Retail Focus May 2017

retail focus

May 2017 : £6.75 #87

May 2017/issue 87

retail focus WWW.RETAIL-FOCUS.CO.UK

Clerkenwell Design Week : Window Shopping : Dr. Martens : Paul & Shark : Apple Dubai Mall : Human Brands : VM Supplement : The Retail Exchange : In-Store Music : In & Around Carnaby Street : Q&A with Julian Blades, Jules B

Follow Me Enter Joseph’s labyrinth of reflection

Clerkenwell Design Week : Dr. Martens : Paul & Shark : Apple Dubai Mall : Human Brands : VM Supplement The Retail Exchange Podcast : In-Store Music : In & Around Carnaby Street : Q&A with Julian Blades, Jules B

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contents

CONTENTS Follow Me

20-22

Among this month’s collection of window displays is Joseph Fashion’s labyrinth of reflection scheme, inspired by artist Jeppe Hein’s work ‘Follow Me’.

11

43 VM Supplement

69 Sound of muzak

40 The human touch

65 The retail exchange

88 Focus on Flooring

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28-38 Project Focus

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Clerkenwell Design Week preview

Leader Diary

12-18 News 20-22 W indow shopping

Dr. Martens, Camden : Paul & Shark : Apple Dubai Mall

73

Opinion Knowing your customers and being able to target them with personalised messages is essential to growing loyalty, says Helen Slaven at Eagle Eye.

Inspiring window displays from around the globe.

24 27

Top of the POPS Karl McKeever Transforming stores, both in physical form and how they are perceived, remains one of the biggest challenges in the retail industry, discusses Karl this month.

www.retail-focus.co.uk

75

In and Around...

Carnaby Street. A pedestrianised area in London’s Soho with independent stores and global flagship brands.

77-86 Products Products and services for the retail industry.

94

Q&A Julian Blades of luxury fashion retailer, Jules B talks customer service, online presence and what’s next for the company.

The

Retail Exchange Launches May 2017

Introducing The Retail Exchange, a new podcast series that throws the spotlight on key issues affecting the world of instore.

Stores of the Future

In our first episode, broadcaster and journalist Declan Curry sits down with leading industry thinkers to discuss why there is still much work to do and what could, or should, change in the way that retailers approach retail transformation as the industry continues to shift radically and at speed.

Hosted by Declan Curry

In association with

Back to the Future?

Join the Debate: @retailfocus #RetailExchange

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leader

welcome May ‘17

As we go to press, we are making final preparations for the Retail Focus stand at this year’s Retail Design Expo (RDE). In a first, visitors to the space will be able to listen to an exclusive excerpt from our inaugural Retail Exchange podcast, which aims to throw a light on key issues affecting the world of in-store.

Tackling the topic of Store of the Future 2.0, the podcast took place in April with special guest host Declan Curry and is available to download in full from 8 May. You can also read a summary of the first podcast in the series on pages 65-67.

Following RDE, we will be heading to central London for the eighth annual Clerkenwell Design Festival. To help you plan your visit we have put together our five top things to see and do at this year’s event (page 11).

This bumper issue also includes a special VM supplement, with highlights from April’s VM & Display Show (pages 49-51) and a feature on the recurring debate about plus-size mannequins (pages 55-56).

In addition, we review the latest store design concepts from Dr. Martens in Camden (pages 28-30) and Paul & Shark in St James’s Market (pages 33-34) as well as Apple’s new store in Dubai (pages 37-38).

This is my final issue of Retail Focus for a while as I begin maternity leave, but I leave you in the very capable hands of Lyndsey Dennis, who will be overseeing all editorial content online and in print.

Until 2018!

Gemma Balmford Editor

Managing Editor

Editor

Gemma Balmford e. gemma@retailfocus.co t. +44 (0)7908 895 906

Lyndsey Dennis e. lyndsey@retailfocus.co t. +44 (0)7500 138 810

Display Sales

Production & Web

Lee Cullumbine e. lee@retailfocus.co t. +44 (0)845 680 7405

Terry Clark e. terry@retailfocus.co t. +44 (0)845 680 7405

Get more from Retail Focus online!

www.retail-focus.co.uk

Account Manager Adam Potter e. adam@retailfocus.co t. +44 (0)845 680 7405

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Search Retail Focus

No part of Retail Focus may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form without permission. Please address all enquiries to the editor at the above address. The opinions expressed in Retail Focus are the views of the writer and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of the publisher.

Every effort has been made to ensure accuracy of the information contained in these pages. We will assume permission to publish any unsolicited material unless otherwise stated. ©Retail Focus Promotions Ltd 2017.

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diary

DIARY

Chelsea in Bloom Chelsea, London 22-27 May 2017 Chelsea’s prestigious annual floral art show returns this May to coincide with Chelsea Flower Show. Produced by Cadogan in association with the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), it will transform the streets of Chelsea with breathtaking floral displays.

This year’s theme is Floral Safari, inspired by adventure, discovery, exotic animals, savannahs, plains and jungles. The competition showcases floral displays reflecting the participating retailers’ interpretation of the theme in their own unique style. The displays will be judged by an expert panel, and awards include Best Floral Display, Innovation Award and The People’s Champion Award.

DOYSQ

www.chelseainbloom.co.uk

Clerkenwell Design Week Clerkenwell, London 23-25 May 2017 Clerkenwell Design Week returns to London on 23-25 May 2017 with a host of showrooms, features, installations and live events to whet your design appetite.

Installations include a 7.5m high tower called The Beacon, supported by Perspex, Festival events will take place across Clerkenwell and registration is free.

The World of Anna Sui Fashion & Textiles Museum, London 26 May - 1 October 2017 The World of Anna Sui features more than 100 looks from the fashion designer’s archive, presenting a roll call of archetypes from Surfers and School Girls to Hippies, Mods and Punks. This is the first time an American designer has been the focus of a retrospective exhibition in the UK.

London Design Festival Citywide 16-24 September 2017 The annual London Design Festival celebrates and promotes London as the design capital of the world and as the gateway to the international creative community. The Festival programme is made up of more than 400 events and exhibitions staged by hundreds of partner organisations across the design spectrum and from around the world.

CDWfestival www.clerkenwelldesignweek.com

fashiontextile www.ftmlondon.org

L_D_F www.londondesignfestival.com

Re-run same banner www.retail-focus.co.uk /Events keep up-to-date with the latest events in your industry

Photo: Messe Dusseldorf / ctillmann

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preview

CDW 2017: Five things to see and do Clerkenwell Design Week returns this month with a bold new visual identity and a host of creative events, exhibitions and installations. Now in its eighth year, the three-day event celebrates the rich and diverse design community in this corner of London.

Here are our top five features for 2017.

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1 Bill Amberg Studio at Project Bill Amberg Studio will make its debut at Clerkenwell Design Week with a curated display of products, encompassing many of the unconventional and experimental applications of leather for which it has become renowned. Exhibiting at Project — a section of the festival dedicated to contract furniture, lighting and surface brands — Bill Amberg Studio will take visitors on a journey through its work as well as offer the opportunity to experience the art of hand-crafting leather with a schedule of 30-minute masterclasses.

Norman Crypt Lighting design consultancy, Nulty will illuminate the Norman Crypt, which lies beneath St John Clerkenwell, without affixing to, or altering any facet of the listed interior. By using subtle, indirect lighting, the studio will bring to life the architectural elements and highlight the new Michael Northcroft Serafina furniture collection.

‘It is going to be a truly British celebration of furniture, lighting and architecture coming together to create something special,’ says Marta Vega, design director of Michael Northcroft.

2

2

3 Double Vision Double Vision, sponsored by Dutch flooring company Hakwood, is a 4m-high structural installation of recursive patterns nestled in the historic Clerkenwell Close. Inspired by the pattern possibilities of Hakwood’s wall tile range, Double Vision is a double-panelled structure which aims to create an uplifting moment while walking the exhibition route. The piece celebrates pattern and form, and its power to brighten and energise.

The Beacon This year’s show is set to present some of CDW’s most ambitious installations, including The Beacon — a 7.5m-tall structure, located at the entrance to Design Fields. Inspired by the Tower of Babel, the structure will feature an internal staircase encased in a typographical design that celebrates internationalism. Visitors will be able to climb up the internal staircase to a viewing platform overlooking a cross-section where the industrial meets historical Clerkenwell.

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3

4

The Playbox Shape London is working in collaboration with Fraher Architects on a bespoke compact installation that will provide a place to entertain, socialise and play. The 1,200mm x 600mm unit will visit different sites during the festival. The ‘Big Sister’ Playbox in Design Fields will house Newby Teas and is made from black multiwall by James Latham. The ‘Little Brother’ Playbox at Brewhouse Yard will be clad in cork to create a textured contrast to the tiles which line the inside.

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5

www.clerkenwelldesignweek.com 11

news

NEWS

Selfridges launches Our House campaign Selfridges has launched its latest campaign, Our House, which revisits the original 1909 definition of its store as ‘the House’.The campaign will explore the question: What does home mean to you? The Our House campaign will consider multiple answers in true interactive, enlightening and original Selfridges style.

Entitled ‘A Home For All’, the temporary conceptual house invites customers to review their understanding of what makes a house a home, and explore the essence of home making as the ultimate expression of self through a series of thought-provoking and immersive experiences. Phones and gadgets will be silenced to disconnect customers from everyday life. Then they are invited within ‘A Home For All’ through four core rituals widely associated with home: rest, gather, play, cleanse. Each core ritual has its own space within the temporary house for customers (house guests) to take part in.

Activities include potato peeling, bread making, fabric

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dying, spice grinding and loom weaving, among other immersive experiences and workshops that fuel a sense of community and play. They facilitate freedom, expression and discussions while allowing the ‘house guest’ to unleash their imagination, creativity and inner-maker.

As part of the campaign, Selfridges has opened its own general store in its London and Manchester Exchange Square stores and online. The department store acknowledges the modern consumerist paradox of being crippled down by choice by featuring a pared-down choice of only carefully considered, beautifully made products in its general store, which ground us in a sense of homely comfort.

For the first time, customers can book a tour of the Oxford Street store and discover some of the store’s secrets — or the ‘House’ as Harry Gordon Selfridge would say.

news

John Lewis celebrates Britain with national treasures campaign John Lewis is celebrating the nation’s favourite things, pastimes and quirks with its new national treasures campaign.

The summer-long campaign will shine a spotlight on the best of British life, design and culture. It will include a ‘Summer Season’ series of events and workshops that will be John Lewis’ biggest ever programme of customer activity; hundreds of events with more than 100 of the

nation’s best-loved, home-grown brands including activities such as scent discovery workshops and BBQ masterclasses.

Running until Sunday 20 August, national treasures will be brought to life across all 48 John Lewis shops and online.

John Lewis asked the nation what British summertime means to them and worked with award-winning British illustrator Paul Thurlby to create this humorous,

Loaf to open two further showrooms British furniture brand Loaf has announced plans to open two new physical retail spaces. Spitalfields in London will welcome a Loaf showroom this month, followed by the brand’s first move outside the capital to Guildford launching five months later in October. The two new Loaf Shacks (dubbed slowrooms not showrooms) will continue to celebrate the joys of kicking back to help people lead happier, more relaxed lives.

After successful openings in Battersea and Notting Hill in 2015 and 2016 respectively, the fast-growing retailer continues to expand its customer reach with four locations in the South East.

The 297 sq m Spitalfields Loaf Shack will be housed in the area’s Exchange Building, which was originally designed for telephone operators in the early 1900s. The Spitalfields Shack will be just a short stroll from Liverpool Street station and also Shoreditch High Street overground.

The 510 sq m Guildford Loaf Shack will be part of the 7,432 sq m Tunsgate Quarter development opening in October 2017. Set to be the shopping destination in Surrey, Loaf will be in good company with OKA, The White Company and The Ivy Collection restaurant as neighbours.

celebratory, summer campaign.

A first for John Lewis, windows and shop interiors have been transformed by Thurlby for the campaign, in collaboration with Harlequin Design. In addition, 220 life-size characters are a central feature in the Oxford Street atrium.

A ‘national treasury’ pop-up shop has also been unveiled in each full-line John Lewis department store, showcasing a curated collection of products that celebrate craftsmanship, creativity, charm and character.

Visitors to the John Lewis Gardening Society rooftop can escape the hustle and bustle of Oxford Street and cool down with an ice cold beverage served from the new Gardeners Arms, rumoured to be Britain’s smallest pub. Opening for it’s second summer, Gardening Society guests will also be offered the opportunity to reserve a ‘summer house’ complete with private herb and flower garden and outdoor seating, or the larger ‘pavilion’ to indulge in British-inspired food and drinks.

FENTYXPUMA collaboration pops up across the UK and Europe To celebrate the launch of the Fenty by Rhianna SS17 collection, Puma has unveiled a series of pop-ups across the UK and Europe at retailers including Selfridges, Offspring, JD Sports and Lifestyle Sports.

Designed, produced and installed by FormRoom, the pop-ups are inspired directly from the catwalk show, which Rihanna as creative director describes as ‘Marie-Antoinette at the gym’. FormRoom took key moments, like Rihanna in head-to-toe pink, pearls and a lace Puma fan strutting down the catwalk, and worked to ensure it brought the sense of high fashion and fun to the store environments.

Inspired by 18th century French culture and FormRoom’s vision of Marie Antoinette inspired athleisure, the design team created an oversized fan within the pop-up spaces at two JD Sports locations (Oxford Circus and Cologne).

To create an even richer in-store experience, FormRoom collaborated with WAH Nails to create a pop-up nail bar at the flagship JD Sports store on Oxford Circus.

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news

Westgate Oxford unveils 10 new retail and leisure brands The Westgate Oxford Alliance marked the six month countdown to the opening of its £440 million Westgate Oxford development by unveiling six new retail brands and four food outlets, further establishing the city of Oxford as the UK’s next premium fashion and food destination.

New international retailers Levi’s, Skechers and Acuitis will join best of British brands Cath Kidston, Seasalt Cornwall and Molton Brown London. To complement Westgate Oxford’s increasing retail mix, a vibrant collection of food destinations, including Shawa Lebanese Grill, Rola Wala and Benito’s Hat has also been revealed.

Westgate Oxford will enjoy a prime location in the heart of Oxford’s city centre, and will be anchored by a 13,006 sq m John Lewis department store.

The Lexicon Bracknell welcomes new sign ups

Porsche Life pop-up opens at Liverpool ONE Luxury car manufacturer Porsche has opened a 280 sq m pop-up on Liverpool ONE’s Peter’s Lane. With no sales process on site, the Porsche Life concept is designed to be an urban meeting point for Porsche enthusiasts and a chance for people to experience the brand first hand.

Sitting alongside Beauty Bazaar, Harvey Nichols, Michael Kors and Hugo Boss on Peter’s Lane, Porsche Life features a living room, kitchen, lounge and home office, with each space designed to demonstrate how visitors’ lives with Porsche could look.

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The pop-up also includes gesture control screens and an exploration of the ‘Sound of Porsche’, as well as various opportunities to experience the unique character of the company and its cars.

In addition, the store provides visitors with insights into the iconic 911 coupe, the racing heart of Porsche through the 919 Hybrid LMP1 race car, and hints at the company’s future with the Mission E car, the first all-electrically powered fourseat Porsche.

The store is open until 4 June 2017.

With just four months to go until opening, more names have been added to the impressive list of retail and casual dining brands at The Lexicon Bracknell, the £240 million retail and leisure development in Berkshire.

International beauty and fragrance retailer L’Occitane en Provence and British jeweller and watchmaker Ernest Jones are to join the appealing line-up of fashion and lifestyle brands.

Additionally, continental delicatessen Patisserie Valerie and British eatery Bill’s Restaurant will further boost The Lexicon’s wide menu of restaurants and cafés.

The urban regeneration scheme is now 71.2 per cent pre-let (by floor area), with a further 7,219 sq m in negotiations.

‘We’re delighted that four more top names will be opening in The Lexicon.

They will join a host of other retail and F&B brands that have taken space in the scheme, including Fenwick, H&M, Next, KIKO Milano, Fat Face, Marks & Spencer plus wagamama, Gourmet Burger Kitchen, Nando’s, Chimichanga and Carluccio’s. The scheme letting is gathering serious momentum as we move into the last five months before opening,’ says Richard Poyser, retail leasing manager for The Lexicon Bracknell.

news

Apple to launch educational sessions in all 495 stores Technology giant Apple has announced plans to launch dozens of new educational sessions in all of its 495 Apple stores, ranging in topics from photo and video to music, coding, art and design, and more. The hands-on sessions, collectively called Today at Apple, will be led by highly-trained team members, and in select cities world-class artists, photographers and musicians,

Queen’s Award for Lumsden Design Lumsden Design has won a coveted Queen’s Award for Enterprise. The design business, based in London’s Clerkenwell, won the Queen’s Award for International Trade for Outstanding Short Term Growth. It has seen its overseas sales almost triple in just three years.

Founded in 2010, Lumsden first established itself as a leader in designing retail environments for museums, galleries and visitor attractions in the UK. Its compelling shops are at the British Museum, National Theatre, Abbey Road Studios, Tate Modern and the Harry Potter attractions at King’s Cross Station’s Platform 9¾, Warner Bros.

Studio Tour and, most recently, the theatre production Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.

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teaching sessions from basics and how-to lessons to professionallevel programmes.

‘At the heart of every Apple Store is the desire to educate and inspire the communities we serve,’ says Angela Ahrendts, Apple’s senior vice president of retail. ‘Today at Apple is one of the ways we’re evolving our experience to better serve local customers and entrepreneurs. We’re creating a modern-day town square, where everyone is welcome in a space where the best of Apple comes together to connect with one another, discover a new passion, or take their skill to the next level. We think it will be a fun and enlightening experience for everyone who joins.’

H&M’s ARKET brand to launch first store on Regent Street H&M’s newest brand ARKET will open its first store on London’s Regent Street this autumn. Based on the Nordic tradition of functional, long-lasting design, ARKET will offer men’s, women’s and children’s ready-to-wear collections and homeware. The range will include ARKET’s own products as well as a selection of the best examples from other brands.

ARKET will be the fifth store from the H&M Group to open on Regent Street, alongside Weekday’s recently announced UK flagship, COS, & Other Stories who both also launched on the street, and H&M. ‘A fantastic team with diverse backgrounds and areas of expertise have come together to build ARKET. We’re very excited to soon reveal the brand and share our collections with customers,’ says Lars Axelsson, managing director of ARKET.

international news

international

NEWS

Appear Here expands to the USA

Mall of Switzerland announces opening date The Mall of Switzerland has announced its official opening date — Wednesday 8 November 2017. The 65,000 sq m leisure and shopping destination will include approximately 150 retailers, first floor surf wave, the largest IMAX cinema in the country and a 12-screen multiplex cinema.

Negotiations are underway with

additional retailers and interested parties in order to continuously optimise the mix of tenants and to take their requirements into account in the centre’s layout.

Once completed, the Mall of Switzerland will be the second largest shopping and leisure destination built in Switzerland.

Appear Here, a marketplace for short-term retail lease, has announced expansion plans to the USA, beginning with New York City.

Two of the biggest real estate firms in the world, Blackstone and Simon Property Group, as well as some of the biggest in New York like Thor Equities and Brookfield, have signed up exclusively to Appear Here’s pre-launch to list the hundreds of spaces in the city’s most popular neighbourhoods, including Chelsea, West Village, SoHo and Nolita and Williamsburg.

‘More than ever, designers, brands and entrepreneurs are realising that renting space online is the fastest and most flexible approach to retail. We’re excited about the opportunity to bring our award-winning platform and service to the US, starting with New York,’ says Ross Bailey, founder of Appear Here.

Starbucks opens immersive coffee experience in Honolulu Just a few blocks from Honolulu’s Waikiki Beach, coffee giant Starbucks has opened an immersive experience inside its store at the Waikiki Trade Center, in the heart of Waikiki’s shopping and entertainment district. The café is the first in Hawaii to feature a Starbucks Reserve coffee bar, highlighting the company’s rare, small-lot Starbucks Reserve coffees.

The theatre of coffee is on display immediately from the store’s front windows, drawing customers in from the promenade with a long, low bar and a variety of eye-catching brewing methods.

Behind the bar is a backdrop inspired by Hawaiian flora and geography. The piece features a hand-painted flower that is a composite of a blossoming coffee plant and Hawaiian plumeria; it appears and disappears as customers move through the space. Wooden slats made from a golden ash wood, similar to those at the Roastery’s Experience Bar, are layered over the design to reveal a cutout of the eight islands of Hawaii.

The team also found creative ways to bring Hawaii’s lush vegetation indoors. They worked with a landscape architect to incorporate air plants as living components of the design.

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visual merchandising

INSPIRING WINDOW DISPLAYS FROM AROUND THE GLOBE

Harvey Nichols Harvey Nichols has once again collaborated with London-based artists, Hsiao-Chi and Kimiya Tsai-Yoshikawa on its latest window scheme. In celebration of the joys of spring, the display features 10 of the original fixtures taken from the ‘Futuristic Flowers’ design that originally adorned the store’s façade in 2007. Compiled from 108 boldly coloured aluminium cut-outs; hand bent into 3D organic forms and hung with multicoloured metal chains, each window features an original piece of art from the duo, and is treated as an individual art installation. The sculptural artworks have been carefully arranged in playful compositions that weave between the metallic mannequins wearing the latest spring/summer arrivals, set off by colourful 3D forms built from diverse materials that have been hand bent into equally diverse shapes, from feathers and flowers to sea anemone and jellyfish.

Joseph Inspired by artist Jeppe Hein’s work ‘Follow Me’, the windows at Joseph Fashion feature mirrored columns positioned in a maze format, surrounding the viewer with an unfamiliar and disorienting environment similar to that of a labyrinth. The grass floor acts as an organic and textured contrast against the stark architectural lines of the mirrored columns.

Meanwhile, the mannequins are styled in partial layering, which clashes the pretty florals against stark white, khaki and black pieces to give the looks a contemporary edge. They also sport netted headpieces for a feeling of mystery and bemusement. The scheme was produced in collaboration with Harlequin Design.

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visual merchandising Harrods In April, Harrods transformed its Brompton Road windows into a space evocative of the most cutting-edge contemporary art gallery.

For the Art Partners initiative, each of the windows showcased a modern collectible, created by a hero brand, in collaboration with a contemporary designer, artist or innovative organisation. The windows featured polished concrete floors, floating white gloss walls, wired-off areas, and faux security cameras, trained on the ‘masterpieces’ they were displaying. ‘The beauty of Harrods Home lies in our breadth of offer, from heritage lifestyle brands such as Wedgwood, Savoir Beds and Globe-Trotter to the best of contemporary design and innovation,’ says Annalise Fard, director of home at Harrods. ‘Art Partners has given us the opportunity to showcase these two facets coming together.’

Façonnable French fashion brand Façonnable collaborated with Harlequin Design to create a window scheme inspired by film posters from the Art Nouveau movement. The structured walls feature fully mechanised animated sailing boats and include CNC plywood props with a stylised, simplistic rout detail for more interest. The display is bright and fresh, and stays true to the brand’s rich heritage of the Côte D’Azur.

See more window schemes at

www.retail-focus.co.uk/vm

Tory Burch Tory Burch partnered with Seen Displays to create a window scheme for its New Bond Street and Westfield White City stores that celebrates the nautical-focused element of the accessories and ready-to-wear SS17 collection. The New Bond Street window takes inspiration from the 1964 ‘Homage to The Square’ abstract painting by Josef Albers, while the Westfield display features two 3m-high curved sails using the blue and white from the summer collection.

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visual merchandising

Hunter British wellington boots and footwear brand, Hunter has brought its SS17 campaign to life with a jungle-inspired window scheme. Each window displays a dense, lush green foliage canopy using faux plants. Hunter collaborated with Tenn to install the scheme.

Debenhams The Debenhams Oxford Street summer scheme ‘Tropical Fiesta’ is inspired by the colour, heat and excitement of the Caribbean. The windows and in-store displays feature pineapple, watermelon, orange slices and hibiscus flower, with products showcased on new 3/4 torso’s in four vibrant colours wearing Carmen Miranda-inspired fruit headdresses.

The scheme was designed in-house and created in collaboration with Magenta print and display, Blacks Visual, Keyboard Group and ANS Lighting.

Lululemon To celebrate the London Marathon and the Lululemon run philosophy, the athletic apparel brand has created a window scheme for its Regent Street flagship store featuring the London skyline. The display incorporates a back-lit wall with iconic landmarks, including the London Eye and Tower Bridge, and the tagline ‘REINVENT YOUR RUN’. Produced in collaboration with Prop Studios, the skyline story also includes window graphics of Somerset House and additional buildings including The Gherkin and Canary Wharf, which are made out of foam board, acrylic and Perspex.

See more window schemes at

www.retail-focus.co.uk/vm

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pop

TOP pops of the

Company: Perfect Corp

Client: Estée Lauder

Display title: Pure Color LOVE lipstick display

Sector: Beauty

Location: Selfridges in London, Birmingham and Manchester, and Estée Edit, Carnaby Street

The brief: To develop the YouCam Makeup app allowing customers to ‘try on’ Estée Lauder’s new Pure Colour LOVE lipstick, making it the first augmented reality beauty app available in UK retail outlets.

The solution: The app harnesses accurate augmented reality to provide users with a true-tolife virtual makeover, giving them the opportunity to easily try on all 30 Estée Lauder shades in real-time (or on a static photo) directly through the app, resulting in a hygienic and mess-free user experience.

Customers can play and experiment with products, discovering the entire Pure Color Love lip collection in a matter of seconds.

Beauty advisors are also on hand at all locations to show consumers how to download and use the app.

‘We know experiential technology is important to our customer and central to the evolution of beauty retail. As a beauty tool, YouCam offers a service that is fun, shareable and genuinely useful; we’re delighted Estée Lauder is bringing this future-gazing partnership to our customers,’ says Melissa McGinnis, beauty buying manager at Selfridges.

The pop-up design and artwork was done in-house, with production and implementation by The Attic Room.

www.perfectcorp.com 24

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Buscemi, Paris Launch Gold Ladder Prop //

column

Karl McKeever

Where should the smart money go?

Transforming stores, both in physical form and how they are perceived, remains one of the biggest challenges in the retail industry. The role and relevance of ‘the store’ is being constantly re-evaluated as shopping habits and retail channels evolve. At the recent World Retail Congress in Dubai, Debenhams chairman Sir Ian Cheshire told delegates that it is no longer enough to simply sell ‘stuff’, but rather offer great experiences. He echoed the words of the brand’s chief executive Sergio Bucher, who has just announced plans for a growth strategy based on becoming ‘a destination, digital and different’.

The likes of Debenhams and House of Fraser have largely diverted focus to online retailing in the last decade. But, now they, and many others, are starting to realise that while online operations may have gone from strength to strength, the physical iteration of the brand has become exposed — lacking relevance, purpose and, most importantly, investment.

You don’t have to look too far to find other examples. Stores such as Dorothy Perkins and Burton, which enjoyed significant cash boosts during the 1980s, are also starting to show their age, offering little to wow customers when they walk through the doors.

Today, it is almost impossible to hide from underinvestment in store environments.

Another brand that currently has its eye on transformation is WH Smith, which in January reported a three per cent drop in like-for-like high street sales. The retailer has become much maligned — there is even a Twitter account with more than 10,000 followers lamenting, among other things, the dismal state of its carpets. A stalwart of the high street, however, it has so far managed to weather the storms of change in the retail landscape, even if it has taken a hit (It has suffered significantly due to the challenge of supermarkets and online stores selling similar products, usually at a lower price).

While its high street stores have suffered, overall sales were up two per cent thanks to its thriving portfolio of travel stores, which have become the shining star of the group and a blueprint for the others to follow.

This will come as little surprise to anyone who has visited Karl McKeever is founder and managing director of visual merchandising and brand delivery consultancy Visual Thinking.

Email Karl at karl@retailfocus.co karlmckeever www.visualthinking.co.uk

WH Smith. Compared to the tired-looking high street stores, the branches found at train stations and airports feel clean and modern. Offering a streamlined choice of products, they provide exactly what shoppers want at the time they need it. This division is also small and nimble enough to respond to changes in the market with innovation and experimentation. The retailer is no doubt hoping to now transfer some of these principles to the high street with new formats, like the one recently rolled out in Holborn.

Steve Clarke, chief executive of WH Smith, has got it right in trialling the Holborn format on a small scale. The secret is to ensure that any changes made are quantifiable so that it is possible to see what impact VM, team training and changes to store layout and environment have on commercial return. For retailers, being able to accurately define and deliver the change that is required to achieve visible and often immediate results is vital to prove the business case for future rounds of store investment and, ultimately, for survival and growth.

But, regardless of how positive the impact of change in trial stores is, for well-established retailers like WH Smith or Debenhams, achieving meaningful improvement in store performance can prove particularly difficult due to their vast retail estates.

When delivering large-scale transformation, senior management teams frequently look for short-term fixes to get people through the doors and turn sales figures around. Simply jumping on the latest trend or harnessing technology without considering the business’ objectives is rarely successful, especially if the store environment and service remains poor. Instead, they should think long-term, working to embed best practice and ensuring they have buy-in from all key stakeholders in a transformation project.

It is telling that, according to a recent industry report, just 24 per cent of retailers do not know what transformation looks like on a day-to-day basis. This is a mistake: they need to work quickly to identify the changes needed to push the brand forward and then trial them to deliver real results. Only then can they make decisions with authority and be confident that the path they are on to retail transformation is the right one.

Identifying what does and doesn’t work is key to implementing effective change, and there are some on the high street who need to find new ways of doing this, and quickly. This will not only address pressures from within the business, and from investors, but also enable senior teams to make decisions with real authority.

Only then can they be confident that the path they are on to retail transformation is the right one — something that is vital if they are to deliver meaningful change, before shoppers lose faith and move onto something new elsewhere.

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project focus

Dr. Martens Camden, London

Design: Closed Sundays; In-house Opening date: April 2017 Store size: 370 sq m

In April, iconic footwear brand Dr. Martens opened a new experiential store in what it calls its spiritual home of Camden, London.

The Grade II listed, 19th century building was originally used as a tack room for horses, making it a natural fit for the brand’s own retail concept, which consists of an industrial, stripped down environment.

Trading over two floors, the 370 sq m store houses the full Dr. Martens range across men’s, women’s and kid’s, as well as an extensive range of industrial product which sits at the heart of the brand.

‘By opening a store in Camden Market, it allows Dr. Martens to have a conversation with both our local and international fans against the backdrop of the alternative and vibrant community of Camden,’ says a spokesperson for the brand. ‘It also positions the brand in its rightful home — an area steeped in authenticity and musical heritage.’

Having worked with Closed Sundays on its Oxford Street flagship, Dr. Martens once again approached the design consultancy to deliver its latest statement for the brand

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at retail. The brief was to create a space that epitomises Dr. Martens’ musical roots, while being sympathetic to the Grade II listed building. It also had to capture the rich history of authentic product from the archives and accommodate live music.

‘The idea came in the form of bespoke flight cases,’ says Chris Clewes, founder and director of Closed Sundays. ‘These would act as the anchor to the room and were a great way of ensuring the precious archive items could be displayed with Dr. Martens’ attitude. It also gave the humble flight case a chance to be something other than utilitarian.’

The flight cases incorporate bespoke steel frames to further expand the story behind the product and to give it context.

Imagery and copy are stitched together using real guitar and amp leads, and each area also houses a listening station that delivers tailored content.

The experiential space sits alongside the main retail floor and features a permanent stage and backline, supported

by Marshall Amps and Natal Drums. The store will offer a full programme of music throughout the year, in collaboration with online radio specialist, Mixcloud, as well as a virtual reality experience, powered by Oculus, which will allow fans to tour the brand’s original UK factory

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in Northamptonshire.

Other focal points include a ‘GIF booth’ for consumers to engage with, a designated area for artists and fans to personalise their favourite DM’s (old and new), and a specially commissioned one-off piece of art from Specials bass player, Horace Panter, who has interpreted the brand’s deep rooted link to youth subculture through his own unique take on Camden.

‘Dr. Martens has a long-standing relationship with music and the creative communities, so having an area which fans can access and use to showcase their talent will be a really positive thing — especially to London’s music venue scene which is under ever-increasing pressure of closure,’ adds the spokesperson for Dr. Martens. ‘We very much see this exciting new store becoming a cultural hub for the brand, its fans and Camden.’

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Paul & Shark St James’s Market, London Design: Present Agency Opening date: April 2017 Store size: 185 sq m

Italian lifestyle brand Paul & Shark has arrived in London with its first UK flagship store. Located in a Grade II listed building in the recently redeveloped St James’s Market on Regent Street, the 185 sq m store combines classic Italian elegance with modern elements and houses both the men’s and women’s collections.

Designed by the Present Agency, the clean gallery-like interior is inspired by elements from other Paul & Shark stores, while offering a slightly more contemporary and unique identity to suit the London customer, and the look and feel of the St James’s Market surroundings. The open space features minimal soft furnishings to allow customers to feel at ease, as well as bespoke fixtures in polished stainless steel

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A feature wall of digital screens provides an ever-changing backdrop

to complement the modernity of the space, along with plinths and shelving in the same steel blue used on luxury yachts, in tribute to the brand’s heritage.

At the rear of the store, a feature wall of digital screens provides an ever-changing backdrop, showcasing brand content and concealing two luxurious fitting rooms as well as a customer service area.

Founded in 1976, Paul & Shark is widely recognised for its shark-shaped logo and has more than 250 single-brand stores worldwide, including Via Montenapoleone in Milan, Madison Avenue in New York, Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills and Nanjing Road in Shanghai.

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Apple Dubai Mall, UAE Design: Foster + Partners Opening date: April 2017 Store size: Undisclosed

Perched above the Dubai Fountain and in the shadow of the Burj Khalifa is the new Foster + Partners-designed Apple Dubai Mall, the technology giant’s third store in the United Arab Emirates.

Spanning two floors, the store embraces the theatre of the famous fountains with a sweeping 56.6m-wide and 5.5m-deep terrace, with unparalleled views of the setting and the choreographed display.

The design of Apple Dubai Mall is a celebration of the sun, using the abundant daylight to create a special ambience within. Reinterpreting the traditional Arabic Mashrabiya, innovative ‘solar wings’ gently shade the outside terrace during

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the day and open majestically during the evening to provide breathtaking views of the waterside promenade and fountains.

‘With their movement path inspired by a falcon spreading its wings, the solar wings are in itself a theatrical experience — an integrated vision of kinetic art and engineering,’ says a spokesperson for Foster + Partners.

Made entirely of lightweight carbon fibre, each wing has multiple layers of tubes, forming a dense net. The unique pattern allows clear views out for people standing on both levels of the store, while the sunlight streaming through the wings casts dappled shadows deep into the interior.

‘The opening and closing of these majestic solar wings is analogous to a delicate ballet recital, but on a monumental scale,’ describes Stefan Behling, head of studio at Foster + Partners. ‘In some ways it is a very spiritual experience, with the sun streaming through them and creating the most delicate and beautiful patterns of light and shade — a seamless blend of technology and culture.’

The new shaded terrace features nine substantial trees in large planters that incorporate seating and rotate

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mechanically to ensure that the trees receive even sunlight.

The store itself is accessed through full-height, glazed pivoting doors on both levels, directly from Dubai Mall.

On the lower level is a specially designed area called The Avenue, which houses accessories as well as Apple’s signature display tables among a grove of trees, creating a calm environment to experience the brand’s latest products.

The store is also being used to launch the company’s new global in-store experience, ‘Today at Apple’, where new creative pros — the liberal arts counterpart of Apple’s technical Geniuses — will offer individual advice and training on photography, filmmaking, art and design, and more.

‘The design of Apple Dubai Mall is about creating an exceptional architectural and social experience for visitors, bringing to the fore new ideas about the evolving role of Apple flagships in the community,’ adds Behling.

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10/02/2015 15:48:41

human brands

The Human Touch Let’s stop asking whether we should focus on the brand or the consumer, and start taking a human-centred approach, argues Kate Nightingale, consumer psychologist and founder of Style Psychology.

Recently I gave a talk about ‘Human Brands’ — brands created for humans, by humans and with humans in mind.

This approach basically encourages professionals to go back to the basics of what makes us human, and incorporate that in everything that the brand does, from internal structure, through employee experience, to customer experience and design.

One of such fundamentals is that people need other people to survive; they need to interact with them, touch them, socialise with them. And, because our brain sees brands as human beings, we expect a similar level of interaction with brands. On top of that, in the current world where social isolation is an ever-increasing problem due to the growing importance of technology, brands have a responsibility and therefore an opportunity to foster human interactions.

One of the key elements of building close social bonds is getting to know people, understanding their heritage and what experiences shaped them. The same goes for brands and the products they sell. People want to get to know the brand, their history and what drives them.

The ‘hi-story’ approach, displaying your story at hallo (hi), instantly puts people at ease. Your transparency and openness is inviting, and allows customers to explore

the deeper layers of your brand. They then feel comfortable getting closer to you and building long-lasting relationships.

This is what Joseph Cheaney & Sons do well in their new Covent Garden store (Retail Focus, March 2017). Their brief was to focus on the heritage and craft of shoe making. This conveys transparency and clearly communicates the value and quality of the product. There are no questions, no doubts, just desire and acting on it.

On top of that, adding the darker, relaxed area creates a level of mystery, bringing forward the adventurous aspects of the customers’ personality and increasing the engagement with the brand and its products.

The addition of soft carpets and seating further communicates an approachable and friendly brand personality, as studies from the field of embodied cognition prove. They also have a positive effect on dwell time and encourage more intimate social interactions.

Dimmed lighting in the back area further enhances the social interaction as people feel more comfortable and private.

It also has another benefit. Studies show that dimmed lighting makes people’s behaviour more desire-led, increasing impulsive purchases.

In today’s technology-driven world, social interactions require encouragement and an environment which assures emotional and psychological comfort.

An environment that feels warm, welcoming and natural can make a huge difference. The recent NYC store for tea brand Kusmi Tea, created in collaboration with Christopher Jenner, has a number of those elements (Retail Focus, March 2017).

Firstly, the curved lines throughout the store slow the walking speed and clearly direct the movement around the store, providing plenty of commercial benefits.

Studies (even on five month old babies) prove that the human brain has a natural preference for curved lines and round objects as those are perceived as safer and friendlier. Environments with curved lines will therefore enhance the feeling of emotional and psychological safety, creating a perfect

40

human brands

h

canvas for social interactions.

We have used that in a recent collaboration with the rpa:group on the design of the blueprint for the Waterbabies’ leisure centre. Bonding is crucial for the brand; that’s bonding between the parent and the child, between the parents, and definitely between the customers and the brand. We therefore needed to use every tool in our behavioural toolbox to foster that bonding across the centre. One of the tools we used was curved walls. In fact, there are barely any straight walls.

Coming back to Kusmi Tea, other elements that will positively contribute to social interactions as well as create a number of commercial benefits are soft texture and the warm shade of the oak surfaces, as well as warm drinks. Studies show that when we hold a warm drink, we perceive others as more approachable and

friendly; we also tend to be more generous.

It’s not hard to see how fostering social interactions with the use of strategically chosen tools, that is, design elements, can lead to clear commercial benefits, both short-term and long-term. However, designing a store should not be the final aim; nor even improving the sales. We should focus on designing customers’ emotions, behaviours and decisions, which then lead to various commercial benefits. This is a process we have created and use, called EBD Design, in which we use design as a tool to create engagement, loyalty, increase dwell time and sales, among other benefits.

So, the next time you’re looking at designing a new store or even reviewing an existing space, start with establishing what you would like your customer to feel, think and do in that space rather than focusing

on being better than your competitor or improving your bottom line. That will happen anyway, once the customer feels happy and comfortable in your store.

Basically, let’s be more human.

www.stylepsychology.co.uk

Above: Joseph Cheaney opened its fifth store in London in February, designed

by Checkland Kindleysides.

Left: Kusmi Tea opened a store in the Calatrava station at the World Trade Centre in New York with an interior that balances the company’s baroque Russian heritage with its French provenance.

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CURVE BALL Plus-size mannequins

VM news VM & Display Show Opinion: Sensory priming

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Welcome As new research from the University of Liverpool is published, which looks at the size of mannequins used to advertise female fashion in the UK, on pages 55-56 we look at some of the latest plus-size forms available and question whether the fashion industry and general public are more open to plus-size mannequins on the high street.

This year’s VM & Display Show was a hive of creativity, welcoming a number of first time exhibitors bringing fresh ideas to the table. You can check out some of the key trends in our review on pages 49-51.

We also hear from Ali Newton, strategy and marketing manager for The Display Centre, who explores how instincts are linked to the senses and are therefore susceptible to sensory priming.

Don’t forget to submit your entries for the VM & Display Awards 2017 by Friday 18 August!

Lyndsey Dennis Editor

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& Display 49 VM Show

53 Opinion

55 Curve ball

47 News The latest from the VM and display sector.

VM focus www.retail-focus.co.uk

49 VM & Display Show Highlights from the 2017 show.

Managing Editor Gemma Balmford e. gemma@retailfocus.co t. +44 (0)7908 895 906

53 Opinion Ali Newton, strategy and marketing manager for The Display Centre, discusses sensory priming.

Editor Lyndsey Dennis e. lyndsey@retailfocus.co t. +44 (0)7500 138 810

Production & Web Terry Clark e. terry@retailfocus.co t. +44 (0)845 680 7405

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Is the fashion industry and general public more open to plus-size mannequins on the high street?

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news

VM NEWS Proportion London brings craft to its showroom In April, Proportion London opened its showroom to illustrate the company’s craft-based production through a series of live demonstrations, including sculpting, wood carving and tailoring.

Each of Proportion’s makers exhibited a strong sense of originality in the pieces they created during the event, expressing an exemplary level of knowledge and passion.

The showroom was styled like a New York Loft apartment, featuring floor-to-ceiling shelving, each grouped with mini stories to showcase the company’s famous accessory product, complete with inspirational art books and material swatches.

Form Display appointed UK distributor for New John Nissen mannequins

Window France introduces The DNA Factory Window France has launched The DNA Factory, a venue that unites revolutionary technology with the know-how of many creative and technical minds specifically designed for making mannequins with a brand’s unique DNA. Located in the south of France, a team of art directors, casting managers, fashion photographers, 3D technicians and graphists, sculptors, plasticians and

craftsmen will create mannequins in all types of materials to a client’s specification. At the very heart of its new process is a 3D image capture facility.

The company allows retailers to create their future collection all under one roof and walk away with a new mannequin collection in just three days.

VM & Display Awards 2017 The annual VM & Display Awards return to the Bloomsbury Big Top in London on Thursday 23 November 2017, celebrating excellence and innovation in the visual merchandising and display sector.

The awards bring together the UK’s most influential creatives, retailers

and suppliers in celebration of their considerable achievements for projects installed from 1 August to 31 July each year.

The deadline to submit entries is Friday 18 August. For more information, visit www.vmanddisplayawards.com

Form Display is now the exclusive distributor for New John Nissen mannequins in the UK and Ireland.

Located in Belgium, NJN ensures environmentally friendly production and the highest quality standard.

NJN offers a full range of mannequin collections, forms and accessories and the ability to develop custom ranges. Every mannequin is made to order and are all produced in a combination of high-tech injection moulding and traditional craftsmanship.

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show review

VM & DISPLAY SHOW:

HIVE OF CREATIVITY Text: Lyndsey Dennis

‘Cactuses are the new pineapples,’ said Katy Trodd, retail project manager at Visual Thinking, following her visit to the VM & Display Show in April. From giant sofas and shoes to selfie booths, foliage and a touch of virtual reality, the show was a honeypot of inspiration for retailers, visual merchandisers and designers.

The VM & Display Show brings together everything from mannequins, print and props to POP, lighting and fabrics — and everything inbetween — under one roof across two days.

This year’s show welcomed a number of first-time exhibitors, including sequin art specialist, Shimmerwalls, creative VM agency, Bright Leaf, which used the Pantone Colour of the Year in its stand concept; and Kosa Art Group, which specialises in creating art as décor — and which had both a pineapple and cactus on its stand...

‘This year’s show felt fresh and upbeat. We usually attend as a guest, so this year we enjoyed having the opportunity to meet new and existing clients in a friendly, creative environment whilst simultaneously being able to showcase our work and services,’ says Jon Watson, creative projects manager at Bright Leaf.

Highlights from the annual VM & Display Show.

3D printing Several companies demonstrated 3D printing capabilities, including Echo House, Forming Reality and Stylo.

Echo House showcased various examples of its work, and can print up to 1.8m high x 1.5m wide x 1.2m deep in a single unit.

Stylo’s stand was designed to create intrigue. With its maze theme, the stand took visitors on a journey with the assistance of ‘Bob’ the 3D printed mannequin. With each area of the maze highlighting Stylo’s wide range of products and services, customers finished their maze journey with a retail window display and the opportunity to speak to Stylo’s sales team. From a lollypop wall to interactive screens and a selfie booth, the Stylo stand was certainly one of the most interactive.

Mannequins Long-standing exhibitor Universal Display showcased its latest high fashion mannequin Harper; the Elements collection of mixed medium bust forms and mannequins that are a new concept developed using a mix and match formula, giving the option to create the perfect bust or mannequin for each individual brand; and the sporty Zen collection.

Artywigs demonstrated its wig making and renovation skills, while Tam Walsh wooed visitors as they entered the show with her heavenly display of mannequins, creative wigs and clouds.

Main: The show welcomed first-time exhibitor Shimmerwalls.

Above: Stylo took visitors on a journey through its maze with the assistance of ‘Bob’ the 3D printed mannequin.

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visual merchandising

show review

Graphics and printing Never shying away from a challenge, Graphica Display wanted to show off all of its in-house manufacturing capabilities. The team created an illuminated Pop Art ping pong table and invited visitors to a game of table tennis. The company also created bespoke sample paddles, which were all printed direct-to-media, as well as five lightboxes. Word has it there was a tournament between Graphica Display and the SDEA...

Meanwhile on the VGL stand, a giant gramophone complete with spinning vinyl dominated the space. Crafted in 100 per cent recyclable cardboard, the supersized neon yellow gramophone was made from panels that slotted together to create the 3D structure. Combining the latest digital print techniques with screen printed neon inks, the gramophone also included textured relief printing.

Materials & surfaces

1 3

Sterling board was a prominent theme and the choice of material for several stands, including Artefact, Barber Design and make-it london. Cork was also popular, and Tenn chose to create a curved feature desk from it.

Bespoke display specialist Display Logic showcased a variety of materials, including Perspex, wood and moss, while Echo House showcased a map of Manhattan in laser-cut wood. County Display created a focal point of antler heads in wood and perspex.

Technology The Department of Visualisation demonstrated its virtual reality capabilities. ‘The virtual spaces we create allow people to walk around and explore the design within the space as well as pick up products, remerchandise or even change colours or finishes within the overall design proposal,’ says Mike Kilkelly, owner of The Department of Visualisation.

Forming Reality also used virtual reality to immerse visitors into its complete range of mannequins. ‘For the VM & Display show we created a virtual showroom, and have developed an application where it can be viewed using Google cardboard,’ says David Brooks, managing director at Forming Reality.

Barber Design’s new stand concept centred around the theme of ‘blurring the lines between retail and digital’ and demonstrated how retail technology can be applied to increase footfall and sales. The display used an innovative digital content platform and lightbox technology developed by Icon, to present some of the company’s recent projects.

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Photography: Melvyn Vincent

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visual merchandising

Lighting Neon lighting was a prominent theme at the show, particularly for logos. The back of Tenn’s stand featured a giant orange illuminated logo, as did Hello Flamingo which opted for bright pink and VMG for green. Outline Displays demonstrated its skills in neon and cold cathode lighting with a variety of logo options.

Props You couldn’t miss County Display’s big yellow sofa — the perfect pitstop for selfies and a rest, or the huge shoe and handbag on the Display Logic stand, not to mention Atom’s giant bright pink hand playing with a string of lights. Even film props and robots made an appearance this year, in the form of special effects company Artem SFX. ‘Where the VM & Display Show shines is by being able to attract exhibitors that traditionally work in other sectors. Visitors to this year’s show were treated to visual showcases from several prop makers who are more used to work in TV and film, as well as fabric printers,’ says Trodd.

2 4

5 1 Neon logos were in abundance at the show this year.

2 Graphica Display created an illuminated Pop Art ping pong table and invited visitors to a game.

3 Barber Design’s new stand concept centred around the theme of blurring the lines between retail and digital.

4 Greenery and foliage popped up all over the show this year, including VMG’s live garden.

5 Blacks Visual collaborated with Lucy Hardcastle to create CONFLATE — a celebration of craft and process.

6 County Display created a focal point of antler heads made from wood and perspex.

Foliage As we saw at the Surface Design Show in February, the use of foliage, living walls and greenery continues to be a strong trend for interior design, both artificial and living. Greenery highlights included VMG, which created a live garden featuring a giant welded mantis and real grass; arrangements of pots by MCV Styling; and artificial foliage and flowers by WOW Business and Tree Locate.

Displays and shopfittings Andy Thornton launched its new Manhattan Collection of periodstyle shopfittings. The range includes haberdashery counters, jewellery display cases and an impressive apothecary shelving unit.

Creative services Blacks Visual collaborated with Lucy Hardcastle to create CONFLATE — a celebration of craft and process. A beautiful multicoloured bauble structure filled the DZD stand, while Minki Balinki opted for a display of delicate hearts.

Bespoke design and production company Matt Wingfield created a series of brightly coloured scarves, which moved delicately in the breeze. make-it london, which specialises in the design and fabrication of bespoke creative projects, designed a family of quirky junk birds for the show.

The VM & Display Show returns to the BDC on 18-19 April 2018.

7 The Elements collection by Universal Display.

8 make-it london showcased its family of junk birds.

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9 Kosa Art Group demonstrated its unique design skills.

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info@universaldisplay.co.uk

www.iconeme.com 03/03/2017 13:50

opinion

SENSORY PRIMING As advanced as the human mind may be, there are many evolutionary throwbacks which still permeate human thinking. Humans have evolved to have many instincts which were once crucial to protect us from danger and drive us to survive. These instincts are linked to the senses and are therefore susceptible to sensory priming, says Ali Newton, strategy and marketing manager for The Display Centre.

Sensory priming can be a powerful tool to change how people feel about things. For example, a study at Yale University found that people holding a hot drink are more likely to judge others more positively than those holding a cold drink. Little things can vastly change people’s perceptions, but how can this be used by retailers to positively effect shopper behaviour? Here are three tips on how to use human instinct and sensory priming to sell more.

1. Move, Move, Move!

Humans are attracted to movement, as they constantly survey what is around them.

Movement in someone’s peripheral vision can be so distracting that it can draw their attention away from what they are doing, even if they are actively fighting the urge to look.

As the standards of window displays are ever-improving, the high street is becoming a far more competitive place when it comes to attracting customer attention. While many state that a display should be changed at least every two weeks to prevent stagnation, many additional things can be done to keep a display fresh and interesting.

POPAI (Point of Purchase Advertising International) found that movement in the retail environment can increase sales by more than 30 per cent. A dynamic focal point can be created by using rotating display turntables to display mannequins or products. Using a turntable and other moving elements in a window display can be a powerful way to capitalise on human instinct, increasing footfall and conversions.

2. Get Emotional Humans are constantly prioritising which information to process. This is commonly explained using the ‘Cocktail Party Effect’,

which describes a person’s ability to listen to a conversation while subconsciously monitoring other conversations around them. It is this that then allows someone to pick out their name being mentioned in another conversation across the room.

When we hear our name, our attention is redirected.

A large part of how humans prioritise is dictated by how emotional a stimulus is. Emotional stimuli are prioritised over neutral stimuli.

Marketers have long used emotional affect to attract customer attention and to capture their interest. But it’s not just useful for attracting customer attention in the first place; emotion also helps to cement things into our memories. The nature and strength of the emotion that is evoked is part of what helps us to remember.

By creating retail displays that evoke emotion and help customers to identify with a brand, it is possible not only to attract their attention, but also to help them remember your brand.

by the emotional and cultural values of particular colours.

High-contrast imagery is a powerful tool, as it happens on a subconscious level. Lindstrom analysed the effects of product placement on the TV show American Idol and found that Coca-Cola attracted more consumer attention than Ford. This was because the coke label and colours were continually seen, while the Ford branding was less visible.

The best way to create maximum impact and attract attention is to keep things simple, but high-contrast and eye-catching.

www.displaycentre.co.uk

3. High Contrast Colour psychology can be a tricky subject, as there are many factors that influence how we feel about a colour. Much of it comes down to personal preference and culture, but there are some general things that can be drawn from colour psychology. In a retail display, it would seem that the most important conclusions are that the context you are working in is the key consideration.

The most useful lesson from human instinct and colour is that high-contrast stimuli attract shopper attention, because this is what the human visual system is optimally tuned for. Contrasting displays are more salient and are therefore given more attention. In addition, the attention that we give something is also influenced

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plus-size mannequins Text: Lyndsey Dennis

CURVE BALL Is the fashion industry and general public more open to plus-size mannequins on the high street?

Retail Focus finds out.

Lingerie brand Bluebella recently unveiled stats comparing a woman from 1957 to one today. An average female in 1957 was size 12, 34B bust and size three feet. In 2017, the average is size 16, 36DD and size six feet.

Research from the University of Liverpool has looked at mannequin sizes used to advertise UK female fashion, suggesting they are too thin and may promote unrealistic body ideals. Led by Dr Eric Robinson from the University’s Institute of Psychology, Health and Society, researchers surveyed national fashion retailers on two city high streets.

The study, published in The Journal of Eating Disorders, found that the average female mannequin body size was representative of a severely underweight woman. The average male mannequin body size was significantly larger than the average female and only a small proportion of male mannequins represented an underweight body size.

‘We of course are not saying that altering the size of high street fashion mannequins will on its own solve body image problems. What we are instead saying is that presentation of ultrathin female bodies is likely to reinforce inappropriate and unobtainable body ideals, so as a society we should be taking measures to stop this type of reinforcement,’ says Dr Eric Robinson.

Selfridges was recently in the headlines for using a ‘thin’ model. The Advertising Standards Authority cleared the model and said she did not appear to be ‘significantly underweight’.

‘We’ve seen positive advances in the fashion industry over the last few years,

The VOLUPTUOUS collection by Window France is a very contemporary vision of the plus-size woman. including from Selfridges themselves, which shows that there is a shift towards more responsible advertising and portraying of diversity. However, the recent advert is another example where a slim body is still favoured over others, despite the fact that it doesn’t reflect the majority of customers,’ says Denise Hatton, chief executive of the National Council of YMCAs, and a founding partner of the Be Real campaign with Dove.

The founders of the campaign want retailers, as well as modelling agencies and other industries, to promote body types that reflect the population, with all its shapes, sizes, ages, ethnicities, abilities and more.

Universal Display offers several plussize mannequin ranges, its first launched some 25 years ago. ‘We have always been conscious of varied body shapes and

sizes, and it seems that some companies have just this moment woken up to this,’ says Jonathan Berlin, managing director of Universal Display.

Likewise, Adel Rootstein first launched a plus-size range in the 80s. ‘Plus-size mannequins at Rootstein have always been part of the norm. Dressing our new showroom in West Kensington, where you can see Penelope, I had no trouble finding clothes to fit her on the high street,’ says Tony Crathern, creative consultant at Adel Rootstein.

The company doesn’t currently offer a plus-size male form. ‘We have never been asked for a plus-size male line. I think men look at themselves in a different way fashion wise to women,’ says Crathern.

Window France doesn’t have any plans

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plus-size mannequins

Above: Bonaveri’s ambition is to represent human proportion without making specific references to any one sculptural ideal.

Above right: Proportion London has launched #IAM, which wears a size 14.

Below: Dan XL by Universal Display.

Below right: Penelope by Adel Rootstein.

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to launch a men’s range either. ‘It’s an interesting subject but I’m not sure that men are that concerned about how they are portrayed as much as women are,’ agrees Jean-Marc Mesguich, CEO of Window France.

For women’s fashion, some of the company’s clients were interested in testing plus-size mannequins. ‘We decided to invest a great deal of time and money to develop a modern style plus-size collection that would meet both the public’s and brand’s criteria. After some research we decided to work with a top international plus-size fashion model that had all the style, elegance and character to make a fabulous collection. One year later, the result was a very contemporary vision of the plus-size woman; a stylish, sexy, confident and modern woman. Our goal was to make every plus-size woman proud of her generous proportions and feminity, and we believe we have achieved that in our VOLUPTUOUS collection,’ says Mesguich.

Bonaveri’s ambition is to represent human proportion without making specific references to any one sculptural ideal, ensuring that within its collections, forms are original, diverse and inclusive. Bonaveri’s collections are designed to allow customers to make their own choices about size, enabling a broader diversity of scale according to individual preferences.

The company also moves with cultural, social and market trends. In the 60s, its female forms explored and celebrated a more voluptuous shape, accentuating curves and marking out distinctions in waist and shoulders. Through the 70s and 80s, Bonaveri’s forms included reflections of cultural influences on body shape and by the 90s the brand’s aesthetic was informed by many more influences; fashion, fitness, diversity.

Proportion London launched its size 14 #IAM mannequin with a thought-provoking event where the conversation was anchored by diversity and a fashion-for-all approach.

Industry campaigner Debra Bourne, model Samantha Bolger and Proportion’s creative director Tanya Reynolds spoke about the

importance of diversity within fashion and retail. The message was powerful and inspiring; we all have body hang-ups, none of us are the same shape or size, however, we should all receive the same fashion experience, regardless.

‘As a mannequin designer I draw a lot of my inspiration from real people and real personalities. #IAM was developed to represent curvier women in a modern and positive way, with particular attention paid to sculpting a body that captures and complements the contours of the shapelier figure,’ says Reynolds.

‘I believe that your environment plays a crucial role in your self worth and your idea of beauty, and no one should feel left out or under-represented in the media.

Everyone should be able to have a positive fashion experience no matter what shape, size, race, gender, identity or age, and it’s great to see that retail will now have a contemporary and stylish size 14 mannequin option, with a diverse range of skin tones to add into the mix,’ says Bolger.

With plus-size fashion options increasing and the likes of Simply Be opening a physical space on Oxford Street, it seems there is a greater need for plus-size clothing, but some retailers are still hesistant to use realistically shaped mannequins, instead opting for aspirational sizes. As Bolger says, everyone deserves a positive fashion experience.

products

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bbrown is part of the Muraspec Decorative solutions Group which specialises in manufacturing and supplying wallcoverings, fabrics and other decorative finishes for the interiors market. bbrown concentrates its efforts on the display market and continues to offer both stocked products from its standard collection as well as a sourcing service, which finds solutions for a variety of projects from the company’s network of regular suppliers who understand the time and delivery pressures as well as the budget restraints in the retail market. bbrown continues to research and offer relevant display materials and is always up for a challenge.

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products

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Think Ambient Think Ambient showcased its range of easy-to-apply, easy-to-remove, damage free printable materials at the VM & Display Show in April. In order to stay ahead of the competition, the company is constantly innovating new products to better meet the needs of its customers. Think Ambient’s products are widely used for innovative visuals and point of sale. The company’s latest product — ZTAC-TOUCH — is a high performance, low-tack film graphic that can stick to a wide range of smooth indoor surfaces, including glass, metal and polished stone. It offers easy to apply, bubble-free installation and can be repositioned and reused.

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Ways2display’s ultra-slim 20mm deep and 10mm deep light boxes and LED light boards are designed for building into displays and signage products. The company demonstrated these at Retail Design Expo, where visitors could see the differences between daylight, warm white and RGB light boards and the new dynamic white that changes from warm to daylight by remote control.

The company also showcased the new ceiling display LumiTile and 25mm front loading light box using textile prints for stunning illuminated graphics.

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the retail exchange

Text: Lyndsey Dennis

STORES OF THE FUTURE 2.0 Highlights from the first episode of The Retail Exchange, a new retail podcast series that throws a spotlight on key issues affecting in-store performance, with insight and opinion from senior figures in the industry.

Participants:

Karl McKeever

Paul West

James Breaks

Nathan Watts

managing director, Visual Thinking

strategy director, Dalziel and Pow

associate director of design, the rpa:group

creative director, FITCH

Hosted by Declan Curry Hosted by BBC journalist and broadcaster Declan Curry, episode one of The Retail Exchange was titled ‘Stores of the Future 2.0’ and featured an experienced panel of leading retail professionals.

The panel discussed the continued trend among leading retailers to launch ‘Store of the Future’ concepts, and if in reality these stores really do provide a glimpse into the future of retail.

They also delved into the subject of concept stores being blighted by a ‘launch and leave’ syndrome, and whether greater focus be placed on delivering retail transformation in store, everyday.

What is the role of stores of the future?

‘It really comes down to what the role of the brand is and what the customer needs are. There’s a real mix of things that the store of the future has to fulfil,’ says Paul West, strategy director, Dalziel and Pow. ‘I think it depends on why a store of the future is being proposed in the first place, and of course there are a number of motivations why brands might do this,’ says Karl McKeever, managing director of Visual Thinking. ‘Sometimes it’s for pure reinvigoration purposes. Perhaps a new management team recognise that things need to be done, and focusing the organisation around a store of the future project is a good way to actually create a point of motivation for all of the teams to think about how they are going to create transformational change.’ He notes that’s not the only reason. Some brands may embark on a store of the future project purely because they are trying to prep a business for sale.

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the retail exchange

Are stores of the future trying to do too much?

Are stores of the future really giving us a tantalising glimpse of the future?

‘I think the list, as Paul said, is very much brand specific and dependent on the objectives they need to pursue; whether there are commercial objectives, customer objectives or brand objectives. However, fundamentally the one thing that any store of the future project has got to tackle is innovation. They can be a catalyst for change and it’s a way of getting the organisation to think about itself and from a new perspective,’ believes McKeever.

James Breaks, associate director of design, the rpa:group, agrees: ‘One of the key things that we’ve seen recently is this idea of showrooming. The physical space may not actually be the key driver of those sales, but what is important is it’s a very real touch point for those products and services being offered. That’s incredibly important for any customer to make that connection and drive a real relationship between the brand and the customer.’

‘That sounds like the present rather than the future,’ interjects Curry. ‘Absolutely. Unless you can engage at a fundamental level with your customer, then any gloss on top of that is smoke and mirrors,’ adds Breaks.

‘I think for many people the future is moving very quickly and they are seeking reassurance in more familiar aspects of retail; the neighbourhood vs the mall, the social space vs the big shiny flagships,’ answers West.

As consumers of content online, West says we don’t go back to the same blogs and feeds everyday if it has the same content. ‘I think when opening a store, think about it almost like a magazine or a website with constant updates and activities, and social experiences; all of that together gives us more of a glimpse of the store of the future as opposed to pecking at iPads.’

‘We can’t take the customer out of this discussion; they are 3 absolutely at the core of it. The store of the future has to engage with them, and has to learn from them otherwise it’s a totally wasted experiment,’ notes Curry.

‘The role of the store is changing but it’s still the best channel to deliver an empathetic position, a human element and an experiential element of that brand. It provides a sensorial touch point for the customer,’ says Nathan Watts, creative director at FITCH. ‘It is absolutely fundamental that stores of the future do have that capacity to flex, evolve and change because it seems to be even more important that any store environment that is built for the future has the ability to evolve. They need to be more than just a place to sell things, but a place to host events and demonstrate something different to the customer.’

Breaks agrees: ‘Customers these days are far more evolved themselves. Generation Z will not put up with any shallow impressions of being engaged with. They’ll dismiss it outright and will go and find the next opportunity to express themselves. I think if you are an evolving brand, you’re taking that time to understand your customers’ needs and you’re looking at the environment.’

7

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the retail exchange

Are we paying enough attention to the shopper on the ground?

The purpose of the store of the future is to be an inspiration

‘I think there is a shift; we’re not expecting customers to just necessarily be buying products, it’s more about what can I achieve with you as a brand. I think we have to be realistic about what we mean about future stores. There are many disruptive technologies that are changing the way that people are buying services and goods beyond just the physical retail environment. I think one of the most interesting examples out there that does feel genuinely of the future is Amazon Go,’ says Watts.

One part of it is understanding what customers need, so if you can deliver on that then that’s great. The other side of the equation is delivering something that customers can be wowed by; that they haven’t decided they want yet, notes West.

Watts mentions Nike Town on Oxford Street as a shining example: ‘It has a very clear, distinct role within the entire estate of Nike in the UK and arguably around the world, where Nike Towns exist. It has a clear role as a beacon for that brand and I think it represents future vision for that retailer and there may be some elements that drip down to the network elsewhere.’

‘It’s an inspiration, it’s also an important aspect for the people of their brand to see that they are. They have an aspiration as a brand to move forward and that’s a big rallying call for the retailer and its people,’ says Watts.

Breaks supports this: ‘Absolutely. Store associates of late have become brand ambassadors. They are experts and this is part of that shift in where we see the store of the future going. We need to radically rethink about their role and how they drive that brand forward.’

He notes Raffa’s club-style retail space as a wonderful example, with its incredible cafe where you can sit amongst all these experts. ‘That genuine engagement; it’s that precious element that every store of the future is going to need to really perpetuate,’ says Breaks.

‘We’ve become so desensitised to the new and latest thing, that it’s almost become an everyday expectation. This is why we are moving back to disruptive retailing to make a point of difference.

Moving back to distraction, that’s why you see Adidas creating knitwear and Nike starting to create on-the-premises printed, personalised products. It’s those things that are causing the point of difference and not necessarily the hardware and the software themselves,’ concludes Breaks.

You can download the full podcast at www.theretailexchange.co.uk

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in-store music

Sound of muzak Background music that reflects a brand’s values evokes a wide range of positive emotions among customers, and increases overall satisfaction not to Text: Gemma Balmford mention sales, finds Retail Focus.

Playing background music that is a good fit for the brand can increase customer well-being and hike sales, according to a new study by HUI Research and Spotifybacked company, Soundtrack Your Brand.

By analysing a pool of nearly two million unique transactions at 16 restaurants of a major chain over a five-month period, the researchers found that playing a carefully selected mix of music increased sales by more than nine per cent, compared with playing random popular songs.

‘When done right, music has a major positive effect on sales, largely stemming from guests purchasing more items such as desserts and sides,’ says Professor Sven-Olov Daunfeldt, who led the study.

‘Play the wrong music and you just might find that you’re alienating that very same customer and selling significantly less.’

Just like any interior design component, music can improve and alter the shopping experience. Of all sensory inputs, humans are found to respond quickest to sound. ‘It’s the sense that reaches the brain first and functions as an organiser for the rest of our senses,’ says Ola Sars, CEO and co-founder of Soundtrack Your Brand, which counts Aesop, TAG Heuer, Wagamama and GANT among its clients.

‘We think music is often overlooked as part of brands’ design strategies. As much as music can improve an experience, bad music can ruin that same experience and alienate customers, so one has to work hard to get it right.’

The company has developed its own model for matching individual brands with music, called Soundscan. ‘Typically, we don’t want to tie brands to specific music

genres, rather we attempt to find a unique sound for each brand that spans across several types of music and genres,’ explains Sars. ‘The essence of our model is how we translate brand attributes into specific musical keywords. It’s equally important to decide what the brand is as to decide what the brand is not.’

Sometimes, playing no music at all is better than playing random popular music, argues Sars. In 2016, M&S announced that it was switching off background music in a number of its stores in response to feedback from customers and staff.

Waterstones has a similar policy, Below: PlayNetwork counts the adidas NYC flagship among its clients.

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in-store music

‘Every sensorial cue, including sound, impacts the experience.’ Mood Media

Above: PlayNetwork has helped to unify the digital and physical spaces for NYX Cosmetics in the US by creating an entertainment media ecosystem that infuses NYX Professional Makeup stores with music and digital technology.

Right: Spanish fashion brand Mango has partnered with media engagement company, Shazam and Mood Media to let customers choose what music they would like to play in store.

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while Waitrose, Lidl and Aldi are also free of piped music.

‘One size does not fit all,’ agrees Craig Hubbell, CEO of in-store entertainment company, PlayNetwork. ‘When brands stay true to their core roots and truly understand their customers, the role of music becomes more clear.’

According to Hubbell, crafting the perfect brand sound is a combination of knowing the customer and then combining music expertise, programming skills and analysis, licensing requirements, marketing knowledge and instinct to truly enhance physical, digital and experiential space to increase customer engagement. The company’s client list includes Pret a Manger, Anthropologie, Victoria’s Secret, Starbucks and adidas, including the New York City stadium-inspired flagship, which opened in December. With creativity, sustainability and authenticity at the core of its new retail concept, adidas appointed PlayNetwork to translate these ideas through music and high fidelity sound across all of its US stores, including adidas NYC. Each music strategy is programmed and managed by PlayNetwork music supervisors, who partner with the adidas team to align segmented playlists with core messages, campaigns, products, and environmental attributes for each store type.

For the adidas NYC flagship, this includes a fresh mix of contemporary rap, stylish R&B, brand-sponsored musicians and exclusive underground sounds from artists that can only be heard at adidas.

In addition, PlayNetwork has helped to unify the digital and physical spaces for NYX Cosmetics in the US by creating an

entertainment media ecosystem that infuses NYX Professional Makeup stores with music and digital technology.

Meanwhile in Europe, Spanish fashion brand Mango has partnered with media engagement company, Shazam and Mood Media to let customers choose what music they would like to play in store.

The mobile marketing solution, Shazam In-Store is available in Mango stores across Spain, and enables customers to access the retailer’s playlists and choose the songs they would like to play in store while shopping.

‘Mango has been the first fashion brand in Europe to offer a unique musical experience to its customers thanks to Shazam In Store and our recently launched feature, Social Mix,’ says Valentina Candeloro, marketing director international at Mood Media. ‘This innovative feature allows in-store customers to view in real time the store’s playlist and select the songs they would like to hear next, with the most popular song rising to the top.

‘With 78 per cent of consumers declaring that they would like to influence the music played in stores and the number going up to almost 90 per cent when looking at Generation Z, brands like Mango demonstrate they are listening to what their customers are asking for, allowing them to play in an engaging playground, safe and coherent with their brand’s essence,’ adds Candeloro.

‘The rise of the digital world has created a need in consumers for sensorial experiences and emotion connections: we don’t just want to buy a brand, we want to engage with it and experience it.

It’s not a one-size-fits-all though, agrees Candeloro. ‘Every sensorial cue, including sound, impacts the experience so the music we choose for our clients has to reflect the brand DNA and values as much as its customers’ taste.’

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opinion

Winning customer loyalty in a digital world Knowing your customers and what they want, and being able to target them with personalised messages is essential to growing loyalty, claims Helen Slaven, chief commercial officer of SaaS technology provider, Eagle Eye

Customer loyalty has long roots in society’s history, evolving from the collection of stamps and paper coupons to the sophisticated digital systems we have today. Loyalty programmes are a window into the consumers’ psyche. In return for valuable, relevant offers, consumers give retailers the explicit permission to track behaviour and gather data. While the mechanics of loyalty initiatives keep changing, the goal remains the same.

Merchants aim to drive consumers to visit stores and sites more often, to spend more when they do, and to turn them into loyal brand advocates. Eagle Eye conducted research into how retailers can win loyalty with today’s consumers.

the norm, and Generation Z in particular comes of age. To make sure that loyalty programmes appeal to this demographic in the future, retailers, brands and restaurants need to embrace the world of digital.

Greggs is a great example of a leader in digital loyalty with its ‘Greggs Rewards’ mobile app. The app, which has been downloaded more than 200,000 times, achieved redemption rates of between 30 and 40 per cent by allowing customers to pay, get a coffee stamp and receive instant offers and rewards through one tap.

Mobile millennials

Our research shows that merchants are still losing customers as a result of not understanding their individual preferences.

The most common reason for abandoning a programme is a lack of personalisation.

For young millennials (18-24 years old) this was even more damaging than other age groups. Receiving excessive generic communications combined with a lack of personalised rewards accounted for why 43 per cent of 18-24 year olds left a loyalty programme, reflecting a wider desire for personalisation in customer loyalty schemes.

Millennials expect communication that is tailored to their current location, context and intention, and delivered in the channel of their choice, anywhere and anytime. Their loyalty has to be earned.

They know that when it comes to loyalty programmes they are participating in a two-way exchange: their data in exchange for value and relevant content. How they browse, spend and buy using multiple

Consumer behaviour is changing rapidly as a result of mobile. Both smartphones and Wi-Fi access are now ubiquitous. As a result, consumers are increasingly using mobile devices to shop, browse and spend.

This trend is reflected in our research, which shows consumers’ preference for mobile and digital loyalty programmes, and how they want brands to target them.

This is particularly noticeable in millennials, who are often categorised into two groups: Generation Y (25-34 year olds) and Generation Z (18-24 year olds). We found that 59 per cent of 25-34 year olds and nearly half (47 per cent) of 18-24s said it was important for them to be able to access their loyalty programme via a mobile device, while between 40 and 41 per cent of all 18-34 year-olds wanted to be able to monitor their points with a digital wallet and redeem them using a smartphone.

The desire for mobile and digital schemes is clear, and will only grow as millennial spending patterns become

Why personalisation gets you plus points

digital channels, is creating blueprints for the retailing of the future. If this is what millennials expect today, it will be what everyone expects tomorrow.

A great example of harnessing data for personalisation is easyJet, who worked to move away from generic, blanket communication. They took information about customers’ journeys over the last 20 years to create emotionally engaging messages about customers’ relationship with the brand, adding facts about their travel behaviour and personal recommendations for future trips. The results were impressive with open rates higher than a standard easyJet newsletter, and 25 per cent higher click-through rates. Furthermore, 7.5 per cent of easyJet customers who received the fully personalised version went on to make a booking in the next 30 days.

Customer loyalty is constantly evolving and is harder-won than ever before.

Today, customer loyalty initiatives need to embrace an increasingly digital world.

Digital solutions eliminate the need for physical cards and make loyalty programme adoption much simpler for consumers, increasing the rate of engagement. Data generated through digital schemes is a rich resource which can be used to deliver precision-based discounts and personalised rewards. These are what keep consumers interested, engaged and inspire their brand loyalty, and keep customers coming back.

www.eagleeye.com

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DESIGNING, MANUFACTURING AND INSTALLING HIGH QUALITY VISUAL DISPLAY SOLUTIONS FOR THE RETAIL AND EVENTS INDUSTRY.

PROPS & SCULPTS - WINDOW DISPLAYS - STORE DEVELOPMENT - CREATIVE DESIGN SPECIALIST FIXTURES & FITTINGS - EVENTS & PROMOTIONS - MECHANICAL ANIMATION

TEL: +44 (0) 20 8687 1030 WEB: WWW.PROPABILITY.CO.UK EMAIL: INFO@PROPABILITY.CO.UK

carnaby

CARNABY Close to Oxford Street and Regent Street in London’s West End, independent boutiques sit alongside major international flagships and concept stores in Carnaby.

Famous for its history as the centre of the Swinging Sixties in London, Carnaby has reinvented itself throughout the decades, with both Mods and Punks calling the area home. Today, Carnaby is made up of 13 streets comprising more than 100 shops with 60 places to eat and drink.

With Carnaby Street the spine, adjoining streets reveal hidden treasures such as Peckham Rye, Shinola and Baracuta.

Kingly Court is a gourmet’s paradise, offering cheap eats to al la carte dining.

Property investment company Shaftsbury has a portfolio of 101 shops in the area, covering 16,815 sq m, and 53 restaurants over 9,569 sq m. The company continues to invest in Carnaby through a long-term, innovative management strategy, which has made it the desired international shopping and dining destination it is today.

‘Carnaby is known as the go-to place for global fashion brands, unique independent stores and world-first emerging concepts that offer a unique consumer experience for both Londoners and tourists alike,’ says Samantha Bain-Mollison, group retail strategy and leasing executive, Shaftesbury.

The area is welcoming a number of new retailer concepts, including fitness brand Sweaty Betty, which will open its first

Text: Lyndsey Dennis

Retail neighbourhoods

European flagship at 1 Carnaby Street, and watch retailer G-SHOCK that will return to the street in June after a seven year absence. UK fashion brand The Ragged Priest will open its first store this month on Ganton Street. They will join recent additions Urban Decay, G.H. Bass and Estée Edit, who have all chosen Carnaby for their first global or UK flagship store. Existing stores, The North Face and PUMA have also recently unveiled fresh store concepts.

Each season, the area hosts special events from Carnaby Street Eat to London Fashion Week, plus Style Nights by GQ, and as Carnaby Street is pedestrianised, it’s the ideal space for events like these. ‘All of our consumer events are a great opportunity to support Carnaby tenants and allow the public to gain access to exciting, free activities which cannot be experienced anywhere else. These events are carefully assembled to celebrate all things Carnaby; unique fashion, food, beauty, lifestyle and music with exclusive offers, discounts and free experiences both in store and on streets,’ says Bain-Mollison.

Today, the area is now the epicentre for culture and lifestyle in London’s West End and even boasts its own walking tour app, Carnaby Echoes, tracing the vibrant music history.

PUMA has unveiled a new store concept on Carnaby Street.

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Flexible strip LEDs: made to measure

Our bespoke , tailor-made flexible strip LED kits make lighting your retail display roll out easy, saving your workshop time and money.

Our LED experts will design your kit so it arrives ready to plug in and play: • We’ll help you choose the right LED strip product • Products will be cut, soldered and connected to the desired • Power supplies can be added so it is ready to plug in and play All

LEDs are manufactured in Europe to the highest quality.

Find out more about our LED solutions, contact your nearest Perspex Distribution office BLACKBURN Email: sales.blackburn@perspex.co.uk Tel: 01254 272 800

TAMWORTH Email: sales.tamworth@perspex.co.uk Tel: 01827 263 900

CHELMSFORD Email: sales.chelmsford@perspex.co.uk Tel: 01245 232 800

WEYBRIDGE Email: sales.weybridge@perspex.co.uk Tel: 01932 356 900

www.perspex.co.uk

products

LIGHTING BÄRO Lighting BÄRO is a leading specialist in the field of retail lighting with global operations. The company is committed to supporting the development of your individual story from start to finish with a customised light balance of efficiency, effectiveness and emotional appeal in a way that can be experienced. Light that optimises the natural colours of products is one of the most effective, but also one of the most sophisticated tools of retail lighting. Thanks to decades of experience in this field, BÄRO has the corresponding products, technologies and expertise needed to implement them.

T. +44 (0)845 519 2154 E. sales@baro.co.uk www.baero.com

Illuma Lighting Illuma has taken a new approach to the requirement of wall washing and product illumination in retail with its purposely designed new Highspot LED. The spotlight is a truly unique lighting solution that has a fully adjustable 355° body and 180° rotating head. Its elegance and understated design separate it from the rest. It incorporates innovative built-in thermal cooling technology, reducing the need for a cooling fan despite its 4000lm output and compact design. Through its specifically designed optics the Highspot LED offers a truly flexible approach to the lighting of large areas within retail.

T. +44 (0)1332 818 200 E: marketing@illuma.co.uk www.illuma.co.uk Twitter: illuma_lighting

Tridonic Tridonic has given its sixth generation SLE LED modules a chip upgrade as well as extending its colour palette range.

The ART, FOOD and FASHION colours, each tailored to suit a specific application, have now been joined by TINGE to make warm tones appear even more vibrant. All the versions benefit from greater efficiency in high-output mode and are now available with a 17mm light emission surface. The dimmable LED modules for spotlights and downlights are impressive not only for their greater efficiency of up to 30 per cent and better colour rendering but also for their improved robust 50mm package which is ZHAGA compliant. This allows for a more stable connection between the chip and improvement in thermal conductivity.

T. +44 (0)1256 374 300 E. enquiries@uk.tridonic.co.at www.tridonic.com Twitter: Tridonic

Reggiani Following the success of the lighting installation at Primark’s Madrid flagship, Reggiani has supplied a variety of products to the new Primark flagship store in Amsterdam. The brief, by UK lighting designers LAPD, was to create a complete LED lighting scheme throughout all of the seven sales floors. With multiple entrances, the site offers more than 8,200 sq m of retail space.

Reggiani’s Yori was originally supplied to Primark Madrid in metal halide and LED versions and were specified as part of the brief for Amsterdam as the luminaire head dimensions are compact and the Yori fitting offers the highest light output when compared to other similarly sized luminaires. Another important consideration was the overall look of the fitting and, with this in mind, Reggiani was able to supply the fitting in a variety of finishes to project the right look for each department.

T. +44 (0)208 236 3000 E: reggiani@reggiani.co.uk www.reggiani.net Twitter: reggianilight

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@retailfocus

Counter Stands

Outdoor Holders

Wall Mounted

Business Cards

Rotating Displays

Single Page

Multi-Pocket

Floor Stands

Sales & Distribution Enquiries T: +44 (0)1473 229250 | E: sales@brochureholders.co.uk Browse the full range at www.brochureholders.com

Premium quality UK manufactured leaflet dispensers & brochure displays

Did you know we stock the largest range of LED Decorative Filament Bulbs in the UK

Download the new brochure from our website For more details, visit us at

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.co.uk

products

DESIGN DETAILS Style Partitions A new pilot branch of Santander on Tottenham Court Road, London cleverly utilises a fully automatic, DORMA Varitrans glass moveable wall system from Style to create a safe and secure out-of-hours ATM lobby. This unique design significantly improves the functionality of the high street bank, increasing floor space during the day and welcoming customers inside to access the ATM, whilst at night they can enjoy the use of an attractive glass lobby to complete their banking transactions in safety. Style, the sole UK supplier of DORMA moveable wall systems, worked closely with the Santander design team to deliver a solution that offered the right functionality and security.

Incorporating the DORMA ComfortDrive system, the Santander moveable partition slides effortlessly into place at the press of a button for night-time set up. During branch opening hours, the glass panels neatly retract through a slim opening in the back wall to stack in a small recessed area out of sight. The floor-mounted guide rail is extremely shallow and compact, ensuring no trip hazard when the glass wall is retracted. Understandably security was an important consideration for the bank’s design team.

A high specification solution, the Varitrans system is constructed using anti-bandit, 11.5mm laminated safety glass. The individual panels themselves feature interlocking profiles, effectively preventing a lever attack, or ‘jemmying’, whilst an electronic lock shoots out a bolt to secure the final panel in place. Ensuring staff and customer safety, an integral sensor activates the wall to stop and reverse if an obstruction is encountered.

T. +44 (0)1202 874 044 E: sales@style-partitions.co.uk www.style-partitions.co.uk Twitter: StylePartitions

Leach Impact

British Gypsum

Graphic display expert Leach has launched the Product Wall Lite, a new dual-format display that enables stores and brands to integrate hero merchandise, lighting and graphics into one magnetic display structure. The result is an atmospheric product ‘exhibition’ that captures customer attention with minimal use of premium floor space. Leach has also launched new acrylic lightboxes — captivating graphic displays that don’t just have a high-gloss effect with unparalleled photographic quality, but are also incredibly easy to wipe clean.

British Gypsum‘s Gyproc Habito wall solution helps create durable and robust commercial spaces, while improving design flexibility. With a reinforced core, Gyproc Habito is five times stronger than standard plasterboard, making it ideal for high traffic retail spaces. It is installed like standard plasterboard, but reduces the need for pre-planned, preinstalled pattressing, meaning interiors can be redesigned time and time again — perfect for showcasing seasonal promotions.

Gyproc Habito can support 15kg of weight with a single no. 10 wood screw.

T. +44 (0)1484 551 200 E: impact@weareleach.com www.leachimpact.com Twitter: LeachImpact

T. +44 (0)115 945 1000 E. elcustomerservices@bpb.com www.british-gypsum.com Twitter: britishgypsum

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products

DESIGN CONCEPTS Quadrant Design Quadrant Design is a close-knit creative design team 23-strong, based in Reading and Paddington, supporting some of the world’s biggest retail and hospitality brands. Offering both design implementation and full concept design, its talent pool of interior designers and architects ensures the company can suit its client’s individual needs every step of the way. ‘We love the space we’re in — you should too’.

T. +44 (0)118 959 1581 E: hello@qdesign.co.uk www.quadrantdesign.co.uk Twitter: QDesignltd

Raccoon Raccoon is a multi-award winning brand production business, and its purpose is to create innovative and compelling retail environments. With a passion for sustainability, the company can take you through your seasons and promotions with a breathtaking but cost effective range of solutions. Raccoon likes to keep things simple too. From multi-surface materials to superfast, self-install solutions that in-store staff will love, the company helps brands transform a retail setting quickly and creatively.

T. +44 (0)800 975 0105 E: info@raccoon.co.uk www.raccoon.co.uk Twitter: RaccoonRocks

je+1 je+1 is a creative design agency, experienced in the creation and delivery of innovative retail and commercial spaces, for more than 30 years. As part of John Evans Interior Architecture & Design, the company has worked closely with marketleading brands to create engaging and influential spaces, focused on brand strategy and customer experience. Its multi-disciplined team provides design for retail and brand spaces, including flagship store concepts, store roll-outs and refurbishments through to in-store communications and branding. The team’s record of increased retail performance is a driving force behind the service the company provides its clients.

T. +44 (0)121 233 9041 E. info@johnevansdesign.com www.jeplus1.com Twitter: jevansinteriors

ICON ICON delivers high impact graphics, bespoke 3D builds and campaign activations, with clients including Louboutin, Thomas Pink, Burberry, Vertu, Penhaligon’s, H&M and Arcadia. The company’s philosophy is to amplify the customer experience and create visually engaging retail environments. Building on its core services of high impact graphics and 3D builds, the company combines digital technology and traditional retail branding to create a customised offering through amp (+). amp (+) combines its meshh technology, which delivers data analytics and any type of digital content to any mobile device via a hyperlocal Wi-Fi connection without the need for mobile data or internet connection, and Icon’s smart lightboxes that display stunning multilayered animated graphics.

T. +44 (0)20 8302 4921 E: steve.logan@ icon-world.com www.icon-world.com Twitter: ICON_HQ

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RETAIL

Clements Retail specialise in building exceptional retail environments and have a history of working with the UK’s top retailers, such as Aelia Duty Free and Christian Louboutin.

Clements POS are dedicated in creating exceptional Point of Sale, Point of Purchase and Permanent Merchandising solutions for UK’s premium FMCG brands, such as: KraftHeinz, Innocent and Samsung.

TURNING DESIGN CONCEPTS INTO A GLORIOUS REALITY Clements are a well-established, two-fold design, manufacture and installation company with a proven track record in creating award-winning environments, point-of-purchase, permanent merchandise solutions and in-store furniture.

T: 44(0)116 235 5000 W: www.clementsretail.com E: sarah@clementsretail.com

@retailfocus

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products

SURFACES + FINISHES James Latham James Latham, the UK’s biggest independent distributor of timber and panel products, has recently supplied American Red Elm for the new concept booth seating found in Japanese restaurant ITSU. The American Red Elm tables can now be found in ITSU outlets at Victoria, Camden, Heathrow T5 and Bristol. Following the success of the new concept booth seating there are plans to re-fit more restaurants across the UK later in the year. ITSU as a company prides itelf on providing ‘beautiful’ high quality food, so it was imperative for the company to find beautiful high quality materials to reflect the company’s ethos. American Red Elm is known for its attractive appearance, boasting a smooth texture and distinctive visible grain so it was the ideal choice. However, American Red Elm was not only chosen for its aesthetic qualities but also its sustainability credentials as well as its hard-wearing attributes. James Latham often recommends American Red Elm for furniture projects such as this due to its excellent shock resistance and flexible bending properties, enabling joiners and furniture makers to produce superior craftsmanship. To add a modern twist to the traditional material, one of ITSU’s specifications for the booth area incorporates USB chargers inside the wood so that customers can re-charge their phone with ease whilst enjoying a delicious, nutritious meal with friends.

T. +44 (0)116 257 3415 E: marketing@lathams.co.uk www.lathamtimber.co.uk Twitter: lathamsltd

Armourcoat

LG Hausys Europe

Armourcoat polished plaster has been specified for the UCL (University College London) School of Management at its new space on the 38th floor of the iconic One Canada Square at Canary Wharf, London. The space has been designed by leading architect Levitt Bernstein in collaboration with UCL Estates and the School’s director, Bert De Reyck. The floor has been divided into six distinct zones, which each serve different aspects of the School’s work and their own unique identities. These zones are termed as ‘villages’, offices and meeting rooms arranged around a central shared space.

Armourcoat Koncrete polished plaster, including copper leaf, has been used to define the village zones with colour and texture, working with the new UCL corporate identity by Studio Blackburn.

HI-MACS solid surfacing by LG Hausys is the perfect material for the retail market, as it can be fabricated into virtually any design or shape and is extremely hardwearing, low maintenance and affordable. Many retail environments, such as Zara in the Westfield Centre, Yo Sushi outlets and Bershka in Belgium, have discovered the benefits of HI-MACS. It brings a modern acrylic stone finish that leaves nothing beyond the realms of possibility. Logos can be simply and easily applied to, or cut into, the material.

T. +44 (0)1892 704 074 E: info@himacs.eu www.himacs.eu Twitter: HIMACSEurope

T. +44 (0)1732 460 668 E: sales@armourcoat.co.uk www.armourcoat.com Twitter: Armourcoat

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products

SURFACES & FINISHES Rockfon Rockfon’s Mono Acoustic seamless acoustic ceiling and wall system was specified for ACME Architects’ multi award-winning £165 million Victoria Gate in Leeds city centre, to help create the desired look whilst helping deliver ambient acoustic comfort. With its elegant, smooth white surface, ROCKFON Mono Acoustic combines the monolithic clean lines associated with traditional plastered surfaces, and performance characteristics thought only possible with modular suspended ceiling and wall systems.

Naturally made from stone wool, it offers Class A2 fire protection.

T. +44 (0)208 222 7457 E: info@rockfon.co.uk www.rockfon.co.uk Twitter: RockfonUK

William Smith William Smith has announced the launch of 3M’s DI-NOC Trend Line range, a new core stock of the most popular and on-trend wood grain, metallic, textile and single colour patterns. From April, the company now stocks all 80 patterns of the product, with customers able to order by the metre and for next day delivery. Swatches will also be available. The Trend Line range is regarded as another bold statement from the UK’s leading supplier to the sign and graphics industry, as it signals its commitment to investing in new architectural product ranges.

T. +44 (0)1833 690 305 E. info@williamsmith.co.uk www.williamsmith.co.uk Twitter: William_Smiths

Surface Styling With multiple surfaces required for interior projects, designers and specifiers can take the headache out of sourcing them with the unique Surface Styling design resource. The team is on hand to help, providing expert advice and supplying the right materials and cost engineering benefits drawing on an unparalleled portfolio of prestigious brands in laminates, solid surface, decorative panel, wall panelling, flooring and worktops. The portfolio embraces the world’s most innovative materials with more than 12,000 product lines to choose from.

T. +44 (0)845 603 7811 E: info@surfacestyling.co.uk www.surfacestyling.co.uk Twitter: SurfaceStyling

Armourcoat Armourcoat polished plaster creates a stunning entrance for the refurbishment of Greater London House in Camden’s Mornington Crescent. The building, owned by Lazai Investments, is a striking example of Art Deco Egyptian revival architecture formerly the Carreras Cigarette Factory. The hand-applied Armourcoat wall finish forms part of the interior design by Forme UK, which pays contemporary homage to the style of the facade and befits the scale, importance and heritage of the building. An entrance ‘portico’ creates subtle reference to Egyptian style, shapes and motifs, finished in a dark anthracite coloured polished plaster finish. A silhouette outline of the famous bronze cat sculptures which flank the entrance was incorporated into the surface.

T. +44 (0)1732 460 668 E: sales@armourcoat.co.uk www.armourcoat.com Twitter: Armourcoat

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products

FLOORING Tarkett iD Mixonomi from Tarkett has won the coveted Red Dot Award: Product Design 2017, competing against participants from 54 countries with around 5,500 products and innovations. Created for architects and designers, iD Mixonomi is a new Modular Vinyl tile flooring range that makes custommade interior environments possible. Built upon the principle of combining colours, shapes and patterns, iD Mixonomi is an intuitive tool to create personalised and tailored flooring installations, from timeless patterns to the most vibrant collages, There are 33 colours and 10 shapes to play with.

T. +44 (0)1622 854 000 E: ukretail@tarkett.com www.professionals.tarkett.co.uk Twitter: TarkettUK

Gradus Contract interiors specialist Gradus has supplied Esplanade 6000 primary barrier matting to The Gate leisure and entertainment centre in Newcastle upon Tyne. As part of The Gate’s £3.5 million investment programme, Gradus’ Esplanade 6000 primary barrier matting in closed construction with Boulevard 6000 wipers in Nightfall was installed at various entrances to the complex, providing an ideal matting solution for the busy leisure and retail environment. It gives the entrance a sleek, modern and professional appearance to visitors entering The Gate.

T. +44 (0)1625 428 922 E. imail@gradus.com www.gradus.com Twitter: Gradus_World

Polyflor The latest addition to Polyflor’s renowned Expona family of high design and high performance commercial luxury vinyl tile products is the updated Bevel Line collection, now rebranded as Expona Bevel Line and featuring brand new contemporary wood and stone effect designs. The new Expona Bevel Line PUR range includes a total of 27 designs which incorporate the latest architectural trends and are ideal for heavy footfall commercial interiors. Key design features such as colour variation, pattern formations and complementary surface textures help Expona Bevel Line beautifully replicate natural flooring materials and achieve a high specification finish.

Designs in the wood collection feature intricate details and unique characteristics that you would expect to see in real timber flooring, including on-trend grey toned woods and rustic elements that are becoming more popular for commercial interior projects.

T. +44 (0)161 767 1111 E. info@polyflor.com www.polyflor.com Twitter: Polyflorltd

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Forbo Flooring Forbo has refreshed its popular Luxury Vinyl Tile (LVT) collection Allura, introducing new tile shapes and sizes that are ideal for use across the retail market. New to the collection are 180cm x 32cm giant oak planks, 1m x 1m tiles, small 50cm x 15cm planks and Hungarian Point planks cut on a 45o angle allowing realistic herringbone and chevron designs to be created. There are new marble options, and in Forbo’s largest ‘wood’ offer to date there are new contemporary solids and more planks than ever, with in-register embossing to bring designs to life.

T. +44 (0)844 822 3928 E: info.flooring.uk@forbo.com www.forbo-flooring.co.uk/allura Twitter: forboflooringUK

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flooring

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Coming together For the new Harris + Hoole cafe at Tesco in Kensington, design agency Path Design selected Amtico’s Designer’s Choice collection. The flooring creates a unity between the ground and mezzanine floors, achieved by combining the Polygon Key design with a Stripwood laying pattern. This subtly divides the areas and creates memorable and impressive spaces.

Amtico Signature flooring is now central to the Kensington store, offering a welcoming and stylish solution.

Flooring undergoes a huge amount of footfall each day, not to mention when the weather is at its worst. This issue, we bring you a variety of hardwearing solutions that remain looking at their best and are easy to maintain.

www.amtico.com

New kid on the block UK start-up company Atrafloor mixes high design with innovative manufacturing.

Armed with a variety of graphic pieces created in-house and up-to-date interior trends, the company aims to prove that flooring can be a place to display great design without limitations. Using a new manufacturing process developed by their on-site team, Atrafloor is able to bring any bespoke design concept to life on robust vinyl flooring.

www.atrafloor.com

Back to nature Marmoleum Solid is the contemporary new linoleum collection by Forbo Flooring Systems.

Authentic in nature, its five individual ranges provide the foundation for creating pure, distinctive and modern spaces. Created from 97 per cent natural, raw materials including linseed oil and wood flour, 72 per cent of which are rapidly renewable, and with a 43 per cent recycled content, Marmoleum already achieves a natural high performance. The introduction of the Marmoleum Cocoa range goes one step further by adding a seventh natural ingredient, upcycled cocoa shells from a Dutch chocolate producer.

www.forbo-flooring.co.uk/marmoleumsolid

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flooring

Touch of luxury Malmo, the luxury vinyl flooring range available from IDS, is ideal for retail outlets, hotels, restaurants, kitchens, bathrooms, offices and a wide variety of other commercial and domestic applications, having been awarded R10 slip resistance. It offers a stylish, high performance flooring material in 10 woodgrain designs including classic oak and on-trend greys, in a matt finish that’s high performance and easy maintenance. All 10 designs are available in 2.5mm design options with a 0.55mm wear layer achieving a heavy commercial classification of 33. Five of the designs are also available in a 2mm option with a 0.3mm wear layer.

www.idsurfaces.co.uk

Into the light At EuroShop in March, Philips Lighting and Tarkett introduced vinyl flooring using connected LED technology to interact with customers to improve their experience. The groundbreaking new flooring combines specially created vinyl tiles embedded with cutting-edge LED technology allowing retailers to interact with customers and guide them through any store or building. The new Luminous vinyl flooring, principally aimed at retail and hospitality environments, enables the broadcast of luminous messages, animations and adverts on the vinyl floor to provide unique customer experiences and help drive sales. The flooring is available in a wide variety of decors and modern finishes such as wood, mineral effects and graphic designs.

www.tarkett.com www.lighting.philips.com

Natural choice Hexparket by Carpenter & Hartmann is a new parquet floor from Junckers. Hexagonal staves made in solid oak are laid to form an intricate design mimicking nature’s own geometric pattern based on equilateral triangles. Made from 100 per cent solid hardwood oak, the staves measure 370mm on all sides x 20.5mm thick. The staves have a groove on each side and an accompanying loose tongue is used in the installation process. Hexparket is delivered with an untreated surface to be finished on site with either a lacquer or oil. Made in Junckers’ most popular timber grade, Harmony, the floor has a natural appearance, few knots and some colour and structural graining variation between the individual tiles.

www.junckers.com

Health conscious Anti-fatigue matting can help prevent health risks associated with prolonged standing as, on cushioned surfaces, muscles are more inclined to contract and expand, improving circulation, minimising strain on knees and other joints, reducing the risk of back complaints and protecting against tired feet. Jaymart’s anti-fatigue matting and duckboard matting range include products for all budgets and situations; single stand-alone mats for behind counters, interlocking mats to create custom length runners and roll products ideal for behind longer counters or multiple checkout areas, drainable anti-fatigue mats and duckboard matting hybrids for situations where spillages are an issue and oil resistant products for back of house or storeroom situations. Jaymart has almost 40 different duckboard and anti-fatigue products on offer.

www.jaymart.net

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directory

DIREcTORIES

www.retail-focus.co.uk/directory Visit the Retail Focus online directory at www.retail-focus.co.uk to discover a comprehensive list of the UK’s leading retail suppliers. Each listing contains indepth company information together with inspirational images, video footage and informative press material. You can also link through to company websites and connect with suppliers through Twitter and Facebook.

The Retail Supplier Directory is divided into a number of categories, such as design agencies, point-of-purchase, lighting, props and surfaces, to make the site easy to navigate.

To feature in the online directory, contact Terry Clark on 0845 6807405 or email terry@retailfocus.co

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directory

Aluminium Fittings

Specialist Stockist of Aluminium Extrusions and Mild Steel Fittings for the shopfitting industry.

Extensive stock held of: *Slotted uprights *Aluminium slatwall *Perimeter Sections *Corner sections *Design and bespoke service.

T: 01273 582241 E: sales@diasystems.co.uk W: www.diagroup.co.uk S. www.twitter.com/DesignsinAlumin

Aluminium Fittings

Bespoke Display

Bespoke Display

Design Consultancies

Axis design, develop, manufacture and install bespoke retail display solutions.

We’ve worked with the biggest names on the high street, but approach every project in the same way, with the maximum thought for your brand, products and sales environment.

Spur Creative Workshop deliver unique visual merchandising solutions for retail brands. Boasting a wealth of experience in high quality prop making we create display concepts for window staging, POS and brand awareness campaigns.

We are a global retail agency. Visual Thinking develops strategy, skills, hearts and minds to deliver retail excellence and transform brand performance.

T, 020 3260 3888 E. info@axiseurope.com W.www.axiseurope.com/retail S. www.twitter.com/AxisEuropePlc

Bespoke Display

T 01892 890608 E: phil@spurcreative.co.uk W www.spurcreative.co.uk S: www.twitter.com/ spur_creative

Bespoke Display

T, +44 (0) 1788 543 331 E. mail@visualthinking.co.uk W. www.visualthinking.co.uk S. www.twitter.com/shoptactics

Design Consultancies

MicroSlat is a strong versatile 25mm fine pitched aluminium slatwall system.

With a bespoke range of components it can be used to build unique and interesting displays or add value to existing designs.

Original suppliers of display fabrics, textiles, PVC and polycarbonates for retail displays and exhibition stands since 1934 Backgrounds have been our background since backgrounds began and B Brown have more than 400 in stock.

Walker Bros (Elland) Ltd is an Engineering Manufacturing company specialising in sheet metalwork and plastic fabrication.

We supply precision metal and plastic products, components and light fabrications to a broad range of industries and markets throughout the UK and Europe.

IGNITION is an independent creative company Our multi-disciplined team work together to deliver exceptional retail and commercial environments, global exhibitions and brands.

T. 01325 351 276 E. sales@microslat.com W. www.microslat.com S. www.twitter.com/MicroSlat

T, 03705 340340 E. customerservices@bbrown.co.uk W. www.bbrown.co.uk S. www.twitter.com/luvbbrown

T: 0 01422 310767 E: sales@wbelland.com W: www.wbelland.com

T, +44 (0) 1179 725168 E. victoria@ignitiondg.com W. www.ignitiondg.com

Audio Visual Integration

Anna Valley looks to help guide clients with their audio visual decision making by offering high end impartial advice and help manoeuvre them through the current “minefield” of different technology and services available to them. This process then enables them to have a clear vision of what they are actually striving to achieve within the budget available to them and then provides a full range of services in the delivery of that vision.

Bespoke Display

Hello Flamingo is a creative company for the retail and event sector, specialising in window displays, in store solution, POP ups, project management, design, manufacture and installation for bespoke projects at our fully equipped manufacturing workshop.

Brochure Holders

Design Consultancies

Brochure Holders International Limited is part of the global Taymar group recognised as a leading manufacturer of premium quality injection moulded leaflet holders and display solutions.

Committed to on-going product development the Taymar group offers one of the world’s largest collections of ‘clear view’ wall, floor and counter standing brochure displays.

We are TWO Visual, the retail agency specialising in visual merchandising.

Led by brand directors Jeanette Cheetham and Brendan Gordon we provide everything retailers need to make their brands visually dynamic, whilst improving team and commercial performance.

T: +44 (0)1473 229250 E: sales@brochureholders.co.uk W: www.brochureholders.com

T, +44 (0) 1858 414275 E. hello@twovisual.co.uk W. www. twovisual.co.uk S. www.twitter.com/TWO_Visual

T: +44 (0)208 941 1000 E: nick.shaw@annavalley.co.uk W: www.annavalley.co.uk/avintegration

T: 01273 585768 E: info@helloflamingo.co.uk W: www.helloflamingo.co.uk S. www.twitter.com/helloflamingo1

Balloons & Bunting

Bespoke Display

Climate Control

Display

No.1 Advertising Balloon Service: • Printed Latex and Foil Balloons • Helium Gas delivery and collection • Flags, Bunting and Banners • Promotional Sashes and T-shirts • Multi-store distribution nationwide

KSF provides retail merchandising display solutions to retailers, brands and trade customers from CONCEPT to COMPLETION via our global supply chain (China/UK/East EU) to deliver LOWER total cost of ownership. YOU’VE TRIED THE REST; NOW PUT US TO THE TEST.

Air Control & Development Ltd are Daikin, Mitsubishi and Toshiba accredited contractors, specialising in providing quality air conditioning, ventilation and overdoor heater installations, service & maintenance within the retail sector.

arken are a UK design and manufacturing facility creating bespoke poster display solutions. As well as our bespoke offer, we provide off the shelf products such as poster frames, light boxes, poster hanging systems, pavement signs, forecourt signs, all available in a range of colours and sizes.

T, 01494 774376 E. sales@b-loony.com W. www.b-loony.com

T: +44 (0)8450 944 699 E: ben.wang@ksf-global.com W: www.ksf-global.com S: www.twitter.com/KSFGlobal

T 01922 455523 E: info@aircontrol.co.uk W: www.aircontrol.co.uk S: www.twitter.com/AirControl123

T: +44 (0)1638 565656 E: info@arken-pop.com W: www.arken-pop.com

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directory

Display

Display

Display - DIGITAL

FURNITURE

Are you looking to increase your product sales, re-brand or launch a new product? If you’re not already talking to us, you should.

Our group offer an unprecedented level of experience coupled with a comprehensive range of products and services. Our aim is to make your products sell and your service the best on the market.

Internationally acclaimed, award winning unique magnetic wall system offers instant flexibility & creative choice to architects, interiors & store designers.

Since launching the magnIQ system in 2006 the response has been quite phenomenal. To date the system has won 13 prestigious awards and is now internationally recognised justifying the many years Rare Basic spent on research and development.

Crystal Display Systems is already a leading UK designer, distributor and value added reseller of flat panel display solutions. We have a vast array of media players, interactive displays, videowalls and shelf edge displays.

Our knowledge and expertise has also led to us being one of the European leaders in transparent LCD.

Spur Creative Workshop deliver unique visual merchandising solutions for retail brands. Boasting a wealth of experience in high quality prop making we create display concepts for window staging, POS and brand awareness campaigns.

T: +44(0)113 265 0093 E: sales@concept-data.com W: www.concept-data.com S. www.twitter.com/GDProjects

T +44 (0)20 8348 9888 E: mail@rarebasic.com W: www.rarebasic.com S: www.twitter.com/rarebasic

T: +44 (0) 1634 292 025 E: info@crystal-display.com W: www.crystal-display.com S. www.twitter.com/CrystalDisplays

T 01892 890608 E: phil@spurcreative.co.uk W www.spurcreative.co.uk S: www.twitter.com/ spur_creative

Display

Display

Display - DIGITAL

FURNITURE

GDP display, manufactures, delivers and installs world-class retail environments, store fixtures, displays and visual merchandising equipment.

GDP is truly Global, through its activities in many parts of the world.

We have supplied high-end displays and furniture to successful retail brands throughout Europe, North America, South Africa and South East Asia.

Spur Creative Workshop deliver unique visual merchandising solutions for retail brands. Boasting a wealth of experience in high quality prop making we create display concepts for window staging, POS and brand awareness campaigns.

We provide total end to end solutions encompassing all aspects of designing, implementing, managing and supporting multi-faceted marketing technology concepts and Digital Screen Media networks.

We create bespoke tailored solutions for retail, interiors, exhibitions, museums and 3D and we know one size does not fit all. Our teams are always ready for the challenges, big or small.

T: +44 (0)1582 433 771 E: info@gdprojects.eu W: www.gdprojects.eu S. www.twitter.com/GDProjects

T 01892 890608 E: phil@spurcreative.co.uk W www.spurcreative.co.uk S: www.twitter.com/ spur_creative

T, +44 (0)845 481 8020 E. info@screenmediatechnology.com W.screenmediatechnology.com S. www.twitter.com/ScreenMediaTech

T: 01923 800666 E: info@stylographics.co.uk W: www.stylographics.com S. www.twitter.com/hellostylo

Display

We are ICON. We create and deliver engaging brand and live experiences, particularly in the retail sector.

T: +44 (0) 20 7593 5200 E: enquiries@icon-world.com W: www.icon-world.com S: www.twitter.com/ICON_HQ

Display

EPOS

GRAPHICS

Providing Scotland’s signage, exhibition displays, digitally printed wallpapers, LED flex faces, light boxes and window graphics. Located in the centre of Scotland we are ideally situated to cover your requirements throughout Scotland. We can offer huge savings with an excellent, professional and prompt service

Offering an extensive range of EPOS hardware from world class suppliers such as Star Micronics, Honeywell and Posiflex, DED offer the complete EPOS hardware solution alongside a unique rewritable loyalty system.

Graphica Display print, produce and install retail graphics including till point graphics, window graphics, LED lightboxes, cut & printed vinyl and much more. Nationwide & Euorpean delivery and installation.

T: 0131 337 1237 E: info@specializedsigns.co.uk W: www.specializedsigns.co.uk FB: Specialized-Signs

T: 01797 320636 E: sales@ded.co.uk W: www.ded.co.uk S: www.twitter.com/dedltd

Display

Display

Impulse POP specialises in Point of Purchase display systems for the Retail sector.

We offer many years of experience in all aspects of retail design, with in house manufacture - including quick turnaround prototypes, or overseas manufacture, delivery, installation and retail merchandising.

Woodwood Group –Tx Frame UK are a specialist in tension fabric display systems and LED light boxes. We are able to deliver the highest quality service with a friendly but professional approach to ensure you receive the spectacular results you deserve.

Armourcoat is the world’s foremost supplier of polished plasters, sculptural effects and innovative surface finishes.

T, 01767 682756 E. sales@impulsepop.co.uk W.www.impulsepop.co.uk S. www.twitter.com/impulsepop

T, 01376 295 016 E. sales@txframe.co.uk W. www.txframe.co.uk

T. +44 (0)1732 460 668 E. sales@armourcoat.co.uk W. www.armourcoat.com S. www.twitter.com/Armourcoat

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Finishes

T: 0845 3730073 E: info@graphicadisplay.co.uk W:www.graphicadisplay.co.uk S. www.twitter.com/graphicatweet

GRAPHICS

We create bespoke tailored solutions for retail, interiors, exhibitions, museums and 3D and we know one size does not fit all. Our teams are always ready for the challenges, big or small.

T: 01923 800666 E: info@stylographics.co.uk W: www.stylographics.com S. www.twitter.com/hellostylo

directory

interactive displays

MANNEQUINS

Crystal Display Systems is already a leading UK designer, distributor and value added reseller of flat panel display solutions. We have a vast array of media players, interactive displays, videowalls and shelf edge displays.

Our knowledge and expertise has also led to us being one of the European leaders in transparent LCD.

Rootstein Display Mannequins is a creative mannequin manufacturer and renovation specialist - delivering both ready-made and bespoke concepts for fashion retailers, globally.

T: +44 (0) 1634 292 025 E: info@crystal-display.com W: www.crystal-display.com S. www.twitter.com/CrystalDisplays

LIGHTING

LED Solutions are a specialist LED lighting supplier who can offer you a wide variety of bespoke lighting solutions for the sign, shop fitting and display industries.

T: 0116 262 5933 E: sales@ledsolutions.co.uk W: www.ledsolutions.co.uk S. www.twitter.com/ LEDSolutionsUK

T: +44 20 7381 1447 E: sales@adelrootstein.co.uk W: www.rootstein.com/ S. @rootstein_

pop/pos

Harrison Products provide one the largest ranges of POS and Display componentry in the UK. We are able to supply off the shelf and customised products to suit your project. We pride ourselves on our industry leading service and super quick delivery options.

T: +44 (0)1451 830083 E: sales@harrisonproducts.net W harrisonproducts.net

pop/pos

We are IPOS. A creative design agency whose extensive and impressive client list speaks volumes for the professional services we offer.

We design, produce and install all aspects of our client’s POS. From instore graphics, window vinyls and 3D bespoke window displays to full multi location campaign roll outs.

T: 0161 477 8501 E: info@ipos-design.co.uk W: www.ipos-design.co.uk S. www.twitter.com/iposdesign

slatwall

MicroSlat is a strong versatile 25mm fine pitched aluminium slatwall system.

With a bespoke range of components it can be used to build unique and interesting displays or add value to existing designs.

T. 01325 351 276 E. sales@microslat.com W. www.microslat.com S. www.twitter.com/MicroSlat

pop up

vm

Hello Flamingo is a creative company for the retail and event sector, specialising in window displays, in store solution, POP ups, project management, design, manufacture and installation for bespoke projects at our fully equipped manufacturing workshop.

GENESIS MANNEQUINS design and produce high-class and trend-lead shop window mannequins, busts and displays for the international fashion industry. Additionally we offer style, trend and product consultation as well as a comprehensive after-sales service.

T: 01273 585768 E: info@helloflamingo.co.uk W: www.helloflamingo.co.uk S. www.twitter.com/helloflamingo1

T: +49 (0) 5752 1803 0 E: info@genesis-display.com W: www.genesis-display.com S: www.twitter.com/GenesisDisplay

Literature Display

pop/pos

Retail Consultancy

vm

Brochure Holders International Limited is part of the global Taymar group recognised as a leading manufacturer of premium quality injection moulded leaflet holders and display solutions.

Committed to on-going product development the Taymar group offers one of the world’s largest collections of ‘clear view’ wall, floor and counter standing brochure displays.

Providing Scotland’s signage, exhibition displays, digitally printed wallpapers, LED flex faces, light boxes and window graphics. Located in the centre of Scotland we are ideally situated to cover your requirements throughout Scotland. We can offer huge savings with an excellent, professional and prompt service

We are a global retail agency. Visual Thinking develops strategy, skills, hearts and minds to deliver retail excellence and transform brand performance.

Rootstein Display Mannequins is a creative mannequin manufacturer and renovation specialist - delivering both ready-made and bespoke concepts for fashion retailers, globally.

T, +44 (0) 1788 543 331 E. mail@visualthinking.co.uk W. www.visualthinking.co.uk S. www.twitter.com/shoptactics

T: +44 20 7381 1447 E: sales@adelrootstein.co.uk W: www.rootstein.com/ S. @rootstein_

T: +44 (0)1473 229250 E: sales@brochureholders.co.uk W: www.brochureholders.com

Maintenance

Air Control & Development Ltd are Daikin, Mitsubishi and Toshiba accredited contractors, specialising in providing quality air conditioning, ventilation and overdoor heater installations, service & maintenance within the retail sector.

T 01922 455523 E: info@aircontrol.co.uk W: www.aircontrol.co.uk S: www.twitter.com/AirControl123

T: 0131 337 1237 E: info@specializedsigns.co.uk W: www.specializedsigns.co.uk FB: Specialized-Signs

pop/pos

We are ICON. We create and deliver engaging brand and live experiences, particularly in the retail sector.

T: +44 (0) 20 7593 5200 E: enquiries@icon-world.com W: www.icon-world.com S: www.twitter.com/ICON_HQ

slatwall

VM TOOLS AND TRAINING

Specialist Stockist of Aluminium Extrusions and Mild Steel Fittings for the shopfitting industry.

We are a global retail agency. Visual Thinking develops strategy, skills, hearts and minds to deliver retail excellence and transform brand performance.

Extensive stock held of: *Slotted uprights *Aluminium slatwall *Perimeter Sections *Corner sections *Design and bespoke service.

T: 01273 582241 E: sales@diasystems.co.uk W: www.diagroup.co.uk S. www.twitter.com/DesignsinAlumin

T, +44 (0) 1788 543 331 E. mail@visualthinking.co.uk W. www.visualthinking.co.uk S. www.twitter.com/shoptactics

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Q&A

Julian Blades Set up by husband and wife team Julian and Rhona Blades in the 1980s, Jules B is a luxury fashion retailer based in the north-east of England. The company’s attention to detail extends throughout the stores, from brand selection and store interiors, to the way products are packaged. Here, Julian talks customer service, online presence and what’s next for the retailer.

RF. What inspired you and Rhona to set up Jules B? JB. Initially, we opened a womenswear boutique on Acorn Road in Jesmond selling high-end ladies fashion. I became more involved with selling and we introduced the menswear store, which quickly grew. In the 80s everyone dressed very over the top and Rhona decided the store should focus on more niche, understated brands that showcased a unique sense of style.

Around four years after we opened the store, men’s fashion magazines became popular and we introduced our men’s tailoring service which boosted business considerably.

focus on offering premium customer service both in our stores and online.

RF. Is the physical shopping experience still important?

RF. You run the business as husband and wife, what’s the secret to your success?

JB. We focus on the customer; we have always made them our priority. We want to offer our clientele a unique and enjoyable shopping experience with as much emphasis on service as the clothes. I focus on the men’s side of the business while Rhona makes the womenswear side her main priority.

JB. In our business we certainly think so. Our menswear store is pivotal on customer interaction. With our bespoke tailoring service, our team are dedicated to building relationships with our customers, and Rhona and I are always in and out of the store to make sure we are involved with the in-store service.

RF. You currently have seven stores in the North of England. Do you plan on opening anymore sites in the near future?

RF. Who is the Jules B customer?

JB. We offer two main types of aesthetic really. One is a sophisticated, tasteful directional look; these customers tend to go for Vivienne Westwood, Solace London and Self-Portrait.

The other is a softer look with a floating silhouette; this is the more understated but luxurious comfortable dresser who likes wearability. These customers opt for brands like Oska, Grizas and Crea Concept.

RF. The retail landscape has changed significantly since you launched Jules B. How have you adapted the business and what main challenges do you face today?

JB. One of our biggest investments was the website. We jumped on this early to compete within a competitive market. The investment paid off however and the website continues to grow year on year.

RF. Luxury fashion customers have high expectations. How do you emulate the in-store experience online?

JB. The store has a really warm, welcoming and comfortable atmosphere. The decor is Victorian-esque with sumptuous wool carpets in laid to oak parquet flooring. We’ve decorated upstairs with ivory bookcases, antique furnishings and big oak beams. We recently redesigned our online presence to show a more contemporary aesthetic that emulated the classic appeal of the stores, while appealing more to our online customer. We

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JB. We have actually been consolidating the stores recently to give our customers a more personal, convenient experience.

We previously had our menswear store in Newcastle split into formal and casual wear but we decided to join the two together so that our customers could shop a full wardrobe in one store.

RF. What’s next for Jules B? JB. We are always keen to adapt with the times. Fashion is always changing and our online presence will continue to develop and grow as the trends and times change.