Brief
Thing's Italian was relocating to Weybridge, south-west of London. The store carries a wide range of Italian merchandise, from wine to leather goods, furniture to accessories. Target audience is local, 40+, high-income.
Solution
An environment which provides product cohesion by creating a totally Italian ambience. Decoration by a mural artist to create trompe l'oeil stone walls, columns and a crumbling arch set in Tuscan scenery.
The layout shows merchandise to best effect - enhancing window display space, using quality glass display cases and bespoke wine racks, and leaving open floor space for the furniture range.
Lighting is used to show off goods to their best effect and to create a sunny, airy feel.
Store layout is key to marketing strategy. Things Italian products are categorised three ways:
Traffic builders - fast selling items like handbags and wine
Image builders - products that fit the shop's brand, like its Gucci merchandise
Profit builders - high margin goods, in particular furniture items.
Traffic builders are located near the entrance and in the window to attract shoppers, but lead customers through to profit builders. In this case handbags are merchandised towards the front and lead to wine at the back, encouraging browsing past the furniture in the middle of the store.
Free Spirit. Making money through good design
Please click on photo thumbnails to enlarge.
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