space management Archives

IKEA: The value of ‘groundwork’ not ‘deskwork’ . From ‘customer to community experiences!’

IKEA: ‘A lively happening’ coming soon to a place nearby There are many interesting learnings from the opening of the new IKEA shops across the globe, not least the fact that the roll-out is happening at a pace against a back-drop of shop closures, particularly amongst established chains. There is much to digest in the location of the shops, the retail and social environments that IKEA is creating around them,-

The 6 Best Retail Strategies for 2022: No.4 Physical Shop Strategies

Physical shops: Places in our hearts & minds COVID was supposed to be the death knoll for physical shops. It was of course immensely damaging and resulted in many shops closing and businesses folding. Customers naturally migrated to digital channels, some permanently and others temporarily. Despite the whole channel being closed, the physical shop, in its best incarnations has already continued to bounce back. Despite everything, it is still the-

Apple: a business designed on simplicity

Apple: a business designed on simplicity The best advice I ever received in Design College? Keep things as simple as possible. The temptation always when seeking beauty through design is to add more ‘beautiful’ elements to it. In fact, the way to design beauty is to be brave enough to remove as much as you dare to reveal the absolute beauty of simplicity. I’m sure that Apple needs no more-

Introducing the new book ‘Meaning in the Retail Madness’

How to be an essential retailer Every retailer must now be essential, supporting the emotional lifestyle and well-being of the customer, as well as simply supplying products.‘Meaning in the Retail Madness’ explains how touchpoints have replaced channels, how linear supply chains will become circular, why assortments are increasingly virtual, how physical is turning to local, and why products and shops are not necessarily made for each other anymore.It supplies a-

Selfridges Designer Street Room: A Pavement Perspective

As you’d expect there’s been a bit of a media blitz surrounding the appearance of a Skate Bowl in the middle of Selfridges flagship store on Oxford Street. Never one to shy away from innovation it is nonetheless a refreshing story, a positive spin on the department store sector. Whilst the Skate Bowl is sensational in concept and delivery, it is part of a wider departmental concept, which is the-

“Commercial Retail” Overstocking & Under-Valuing the World?

The Daily Post:- 11th September “‘Commercial Retail”: Overstocking & Under-Valuing the World?” I remember a comment from a best practice range review from some years ago. Having spent a couple of days reviewing the client’s own assortment and comparing with detailed visuals of best practice and competitor ranges, the chairman sighed and leaning back in his chair exclaimed “Who buys all this stuff?” At the time it was an-

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Iceland: No joke for Department Stores

The Daily Post:- 6th August “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Iceland: No joke for department stores” So, a funny thing happened on the way to the shops. To be precise a couple of funny things with more to follow without doubt. Let’s move forward a few months and I’m making my way into The Range, my local store for value home furnishings and décor. Inside I also-

How Much of your Retail Space should be Allocated to your Staff?

Retail professionals are under extreme pressure to deliver what they always have, but now in a retail landscape that is being transformed by changing customer behaviour and a migration of retail sales to e-commerce, questions that have never had to be faced before are now becoming uncomfortably relevant… I have witnessed some unseemly “scraps” for store square metres in my time between competing categories all trying to get as-

Maxximising Potential: TK Putting on the Style

As part of VM-unleashed’s 10th anniversary year we take a look back at some retail milestones from the last decade and explain why each store’s message is as relevant for us today as it was then. TK Maxx is now so central to so many customers’ buying plans that it’s difficult to remember the huge strides it has taken over the recent decade to propel its proposition into the mainstream-

8th Joy of Retail Spring: Defining Omnichannel Assortments

The question “how much product should I put in my stores?” has always generated animated and healthy debate amongst retail businesses. That question, and the discussions around it, just got a whole lot more complicated as the opportunities and threats of e-commerce and true omni-channel assortment allocation has made store capacities one of the most important decisions for retailers to get right. The reduction of physical store capacities for an-