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Revolutionizing the Retail Space
There's a great article about the changing face of retail spaces over at RetailTrafficMag.com.
What makes a retail space special? Striking design, of course; great products, too. But to maintain an edge over competitors, retailers are finding they have to give shoppers other reasons for visiting their stores.
A Dick's Sporting Goods prototype store, for example, lets you practice your golf swing while, say, your daughter is perfecting her archery technique. Geoffrey, the new megastore chain from the Toys ‘R’ Us family, has children's hair stylists and photographers for family snapshots. Mazda provides espresso and PlayStations.
That's entertainment — retail style.
In the age of easy Internet purchasing and one-stop buying, retailers are doing everything they can to attract shoppers and their families — and keep them in the store for hours. With this in mind, designers are revolutionizing interior spaces by targeting the shoppers' imagination through texture, sound, color and movement.
“You have to always remember that you're creating an exciting moment for the customer,” says Russ Sway, president of the Institute of Store Planners. “When they walk into a store, you want them to say ‘wow’ to the products that have already existed.”
For most retailers remodeling is routine, often done every five to seven years to freshen the look and attract new shoppers. “It's important to redesign so that the new store down the street won't seem more appealing because it has a fresher coat of paint and trendier graphics,” says Robert Mooney, a former retailer who is now senior designer at Carter & Burgess in Texas. “They want to make sure that they keep up with the Joneses.”
On the following pages, we present some elegant designs and some practical ones that opened in the past year. These uncommon spaces have more to set them off than just attractive fixtures...
Continue reading Uncommon SPACES
