Stores we love – April 2014

April’s top five openings made the cut for various reasons, from Boticana Pharmacy’s superb brand identity to Suit’s fantastic interior. We’ve also shamelessly included one of our own, Jigsaw. Take a look at our pick…

Boticana Pharmacy – Jaen, Spain

Boticana Pharmacy caught our eye this month with its warm and friendly brand identity and interior, adding a personal touch to a retail sector associated with clinical and often sterile environments. The interior and the name, which roughly translates as ‘Ana’s Pharmacy’, are based around the fictional home of Ana the pharmacist where products are showcased according to each room. Features include a dressing table area with beauty products, office space for health and well-being queries, a dining room for diet and nutrition, and a bathroom complete with body-hygiene products.

Space Ninety 8 – Brooklyn, New York

From the Creatives at Urban Outfitters, the Space Ninety 8 concept store has been built without corporate guidelines or space limitations. With over four empty warehouse floors, the store has a DIY aesthetic with exposed ceilings, rope and rough-and-ready wooden floors that exaggerate Urban Outfitters’ existing design features. The standalone store operates separately from the Urban Outfitters brand and features a market concept on the first floor with 40 local fashion vendors, as well as a strong food offer provided by The Gorbals Restaurant and Bar.

Suit – Reykjavik, Iceland

Danish fashion boutique Suit has opened its four-storey boutique in Reykjavik this month with an interior that reflects the brand’s raw yet clever characteristics. The interior consists of large sections of glossy white ceramic tiles, which are used in contrast with the rough chipboard that extends down from the walls and onto the concrete floor. Another feature we love is the in-store graphics that are printed directly onto the walls. They communicate a cheeky tone of voice: ‘Do you fit in?’ highlights the entrance to the fitting rooms, followed by ‘One size fits all! Yeah right… ask us for more sizes’.

O2 – Berlin, Germany

Earlier this month, O2 launched its Live Concept Store centered on product and brand experiences. Visitors are invited to touch, play and become inspired by O2 products, as well as engage in the workshops, gigs and thematic events held in store. The O2 store has also adopted a ‘mass localisation’ approach to the interior design with a Berlin wall mural as a main feature. This supports the Personalisation recommendation we made in our first shopper research paper ‘Influencing Shopper Behaviour’.