ICON - The magazine of the American Society of Interior Designers - (Page 37) Sell ORANGE 22 The curved walls and cabin-like interior of travel shop Flight 001 evoke feelings of being in a 1950s airplane. and strategy first. This doesn’t necessarily translate to design playing second fiddle to marketing, however. Design considerations fall into several categories—furniture, display, signage and lighting to name a few— and trends are moving toward ease of sale, transaction and the ever-present experiential aspect. Store footprints are changing in modern retail design; store interiors are becoming cozier spaces, with textures on the walls and architectural fixtures and materials that both emulate the brand and simulate a certain environment. Traffic patterns are also a reflection on the now customer-centric world of retail. Ideally, shoppers should flow through the space without having to backtrack and without missing any areas. Melissa Maltba, Allied Member ASID, a contractor for the furniture manufacturing industry who designs privately owned stores as well as showrooms, says traffic patterns are more open than in the past, to convey the idea that the customer can go wherever they choose—even if they ultimately stay on a dictated path. “Traffic patterns are the most important consideration. Things are opening up more, but spaces are divided by certain colors and textures.” There is also little wasted space and a high density of product in several cases, which takes careful planning so as not to look crammed or inaccessible. The Changing Space of Retail Retail environments need a certain amount of flexibility to accommodate the inevitable product evolvement, change of focus and perhaps even delicate rebranding, so a balance must be struck. Spaces need to be able to cater to seasonal products, special promotions and sometimes even bulk product, yet interior transformations need to be subtle enough to maintain a constant brand identity. This shifting is centered around visual focus, and many smaller-scale reorganizations go unnoticed to the customer. Department stores set up “soft shops” using materials and fixtures that portray the brand, which function as a store within a store and highlight a particular brand within a larger space. These soft shops need to be collapsible in the event the label doesn’t fare so well in the marketplace. The use of non-permanent interior elements, such as moveable display cases, colored lighting and fabric treatments are wise in this instance. “The flexibility is in the merchandising, not the brand,” says Brigham. Using nesting tables, adASID ICON | SEP/OCT 2007 37
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