplate, into the arena of “Street Food” introducing into the “sticks” the excitement and exploration found in trendy neck-of-the-woods such as Borough Market and Camden Wharf. In an ingenious hotpot of fusion, French Citroen vans combine with fish and chips, pies and mash with “Cook Au Van” and an array of croissants, cobs and copious cakes, enough to keep the clientele happy till the cows come home.

In the current culture of eating on the go, where every departure from the home is accompanied by several bites to eat, Notcutts and design agency Dalziel+Pow, have elevated this trend from an impulse afterthought into the absolute destination – dining in style amongst the engaging atmosphere of country gardens.

The clever touch is introducing the excitement of the new theatre to a traditional customer, where the pleasant surprise of an elevated atmosphere and dining experience is not cut short and curtailed by the shock of new cuisine.

All the fun of traditional fayre with a generous helping of city street culture.

 

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Is your traditional format ready for an overhaul?

Do you maximise the revenue and traffic opportunities from cafes and food sales?

VM-unleashed has worked with a variety of brands, retailers and design agencies developing the commercial and creative concepts to transform retail environments.

tim.radley@vm-unleashed.com

VM-unleashed monitors and celebrates best practice such as Notcutts, and their collaboration with Dalziel+Pow, to advise our clients and make then more profitable.

Tipple Point: A Storming Tea Cup

In the trend soaked streets of Shoreditch an avant garde angle on the traditional cup of tea is putting on the proverbial and literal kettle in anticipation of your next visit. Where Whittards once was, T2 is now the fresh from the tea fields’ package, adding its own individual flavour, refined to the taste of a new breed of selective sensory seekers.

 

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The proposition perches between the perfect purveyor of beautifully packaged teas and a showcase for its spectacular show of tea-pots, cups and saucers fit for a king to taste his favourite tipple of choice. Every taste in style is catered for from decorative Chinas of the ancient East to simple glassware from more recent retro decades.

Similarly, sampling the variety of available flavours for taste testing, takes the curious customer from exotic Ceylon to Victorian England, from bubbling brews to simmering summer stews, from fruit infusions to chilled chars.

In this intoxicating atmosphere the vibrant tea packages are scissor sharp, displayed in waves of yellows and oranges, gorgeous greens and ruby reds. A bold and beautiful backdrop for the intimate and intricate displays of cracked crockery, cups and saucers.

T2 is a novel and innovative take on tea, fresh to the palette of even the most experienced of imbibers.

 

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Are you struggling between niche and commercial fulfilment?”

Is the move from home ground to a expanding empire keeping you awake at night?

 

VM-unleashed has worked with a variety of new brands building the creative and commercial blocks to ensure that financial success is more of a certainty than a lottery.

For more information…
tim.radley@vm-unleashed.com

VM-unleashed monitors and celebrates best practice such as T2, to advise our clients and make then more profitable.

Relax and enter Foyles’ Third Space: A Literary Statement

On a street synonymous with literature a new chapter has been written in the tumultuous tale of the traditional bookstore. Foyles may have physically moved only metres, but as a concept it has made a journey that brings it into a new century and a completely different world.

 

Join us there!

 

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Seasonal Selfridges: Winter in a Tourist Wonderland

Christmas comes but once a year, and so do tourists. So, with this in mind, and with the usual indomitable Selfridge’s spirit, the Winter Wonderland has already arrived in anticipation of those seasonal September sales.

 

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Globetrotters in search of gifts and glitter are falling over themselves heading for the fourth floor to immerse themselves in a world of traditional snow and sparkle, whilst the unaware walk short-sleeved through the unseasonal September sunshine.

Personalisation is literally the name of the game adding that extra urgency to pick up a unique present or seasonal souvenir, a retail reminder of a summer sojourn through the streets of London.

Top of the festive list are designer china baubles in black and white, waiting to be custom painted with your name of choice. And to celebrate that faraway special day Santa’s sacks expectantly await the personal messages and individual addresses of their lucky recipients, boldly emblazoned before our very eyes.

Identifying the dynamics of your customer, as much as the ambient Autumnal back-drop to life, is always the key to commercial celebrations. All this may leave traditionalists with a nasty November taste in their mouths, but equally provides visitors from many countries with the perfect opportunity to return home as conquering heroes, survivors of the family gift quicksand, the proud providers of politically correct and  perfectly personalised presents.

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Are you maximising the commercial opportunities of your customers seasonal buying patterns?

Should personalisation of your products be part of your armoury?

 

VM-unleashed has have worked with a variety of brands and retailers helping to define commercial retail calendars, and to develop assortments which satisfy the seasonal opportunities offered to every retailer.

For more information…
tim.radley@vm-unleashed.com

VM-unleashed monitors and celebrates best practice such as Selfridges, to advise our clients and make then more profitable.

Defining Desigual: Putting a Price on Personality

Always the unashamed showcase for unique creativity and distinct colour combinations and designs, Desigual sometimes felt like the awkward overdressed guest at the party that was the hugely successful Spanish high street.

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Against the mass market commercial appeal of its rivals, their fast fashion footwork, and intelligent interpretations of the catwalk, Desigual had many admirers, advocates of its distinction, but not always the footfall walk to accompany the flattering talk.

However, still set against this unique stance, Desigual has added a new assortment of more approachable apparel lines, maintaining its point of difference with a concentration on its colour and creative forte, whilst moving to a stable of safer and more acceptable product silhouettes. And in an acceptance of its value critics, the latest store displays communicate clear pricing for more commercial lines such as T-shirts and fashion tops.

Always a store full of mystery, a clear value message and a new commercial edge will be a pleasant surprise for its vanguard of loyal followers, whilst also sure to attract a whole new range of admirers, still advocates from afar but now also customers through the door.

No compromise on creativity, but an affirmation of commercial credibility.

 

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Has your USP become too unique for the market?
Are you trying to balance creativity with commercial credibility?

We have worked with a variety of brands and retailers helping to define and develop an assortment structure plan for commercial success, that also incorporates and celebrates a distinction and difference, strategically controlled for sales impact.

For more information…
tim.radley@vm-unleashed.com

VM-unleashed monitors and celebrates best practice such as Desigual, to advise our clients and make then more profitable

Passion Fruit: Lululemon Squeezing Life to the Full

Shops don’t just sell and retailers don’t just retail in the passionate world of modern consumer brands.

 

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Talking the talk has moved to walking the walk and now to  dreaming the dream, where assortment and retail store portfolios are simply the essential baggage required for living the life of the brand.

Yoga inspired Lululemon is literally helping to turn the retail experience on its head. Inspired by a love of fitness technically driven specialist clothing has been developed in a clamour to escape from a world of clinging cotton and the tracksuit turmoil of traditional training. Disinterested staff have been reborn as brand ambassadors with fulfilling lives flirting between classes, blogging, teaching and inspiring inside the ideology that embraces Lululemon stores.

Witness an environment with changing rooms for engaging in exercise not trying on clothes, a water fountain for hydrating the body as well as the soul, and an adrenaline buzz that promises to perform something that scares you each day.

Rest assured, life is safe and fulfilling inside the holistic home that is Lululemon.

 

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Soho Alive & Kicking: The Jimi Hendrix Experience

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Soho returning to its roots as the 21st Century Jimi Hendrix experience returns to its streets, for a few weeks at least.

 

“People, Hell & Angels” is the latest and most authentic posthumous album from the 60’s guitar hero. And to launch the album a unique Pop-up shop has arrived just off Carnaby Street, in a music launch that captures the life & spirit of that bygone, psychadelic age.

The store is home to the entire Hendrix catalgoue collection, merchandise and memorabilia, but to really soak up the Hendrix experience visit the basement. Here Fender, the instrument of choice for the guitar great, has taken its home for 2 weeks, displaying its range of guitars, with hourly masterclasses on re-creating the Hendrix sound for any budding guitar greats.

A fitting tribute to Soho, and a fitting tribute to Hendrix, brought together again 50 years after.

 

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Monki Mania: Refreshing Fashion in a Stagnant Sea

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The sum is often bigger than the parts, although in the case of Monki it is the fascinating and intriguing parts that very much bring the Monki world to life.

 

On the one hand the carefully conceived store concepts from the Forgotten Forest where shoppers walk on a floor of flowers, becoming lost in the trees and discovering fashion gems in discarded tree trunks, through the distressed and decaying City of Oil & Steel where urban regneration is the setting for Monkis ethical clothing policies to the latest underworld extravaganza, fishing for fashion in a sea of Scallops.

On the other hand, personalities abound in the Monki magazine, from phsychic scandinavians and individual designers to fashionistas with a flair for cosmic thermodynamics.

Individuality is celebrated as a whole, and being different creates a glorious commonality.

 

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The Monki Puzzle: Selling in a Sea of Scallops

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Welcome to the wonderful & truly unique world of Monki.

Monki is a philosophy for life and style, brought to life, through conceptual store design, that encourages the individual to be – individual, true to themselves and not afraid to express their values through fashion.

Carnaby Street is the latest Monki incarnation based on an undersea world of decaying wrecks, sunken carousels, barnacled rigging, giant jellyfish and a myriad of underwater embellishments.

The fashion style is fun and free, encouraging shoppers to break the rules, be inspired by their senses and shop to their impulsive potential. Refreshing fashion in stagnant waters.

 

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