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Conran Shop–Modern Britain’s Original Tastemaker
The lessons for us all: “Don’t diversify and dilute unique origins & heritage. Focus on them, build on them, and make them relevant for today.” Terence Conran was a young designer in the early 1970s who was inspired on a visit to Amsterdam. He loved the way that Dutch houses left open their curtains at…
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‘Making the most of the winter blues?’ IKEA have it in the bag!
in assortment structure planning, branding & visual communication, customer experience, customer-engagement, disruptive retail, food & drink, home, in-store services, internationalisation, location strategy, packaging, personalisation, pop-up stores, retail brand heritage, retail businesses, retail management, retail strategy, sales promotions & events, shop of the future, store experience, store theatre, telling product stories, town centre planning, visual merchandising, windowsIKEA is so much more than a retailer of things. It is a business driven by a philosophy of innovation and ideas, and not least, a dry Scandinavian sense of humour. The brand will magnificently be seen in all of its glory soon, when it opens its London West End flagship store in Oxford Circus,…
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Søstrene Grene: Sisters delightfully doing it for themselves!
in accessories, assortment structure planning, branding & visual communication, customer experience, customer-engagement, fashion accessories, health & beauty, home, impulse retailing, internationalisation, jewellery, multi-category, new retail, packaging, Pinterest Gallery, retail, retail brand heritage, retail businesses, retail strategy, sales promotions & events, space management, space planning, store experience, store layout, store operations, store theatre, sustainability, telling product stories, value retailing, visual merchandising, visual merchandising operationsSøstrene Grene simply means the Grene sisters, in Danish. However, when it comes to this wonderful retailer of everything from spices to pencils, candles to cardigans, that is the only thing which is simple or ordinary. As they say, this is a delightfully different store! The brand paints a picture of two sisters, Anna &…
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Trust M&S to be ‘Positively Dissatisfied!’
in assortment structure planning, branding & visual communication, customer experience, customer service, customer-engagement, disruptive retail, fashion accessories, food & drink, home, ladies fashion, multi-category, omni-channel retailing, retail, retail brand heritage, retail businesses, retail management, retail organisations, retail strategy, store experience, store operationsI remember this story from the halcyon days of M&S. That when customers bought food from M&S and it didn’t taste amazing, they immediately thought their cooker was not working properly and called an engineer. Of course this may well be folklore. However it does illustrate the level of trust that M&S commanded, and it…
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Søstrene Grene: Delightful Pinterest board
in accessories, assortment structure planning, branding & visual communication, customer experience, fashion accessories, health & beauty, home, impulse retailing, internationalisation, jewellery, multi-category, new retail, omni-channel retailing, packaging, Pinterest Gallery, retail, retail brand heritage, retail organisations, retail strategy, sales promotions & events, space management, space planning, store experience, store layout, store operations, store theatre, telling product stories, visual merchandisingAs they say, this is a delightfully different store! The brand paints a picture of two sisters, Anna & Clara, who wanted to bring creativity, aesthetics and joy to everyone through their products, opening their first store in the Danish city of Aarhus in 1973. They are now present in 16 countries with over 300…
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Zara Battersea: High visibility through hidden technologies
in assortment structure planning, customer experience, customer service, fashion accessories, fast fashion, footwear, home, internationalisation, kids fashion, ladies fashion, leisure & sport, menswear, omni-channel retailing, Pinterest Gallery, retail, retail businesses, retail management, retail organisations, shop of the future, space management, space planning, store experience, store layout, store operations, visual merchandisingThe lessons for us all: “It is one thing designing & buying the best product in the world, but another level when you can say with confidence where every piece of it is! We should all learn from Zara’s product passport investment, so we can ensure we sell all of what we produce. We make…
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House of Hackney: Home for inspiration.
in accessories, branding & visual communication, customer experience, customer service, customer-engagement, ethical retailing, home, in-store services, internationalisation, location strategy, luxury, new retail, omni-channel retailing, Pinterest Gallery, product suppliers, retail, retail management, retail organisations, retail strategy, shop of the future, store experience, store layout, store theatre, sustainability, telling product stories, visual merchandisingThe lessons for us all: “To build a beautiful retail proposition that engages and attracts remarkable loyalty and trust, a business must move beyond product and price, no matter how attractive. Beauty and loyalty now come through the incarnation of a mission, of values and qualities that are expressed through product, people, environments and actions.”…
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Alessi: The secrets within your business
What we can all learn from my experience with the remarkable Alessi brand… “Identify the amazing secrets and stories within your business. Be proud and communicate your brand with clarity & simplicity.’”
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House of Hackney: Inspirational Pinterest gallery
in accessories, branding & visual communication, customer experience, customer service, customer-engagement, disruptive retail, ethical retailing, home, in-store services, internationalisation, location strategy, luxury, Pinterest Gallery, product suppliers, retail, retail businesses, retail management, retail organisations, retail strategy, shop of the future, store experience, store layout, store theatre, sustainability, telling product stories, visual merchandisingIn a Victorian townhouse in London Fields, Frieda Gormley and Javvy M Royle first dreamed up home furnishings & furniture brand House of Hackney. Today, the team has grown to a family of artists, designers, producers and collaborators. The brand now sells across the globe, with a showroom in New York and partner retailers worldwide.…
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Zara Battersea: High visibility Pinterest gallery
in assortment structure planning, branding & visual communication, customer experience, customer service, fashion accessories, fast fashion, home, internationalisation, kids fashion, ladies fashion, leisure & sport, menswear, omni-channel retailing, Pinterest Gallery, retail, retail businesses, retail strategy, shop of the future, space management, space planning, store experience, store layout, store operations, visual merchandising, windowsZara has taken the wraps off its latest flagship – a two-story, online-integrated space – housed in an arresting new building, which forms part of the ambitious regeneration of the Battersea Power Station complex, created by the celebrated architect Frank Gehry. The tech-driven store, which at 4,500sqm is Zara’s largest commercial space in the UK,…
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