DDi - April/May 2013 - (Page 120)

120 | Right Light Prescription for style Superdrug in Wimbledon, U.K., is fashion-inspired, with products lit to show their true colors By Vilma Barr | April/May 2013 Photos: Andrew Townsend T he typical drugstore is home to a bevy of beauty products, sometimes displayed in a dizzying array of endless aisles. So, when London-based Superdrug Stores Plc decided to totally renovate its Wimbledon, U.K., branch, the company wanted to dig deeper into how consumers shop for beauty. Felicity Pogson, associate director of interiors for London-based Dalziel and Pow, worked with Steve Jebson, Superdrug’s commercial director, to define the new concept for the 3,800-sq.-ft. space. “Superdrug undertook a study to observe how people shop for beauty,” Pogson says. “Their objective is to make this store look and feel different [than] the average Superdrug store. What they don’t want is to tout selling pricey skin creams or adopting a ‘white coat’ beauty approach. It is all about offering accessible, everyday beauty in a fashion-inspired setting that will inspire customers to try something different.” Located in the Wimbledon Center Court Shopping Center in southwest London, the new concept Superdrug store offers an in-store experience that not only looks different from any of the other 900 Superdrug stores in Britain and Ireland, but also feels different. “This represented the basis for the development of a new stylish layout that would stimulate sales of make-up, skincare, fragrance, hair and men’s essentials, along with expanded food and health sections,” Pogson explains. Recessed lighting fixtures throughout contribute to the quality environment. For the selling floor, all ceiling fixtures from Reggiani Mosaico are flush mounted, an integral element of the store’s sleek, contemporary image. Lamps are ceramic metal halide, 35-watt or 70-watt, with interchangeable optics (IOS), rated at 3,000°K, used individually or in pairs. “They carry a 90 CRI (color rendering index), so customers can get an accurate rendition of a product’s color and also judge how samples that they try will blend with their own skin tone,” Pogson says. Overall, footcandle reading averages 112 on the displays and in the aisles. In the front of the store, contemporary-style graphics are applied to clear or dark-tinted panels. The cash desk is simplified, with a sleek silhouette and less product display, and is backed by a wall formed of pink mini-tiles gradated from a solid pattern at the ceiling line to a scattered effect picked up below the Superdrug logo, punctuated with a quartet of front-facing circular fixtures. At the pharmacy cashwrap area, leaf green is used as a background color to contrast with the white enclosure and countertop. A trio of pendant-hung white fixtures from Habitat Burton brings down the scale to create a more relaxed atmosphere between pharmacist and customer. Each pendant is fitted with a 15-watt compact fluorescent globe lamp. Superdrug introduced the new concept store at 10 additional locations following the successful Wimbledon debut. A little lighting improvement goes a long way. To email this article, visit www.ddionline.com/magazine. www.ddionline.com http://www.ddionline.com/magazine http://www.ddionline.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of DDi - April/May 2013

DDi - April/May 2013
Table of Contents
From the Editor
From the Show Director
Newsworthy
Shopper Insights
Visual Perspectives
Editor’s Choice
Design Snapshot
Design Snapshot
Markopoulos Award
Tazo Tea
Tiffany & Co.
Experience Makers
Piperlime
Mattel Experience
CookHouse
Aéropostale
Paris Kids Department
Technology & Customer Engagement Section
Technology Trends
Big Data Column
In-Store Technology
Product Spotlight
Design Leaders 2013
Right Light
GlobalShop Coverage
Special Events
Conference Schedule
Chicago Retail
Exhibitor Products
Calendar
Advertisers
Classifieds
Shopping with Paco

DDi - April/May 2013