Crafting a new salon experience

Health & Beauty Specialty Store Project: MukhautaJaweb Habib Salon Merit 2: Sync Design Studio

Colonial flavours

Home Improvement Specialty Store Project: Fabindia Experience Center, Kolkata Merit2: Fabindia Overseas

An engaging canvas of hues

Service Retail Project: JSW Paints Colourvista Senses Merit1: Future Research Design Company (FRDC)

A space to unfold within …

Best store design of the Year Project: Paro by Good Earth Winner: Studio Lotus

‘Tech enabled agile work-style is going to be our future'

Harsh Manrao, Director at experience-design firm, figments.inc, shares with VM&RD his insights on what business continuity really means in the context of retail design and experience. Read on…

Why this silent salesperson is needed more than ever now

In the era of social distancing, the dynamics of shopping will undergo new shifts and store elements like mannequins will have a greater role to play. New Delhi based mannequin supplier JAMBUDWEEP IMPEX is gearing up for the new normal with its Purform Mannequins that come with many unique features. SANJEEV MAGON, Partner, JAMBUDWEEP IMPEX, the all India sole distributors of Purform Mannequins from New Zealand, shares with VM&RD the details of the product, while highlighting the need for out-of-box retail solutions during such extraordinary times.

Dollar: Making every store penny count

Dollar Industries Ltd needs no introduction, being one of the top three hosiery brands in India, enjoying a 15% market share in the branded hosiery segment. The company had reported a Rs 1030.96 crore turnover for the financial year 2018- 19. In an interaction with VM&RD, Vinod Kumar Gupta, Managing Director, Dollar Industries, talks about the company’s approach to retailing.

When experiential retail meets business goals

Experience by its very nature implies something intangible and sensory. In the retail design context, how do you make something like experience serve the business objectives of a brand? And in today’s times when experience can many things - for the physical to the virtual, how do you ensure it offers some tangible returns? Angela Kreutz, CEO, blocher partners India, shares some perspectives in this regard.

BARE BUT BOUNTIFUL ….

Torani Store, the Designer clothing outlet in Delhi, draws deep inspiration from the rich Sindhi culture and recreates the heritage in the store’s stunning design and beautiful garments. The grand store has been designed by Bora Da`Designs.

FOR A SUMPTUOUS VISUAL TREAT…

Fusing the contemporary and traditional sensibilities in an elegant conflence is a common theme running across both these store design projects. Designed by Delhi-based design and architecture studio RMDK, the aesthetics at Saugaat, the luxury dessert store in Delhi, and at Dadu’s, a pioneer in traditional sweets and snacks in Hyderabad, are a journey into sensory indulgence, just like the products they sell. Here’s a look at both these dessert destinations located in Delhi and Hyderabad respectively.

Light at the end of the tunnel

The second online industry session had lighting manufacturers, suppliers and solution providers discussing new business models to mitigate the impact of pandemic on the industry.

Bridging the gaps with fractional retailing

At a time when the Covid -19 situation has forced everyone to take the virtual or online path for business and social interactions, a physical retail space that promotes local arts and handicrafts might seem like a distant reality . And yet most of us know that a brick and and mortar space is inevitable in the context of retail space and is just a matter of time before it gets back to what it is - a community space that brings together buyers and sellers. If it can also come with new cost saving business models, then even better. After all, going forward cost and resource optimization will be one of the top priorities for most brands.

Industry honchos come together to rethink for the new normal

Two interactive online sessions organized by www.retail4growth.com of VJ Media Works recently for the store fixtures and lighting industries respectively, highlighted some key points for business continuity in the RSP space. Moderated by retail industry veterans Surender Gnanaolivu, Sr Consultant - Retail Experience, and Vishal Kapoor, Chief Design Officer - Future Group, the sessions brought together top players from the respective industries to discus the way ahead in a post pandemic business environment.

A SPATIAL ODE TO LIGHT

Spread across 5000 square feet and built over three levels, Marici Experience centre, Kolkata has been conceptualized along the theme of ‘Marici’ - a deva or deity from the Buddhist culture who is associated with light and the sun. Designed as a holistic, single stop experience centre for lighting design and solutions, the spatial design offers an unaltered and uninterrupted lighting experience through various arrangements of light fixtures and fittings. The one of a kind retail experience zone for lighting products has been designed by Salient Design Studio.

Harrods Brings Alive The Home Space With Fluidity

London’s iconic department store Harrods’ new interiors department, designed by Virgile + Partners, a retail, hotels and restaurant design specialist, has combined all of its home goods and furniture offering on a single floor, which is spread across 160,000 sqft. The entire new interiors floor includes a world-class curation of luxury home furnishing, accessories and furniture super-brands alongside a wealth of interior and bespoke personalisation services.

Jaipur Beckons In Charming Hues

Jaipur The House of Fanusta home decor store in Jaipur is an eclectic mix of traditional and contemporary aesthetics. Here’s a look.

This dynamic display creates compelling brand stories

Moving away from the conventional static vinyls banner, Detroit-based luxury watch, accessory and bicycle retailer Shinola executed a dynamic retail board to captivate customers and tell their brand story in a new way at their King of Prussia mall location in Pennsylvania.

The material world

In the brand theatre called the store, there are many unsung heroes. They all play their part, often quietly and unobtrusively. Architectural and surface materials, for example, are an integral part of the spatial experience of a brand, playing an important role in defining the brand’s personality and aesthetic identity. This in turn influences shopper perception of the brand. VM&RD reached out to some store designers and architects to get a sense of what’s happening in the material world. Here’s a look.

Setting gold standards

Beginning as a small telecom hardware training company, Svarn today is a diversified group operating in three business domains - communication, transportation and commerce. What characterises the group’s success story is the culture of innovation, adaptability and labour of love that it has nurtured over the years.

THE DENIM ATTITUDE

BANGALORE Spread across 3000 sqft and designed by Bangalore-based design firm Restore, the new store at Bangalore’s Indiranagar 100 feet Road highlights the brand’s edgy identity and invites millennial customers to the audacious and youthful space.

FOR A CROWNING BOUTIQUE EXPERIENCE

GUJARAT Vadodara based R. Narayan Jewellers has made a mark in the business of fine jewellery with years of experience and the conviction that customer satisfaction is critical to forming lasting bonds. The brand’s new showroom reflects its customer-centric philosophy and delivers a 360-experience that counts. The showroom is designed by Dipen Gada & Associates under the guidance of its Principal Designer Dipen Gada.

ONCE UPON A SALON: BODYCRAFT'S NARRATIVE DESIGN AESTHETICS

MUMBAI Mumbai based multidisciplinary design firm Kaleido Architecture, which has expertise in architecture, interiors and product design, recently designed BodyCraft, the luxury salon and spa at Kemps Corner, Mumbai. In a special interaction with VM&RD, Shivangi Narke, Principal Architect, Kaleido Architecture, shares how the salon’s design exudes a classic vintage look, while narrating a history of salons.

Central makes a cool blue statement

Multi brand departmental store chain from Future Group, Central, recently executed a stunning window inspired from the brand’s new theme ‘Blue is the new Cool’. Under the guidance of Gouthamraj Kulal, VM Lead, Central, the impressive window has been executed across the brand’s pan India stores.

Business model innovation is core to our USP

Launched by Ayushi Gudwani in 2016, FableStreet, a technology-enabled premium work wear brand, offering custom fits for women, recently raised INR 21 crore in Series A led by Fireside Ventures. The brand aims to utilize the newly raised funds to enter offline retail with new product categories, and adopting an omnichannel model. In a chat with VM&RD, Ayushi Gudwani, Founder and CEO, FableStreet shares how the brand plans to elevate in-store experience through retail touchpoints, what expectations they have from execution vendors and much more.

‘Adopt, adapt and improve'

Bangalore-based Elemental Fixtures, which started its journey 6 years ago with a 15,000 sqft set-up, recently opened its new factory in Bommasandra, Bangalore,. Spread across 4,30,000 + sq feet, the new factory comprises a dedicated millwork factory, metal workshop and powder coating under one roof. Backed by a focused vision, technologically advanced in-house capabilities, skilled artisans and a motivated work force, the company is today a name to reckon with in the industry. In this success story, we offer a peek into Elemental Fixture’s journey, what keeps them going even during challenging times and how the organizational work culture translates into business success. Going ahead, we will try and bring you more success stories - stories that can offer a lesson or two while being a source of inspiration. Read on...

When right planning elevates store project execution

Mumbai based Re-Buzz Interactive Solutions, a high-end retail products, services and technology start-up recently executed a project for Chennai based Go Fashion Pvt Ltd, popularly known as Go Colors!, adding more hues and colors to the brand’s personality while focusing on the experiential value addition. Kunal Gala, CEO and Co-founder, Re-buzz Interactive Solutions, takes us through the project which was executed in a record time of just thirty days.

Up, close & personalized, thanks to technology

In the era of fast fashion, where wastage is one of the biggest challenges, technology is the biggest game-changer in the fashion industry today. Samshek, a premier fashion tech store, effectively incorporates technology into fashion to solve two major issues of the garment industry- sizing & sustainability. In a special interaction with VMRD, Samiksha Bajaj, Co-Founder, Samshék, talks about the importance of personalizing customer experience, tech challenges at retail touchpoints and much more.

The Indian retail eco-system: A dynamic entity

Retail plays a critical role in the overall Indian economy, being a dynamic and evolving industry and being driven by changing consumption patterns. Like all other industries, it goes through its cycle of ups and downs in keeping with the macroeconomic cycles and sentiments. But the overall retail eco-system - including retail brands, retail solution providers across categories, retail consultants and others involved in the retail business one way or the other - offers enough scope for collaborations, partnerships, and investments. So whether you are a retailer looking to tap the Indian market, or looking to partner with Indian retail solution providers for better in-store branding, or you are a retail solution provider looking to collaborate with Indian solution providers through investments or tie-ups or any other partnership means, the Indian retail space has a lot to offer. Here’s an overview.

Prada goes green-wild at Paris store

Prada executed two pop-up retail displays and 15 original windows at Parisian department store Galeries Lafayette Paris Haussmann, all inspired by wild nature.

SALONI: A SPATIAL, ROYAL TRIBUTE TO IMMERSIVE SHOPPING

UTTAR PRADESH Saloni, the women’s fashion boutique, located in Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh, is built around traditional Indian architectural aesthetics to give one a feeling of comfortable, relaxed shopping experience and showcase women’s ethnic ensemble.