Canadian Retailer - Store 2014 - 60

2014 ERA AWARDS STORE DESIGN
AWARD WINNER

AWARD SPONSOR

BUILDING A PLAYGROUND FOR
PHOTOGRAPHY

Award-winning store design rethinks the contemporary
photography store to connect to today's consumer
LIKE other retailers in the photography space, Blacks
faces a huge challenge-people don't buy cameras like
they used to even though they take four times more
photos than they did ten years ago. So how did this
photography retailer go about engaging customers?
By building a Playground for Photography, a destination store for all things photographic.
The retailer began with several objectives for how it
wanted to approach the store redesign. It wanted to have
well-informed staff delivering engaging customer service inside an environment that welcomes everybody,
regardless of their photography experience. Blacks also
wanted to update its web and mobile app that connects
to the in-store experience, leverage photo sharing and
social media sites and source the most interesting photography products to sell at the store.
The physical space of the newly designed store engages the senses. A linear layout allows for more product to be seen, a smaller cash desk and merchandising space provides more space for customers to move
about-the playground- and a residential design makes
visitors feel at home. Add to these elements new, cheerful brand
colours and a store layout with space to cater to different customer types and needs and you have an award-winning store design.
Hitting the Mark

The Blacks Playground for Photography has proved to be accessible, compatible and compelling. The omnichannel design
solution and rebranding connects the retailer to consumers in a
way that the old vision of photographic stores no longer can.
The new store opened on time and under budget. Eighty-nine
per cent of customers surveyed said they'd recommend the
store to family and friends and traffic at the Pickering, Ontario
pilot store increased by 15 per cent. Sales numbers showed impressive growth, too: wireless sales were up 300 per cent and
wall art sales increased 35 per cent.
The store has already had a positive impact on the brand presence.
"Our new retail stores provide our customers, both new and
existing, an amazing space to play with their photos, get tonnes
of inspiration from our expert staff and explore the hundreds
of product possibilities we provide to help them take their pictures further," says Terry Yakimchick, Director of Marketing
and Brand Strategy at Blacks
From a retail point-of-view, the store redesign has been an im-

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canadian retailer | store 2014 | www.retailcouncil.org/cdnretailer

Blacks-a playground for photographers.

portant reminder concerning ways to listen to
what customers want and what advice partners
can provide.
"We're very close to our own business and
our existing customers' wants and needs but
when we opened up to the ideas and inspiration brought forward by our ad agency and design firm partners, who see our industry and
our customers from a very different perspective, we uncovered amazing insights and ideas
that delivered this winning store concept design: a Playground for Photography."
The store reinvention also demonstrated the
power of good old-fashioned, customer-centric
retailing-know what the customer wants and
deliver it better than they ever expected.
"It's a simple formula and not a new one,
but once you find out what the consumer truly
wants and pair that with what you can do best
and offer it to them consistently, you really just
need to collaborate with some amazing partners and be open to all perspectives and inputs
from all sources," says Yakimchick.
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