Global Shopfitting & Design

After another 12 months of the world learning and adapting to a new reality, the global shopfitting and design sector has been innovating, ready to attract customers back to stores through a highly evolved offering in new and unique store settings. Here, RLI takes a closer look at the industry and some standout examples of innovative shopfitting and design.

The retail industry really has changed dramatically over the past couple of years due to arguably the biggest disruption it has ever faced in the form of Covid-19, the changes genuinely cannot be overstated. Business owners and landlords alike across every continent have been forced to either adapt to these changes or face up to closing up shop.
The design and shopfitting of physical stores is now more important than ever because despite the monumental increase in online shopping, physical shopping still remains an integral part of commerce.
According to Parterre’s Roche FitzGerald and his article ‘Watch These Top Retail Design Trends in 2022’, design innovation is a vital tool for retailers to set themselves apart and draw customers into their stores. Each retail space, regardless of industry – department store, supermarket, drug store and boutique are all unique and in the article Roche highlights some important trends to keep an eye out for in 2022.
• Brand Storytelling/Design for Demographics – Brand storytelling is more important than ever, as the retail shopping experience has become about more than just browsing and purchasing products. One of the top design trends for 2022 is using the power of storytelling to showcase a brand’s values, which is crucial as retailers try to maintain customers and attract new ones.
• Interactive Shopping Experience – Now, as stores begin to welcome customers back in greater numbers, while trying to compete with the appeal of online shopping, retailers need to hone their creativity skills when it comes to the physical design of their stores and how they engage customers with their products. It’s not just about the experience of going to a store in person, but the experience customers have while inside the store.
• Comfortable & Inviting Home-Like Design – Retailers want customers to feel safe and comfortable, and a lot of that stems from an inviting home-like design, which is a growing retail trend that has become increasingly popular in the interior design industry as a whole. This kind of design essentially means creating a comfortable, inviting, home-like atmosphere. Many in the restaurant and hospitality industry have incorporated these design elements, and now retail stores are seeing the appeal of creating this type of atmosphere. The idea is that if customers feel comfortable, they’ll want to spend time in the store and/or revisit the space in the future.

Shopfitting and Design Around the World
Launched back in June was one of Apple’s most unique and significant restoration projects to date, the Apple Tower Theatre which was designed to inspire even more creativity in the heart of downtown Los Angeles. Apple Tower Theatre is Apple’s 26th location in greater Los Angeles and the store’s nearly 100 talented retail team members join more than 3,000 Apple Store employees across the region. Apple Tower Theatre anchors the corner of Eighth Street and Broadway, where visitors will immediately recognize the fully restored clock tower, recreated Broadway marquee, clean terra cotta exterior, and renovated historic blade sign. After walking through the Broadway doors, guests enter the monumental lobby inspired by Charles Garnier’s Paris Opera house, featuring a grand arched stairway with bronze handrails flanked by marble Corinthian columns.

June also saw the opening of Google’s first-ever physical retail store in New York City. Located in Chelsea on 15th street and 9th avenue, the new space provides customers with hand-on interaction with Google’s line-up of devices and services — from the pixel phones and nest products to Fitbit wearables and Pixelbooks. To make the opening even more grandiose, the tech giant even achieved with this store LEED platinum, the highest sustainability certification in design and construction. Visitors are welcomed by physical and digital products that line the store’s windows. Once inside, a light-filled space hosts a 17ft tall circular glass structure called the google imagination space. Here customers can interact with screens and learn more about the company’s products and technologies. For those who are not sure where to start, an expert store team is available to answer questions, offer repairs and troubleshoot issues on the spot.
Hermès has reopened the doors of the newly renovated store in Pacific Place mall, Hong Kong. A cherished location for the house since it opened in 1991. Spanning 325sq m, the new, contemporary vision for this store portrays the unique dynamic between Hong Kong’s urban landscape and its verdant natural surroundings. Awash with light and recast in a warm, welcoming colour palette, the new store boasts a spacious layout where one can discover the sixteen métiers of the house and the spirit of savoir-faire and innovation at the heart of Hermès. Transformed by the Parisian architecture agency RDAI, the floorplan is guided by the curved forms of the space and follows a fluid, open layout that encourages the eye to travel from one side of the store to the other. Dedicated men and women’s universes are placed at opposite ends of the store, while the silk collections, fashion accessories, equestrian, and perfume and beauty métiers flow out from the central store entrance.
Louis Vuitton has announced the opening of its latest store in the newest luxury wing of Ayala Malls Makati, Greenbelt 3. Inspired by Louis Vuitton’s Spirit of Travel and intertwined with local elements, the store has special features that are unique to a traditional Filipino home. The luxury fashion house collaborated with Filipino designers and sisters Stephanie Kienle Gonzalez and Jessica Kienle Maxwell of Philux. The design inspiration for the Greenbelt 3 store is the woven heritage of the country spread across its 7,107 islands – each thread a metaphor of the Philippines’ intrinsically diverse history, culture, and aspirations. The store is a destination in itself as guests are welcomed into a breezy tropical cabana, with the House’s codes subtly integrated into the glass panels surrounding the store.

Last year saw the dawn of a new era at Swarovski as it debuted an entirely revamped brand identity that bridges the past and the future. Coined by creative director Giovanna Engelbert, the Swarovski Wonderlab is described as a place where science and magic meet, and extra and elegance collide. Charging ahead with the fresh viewpoint, Swarovski has opened the doors to its first Instant Wonder store in Milan’s Galleria. The retail space designed in partnership with Villa Eugenie boasts a decor that reflects the brand’s upcoming campaign and novel visual vocabulary. Here, vibrant colours and textures, metallic sculptures, and innovative materials are brought into play and juxtaposed against a full spectrum of crystal lifestyle pieces—loose components, jewellery, watches, figurines, and accessories—signalling an even brighter tomorrow for the brand.
The waters of the Kapruner Ache rush past behind the building, and the Kitzsteinhorn and Schmittenhöhe peaks are just close by. Following its renovation and extension, the 1 October 2021 saw the opening of the flagship store of Bründl Sports in Kaprun, which presents itself as an ultra-modern architectural icon against the backdrop of the Salzburg mountains. Everything is in harmony with nature, and sustainability is anchored at the very heart of the DNA of the lifestyle store. The shopfitting and digital solutions were implemented by umdasch The Store Makers in line with a concept developed by the regular architects blocher partners. The sales area was doubled to 2,500sq m and the sophisticated store concept culminates on the top floor in a lounge and bistro area with a large roof terrace and a glass panorama footbridge at a height of 20 metres.

Tiffany&Co. has opened a new store in Barcelona on the prestigious Passeo de Gracia. It is actually a relocation on the same high-street, the new space being larger and reflecting the most recent retail design concept of the brand. The jeweller has started unveiling locations that reflect its new store design concept, intended to feel warm and inviting to the fine jewellery shopper. The jeweller has started unveiling locations that reflect its new store design concept, intended to feel warm and inviting to the fine jewellery shopper. Tiffany’s previous store hallmarks like dark wood and polished silver chrome – the latter an ode to the jeweller’s vast sterling silver jewellery collection and American-made hollowware – have been replaced by jewel tones and softer furnishings. Tiffany has exchanged its largely silver palette for warmer metallic touches, reflective of the jeweller’s push toward higher-end gold jewellery.
Late last year Frasers Group plc opened the doors to its latest FLANNELS store in Hertfordshire. The luxury retailer continues with the commitment to investing in new physical locations throughout the UK. Situated in Brookfield Retail Park, the 15,000sq ft site houses two floors of carefully curated men’s, women’s and junior luxury designer clothing and accessories from some of the most coveted luxury names in fashion, including Alexander McQueen, Balenciaga, Burberry, Off White and Versace. With this latest opening, FLANNELS have a portfolio of over 55 stores across the UK. The opening follows the launch of FLANNELS’ regional flagship stores in Sheffield and Leicester, further cementing FLANNELS’ vision and ongoing commitment to bricks and mortar retail.
Nespresso has launched a new experiential boutique at the Trinity Leeds shopping centre. The evolved boutique concept is designed to meet shoppers’ changing needs and preferences by offering immersive, localised and personalised experiences, exploring the artistry behind some of the world’s finest coffees.
The launch is part of Nespresso’s vision to elevate its retail approach and introduces several new innovations to inspire and excite customers and engage them in the Nespresso brand universe. These include an interactive ‘Taste & Discover’ area, where customers can explore and create their own coffee recipes using iPad tutorials and Nespresso machines, alongside augmented reality (AR) experiences. AR gives consumers the opportunity to immerse themselves in the stories, heritage and expertise behind Nespresso coffees and understand how capsules are recycled, giving waste a second life.

Mall of the Emirates, owned and operated by Majid Al Futtaim, has collaborated with Cisco, a worldwide leader in IT and digital transformation to bring customers an immersive, digitalised, and personalised shopping experience that introduces a sense of inclusive belonging through the launch of the “Store of the Future”. This store not only creates a more compelling and enjoyable shopping experience but also a simplified one. The first retailer to take over the cutting-edge space is THAT Concept Store, Majid Al Futtaim’s home-grown and luxury destination. For the first time ever in the region, customers and visitors in Dubai will get the exclusive chance to interact with the unique, fully digital, and physical concept store. The store will elevate the traditional shopping experience by incorporating digital retail to introduce customers to a futuristic shopping journey. This will be created through five of Cisco’s core technology features: Digital Display Canvas, Lift & Learn, Magic Mirror, Beauty Mirror, and Store Analytics.
UAE-based Gargash Group and Mercedes-AMG last year announced the opening of the world’s first standalone AMG Store in Dubai. The ‘hybrid retail’ concept store located in City Walk sets a new benchmark for the AMG brand experience in Dubai as it seeks to create a unique lifestyle experience in one of Dubai’s most exciting urban precincts. It features a showroom, boutique, and F&B where enthusiasts can test drive a broad range of the latest top-end Mercedes-AMG models, purchase an exclusive selection of high-quality lifestyle accessories, and enjoy its signature F&B offering including the premier AMG Kaffeehaus. The architecture of the newly launched AMG Store extends beyond the familiar and established design features of the AMG Brand Centres by introducing a series of individual elements that emphasise the unique character of the format.