design:retail - October 2016 - 44

044 With a revamped brand, a new SoHo flagship store and four others across the country, Vera Bradley is ready to reach a new target woman-the "Daymaker"-and discover how #ItsGoodToBeAGirl o understand how far the Vera Bradley brand has evolved, you have to understand where it all began-on a ping-pong table. The brand, which now retails patterned and solidcolored cotton and leather duffle bags, purses, backpacks, scarves, pajamas, fragrances and more, began in the travel business in 1982 when the two founders-Barbara Bradley and Patricia Miller- went to an airport and noticed there was no great luggage for women. They went back to Bradley's house, laying out and cutting brightly colored patterns on the ping-pong table in her basement. The creation was a duffle bag, and they sent it out to Bradley's daughter in college-it became the first product for Vera Bradley, a lifestyle brand known for its signature cotton-quilted bags and a peppy and "happy" line that was embraced by the preppy crowd for decades. For years, Vera Bradley (named after Barbara Bradley's mother) was a fan favorite for customers who could be 8 years old heading to lacrosse practice or 80 years old en route to the airport. But, recently, the brand realized it had missed the mark targeting an in-between, style-savvy Millennial audience, and its new offerings and store designs are an attempt to fill some blank spaces. It also redesigned its brand logo into a less flowery, more approachable design. "We knew that there was a blank space for us to expand our offerings both in the fabrication market, but also to further expand the lifestyle of the brand," explains Harry Cunningham, head OCTOBER 2016 DESIGNRETAILONLINE.COM of store development at Vera Bradley. "It was really about defining a targeted audience for us that we're calling the 'Daymaker,'" an aspirationdriven, sophisticated Millennial woman, while simultaneously recognizing the sweet spot of targeting "women who were a bit older, who aspired a bit younger," he says. And what used to be a 100 percent cottonquilted bags business is no longer. In fact, Cunningham says it only makes up about 50 percent of the business now, with new fabrics like leather and microfiber filling in the gaps. With a revamped product assortment, it was time for new stores to house the expanded offering. Vera Bradley teamed up with San Francisco-based Gensler for its new store designs targeting the new demographic of shoppers, including its corporate offices in Fort Wayne, Ind., and its latest store openings in New York's SoHo neighborhood; Waikiki, Hawaii; and at Disney Springs in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. (The brand also redesigned and relocated its Colorado store in Park Meadows and launched an outpost in Schaumburg, Ill., at the Woodfield Mall.) For the brand's SoHo store, it was important the location reflect the warmth and welcoming vibe of the neighborhood, with the spirit of SoHo and New York's art community woven throughout the retail environment, Cunningham says. The multi-level store features oversized windows and plenty of white brick. "It has a sophistication to it that's not too overdone, and I think that's what Harry and the Vera Bradley team really wanted to do-stay true to their brand, but with a nod to the neighborhood," describes Sharon Lessard, senior GLOBALSHOP.ORG associate and studio director of Gensler's Atlanta office, who worked with the Vera Bradley team on its recent stores. In rolling out so many stores at once, Lessard says that in addition to figuring out how to reflect each market in a special way, they had to consider unique architectural challenges and how to take advantage of them. From there, she adds,"They wanted to have a signature statement for each location." But, of course, with a common design thread that runs through all of the stores. For instance, the design team incorporated custom wallpapers and textures in all stores, but, Cunningham says, they "tailor fabrics and wallpaper choices more to market." In Colorado, there's a "woodsy" twist, while in Hawaii the wallpaper reflects the native palms and offers more casual seating. In SoHo and Hawaii, "there are moments of pattern in the architecture," Lessard says. But at the Disney Springs store, pattern is impossible to miss, running from front to back. The conversation to open at Disney Springs began over a jaw-dropping demonstration, where a Disney representative started turning swirling colors on a white scale model merely with a wave of the hand (a demonstration so awe-inspiring that Cunningham asked to see it twice!). Then, the Disney rep said: "We really want you to excite your customers with your store as much as you just got excited about that model." At that point, feeling about 10 years old, Cunningham replied, "We're totally in." And so, color greets Disney Springs visitors at the door: custom hand-blown glass lights, each with http://www.DESIGNRETAILONLINE.COM http://www.GLOBALSHOP.ORG

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