Category: store operations
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The Retail Relay: “Running a 3-legged race, in a 4 leg event?”
“A chain is as strong as its weakest link” could never be more appropriate than the chain of events that transforms a retail strategy into a store full of tangible, buyable products. “And what the customer sees and responds to is unfortunately the result of the weakest link, not the strongest one!” To achieve…
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Claiming the Wild Westfield: New Territories for TKMaxx
The TKMaxx expansion railroad shows no sign of slowing, let alone hitting the buffers, as its combination of fashion brands, low prices and dynamic assortment changes finds wider appeal and acceptance within the style sensitive streets of London, and now the expansive plains and diverse demographics of Westfield Stratford. Whilst the unpredictability of the…
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Underground Connection: A New World in Old Street
In an area of London not short of innovation, and with retail delights and surprises bursting out of every industrial alley way and distressed doorway, the newest players are moving underground, taking residence amongst the newsagents and cobblers of Old Street Station. Just arrived on the Northern line, F is the new pop-up store from…
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Should VM be “as good as possible?” or “as good as it needs to be?”
As a firm believer in the mantra “Things should alway be as good as possible” I have always been a little unnerved by those who work by the alternative principles of “things only have to be as good as they have to be” The problem with the second way of viewing visual merchandising standards is that…
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We are all Retailing in a Hostile Environment!
When it comes to turning your stores into selling machines, one solution rarely fits all. If you sell through wholesale or are in partner with franchisees you’ll know only too well about the challenges of working in a “hostile environment.” “Hostile” of course covers a multitude of sins, and it has to be said, sometimes…
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Deichmann Shoe Machine: Running like Brickwork
Saving soles in a sea of shoeboxes, value footwear retailer Deichmann has arrived at a smart solution making self-service shoe buying both visually calming and commercially successful. Boxing clever and boxing bold Deichmann works with its suppliers, brands and manufacturers to a colour palette that allows a brickwall of boxes to segment the assortment.…
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Retail: A Game of Two Halves:
Love it or hate it, you can’t escape it at the moment. Even a trip out for some retail therapy will have you ducking under flags and bunting, taking evasive action to avoid colliding with giant TV wielding consumers or staring vacantly at World Cup sponsored coffee cups, sandwich packets and cheerleading cup cakes. …
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West Elm – Labs of Love: Where Style Begins at Home
Fashion comes & goes, but style last forever. An intrinsic part of the West Elm proposition is the Design Lab in every store from New York to old London Town. And with an assortment built on timeless beauty combined with current looks and the latest materials why wouldn’t you trust West Elm to transform your…
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Exeter Stage Left: High Drama at John Lewis
Five floors of experimental retail in a multi-channel world lands in the quiet city of Exeter. The store is a hybrid concept, laying as it does between the traditional department store and the specialists home stores of the brand. The format lives for hotspots and focal points driving traffic and excitement between and through floors.…
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Maxximum Potential: TK Putting on the Style
On the back of surging sales, TK Maxx plots its path to bargain brand domination with a central London flagship store in the heart of fashionista Covent Garden. The selected assortment tailors to the trendy and the cash-strapped coveters of current labels. New to this store is the Goldlabel departments where only the very best…
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