Category: branding & visual communication
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Dyson: Designs on Disruption a Retail Lesson for Us All
For those people who have been in the retail business for more than a few years, or have been working in a traditional retail business for what might seem more than a few years, it must appear as though disruption in retail is only for others! However, many so-called disruptors are simply self-evangelists of…
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John Lewis: The Revolutionary “Loved & Found”
Still my retail highlight of the year for many reasons was to see the opening of the new John Lewis at the Westfield London extension. But whilst the popular headlines latched onto the innovative and original idea to train the store personnel with actors so as to be able to engage and sell more successfully,…
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Future of Visual Merchandising: Tim Radley- Retail Design Expo
Tim Radley, Speaking at The Retail Design Expo You don’t need me to alert you to the fact that retail is in very unchartered territory at the moment as a combination of e-commerce & social media, expensive store portfolios, business rate adjustments and the customer’s changing behaviour towards almost everything from loyalty, possessions, experiences…
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The Future of Visual Merchandising…Creative or Operational?
In the midst of answering client questions, and preparing for a couple of presentations in the near future, at the VM & Display Show and Retail Design Expo (well worth putting in your diaries) I am reminded yet again that “What is the future of VM?” is without doubt the most common question I…
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The White Company: Living life in the Soft Lane!
There surely cannot be a better example of why online retailing will never replace the physical store than The White Company. The recent opening of the extension of Westfield London sees the latest incarnation of the home retailer, now lifestyle retailer, inviting the customer to literally dive into the sumptuous textures and fabrics that make-up…
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Hope Springs Eternal with the Beauty of a Retail Calendar
Helping a retail client to exit the Easter promotions and move into a mid-season sale the staff, and even the store itself, naturally succumb to some mild form of “Post Event Syndrome.” For sure April brings showers, certainly in the UK, but it also closes an intense period of retail activities driven by a…
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The New Era of Retail Collaborations: Sports Direct & Game!
Roaming through my rather cavernous Sports Direct in search of school sports supplies, I was considering the proposed collaboration between Sports Direct and Game. The idea is to share retail space and bring their brands together under one roof. It makes complete sense, serving different retail and leisure needs but to the same customer,…
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“Global Local Retailing” – Familiarity & Contempt in the Backyard
The combination of a powerful global brand with local creatives, craftsmen and manufacturers has to be a recipe for success in this international world with its ironically specific local tastes. Passing through central London on an Oxford Street East to West route taking in the crisp morning air it seems that the better US brands…
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Saving & Making Money from New Store Concepts & Re-fits!
We may all be forgiven for believing that physical stores are dead-in-the-water of the tidal wave of retail revolution carrying all convention before it on a journey to outlet oblivion.However it’s very much a matter of saving theatrics for new store concepts rather than dramatic and premature obituaries. But, before we get down literally to the…
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Are you truly a Retail Brand or just a Product Provider?
On the surface this may appear to be a question stimulated by the omnichannel evolution. In truth it has always been an important question however in previous times with a less demanding customer and a lower level of competition, being a retail brand was a less pressing consideration and the repercussions of not having a…
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