Apple stores are very interactive. There are workstations with free internet, for example. When I visited the Ginza-Tokyo Apple store, I was able to spend plenty of time emailing friends and family, without cost (the place I was staying charged for internet use, and everything in Tokyo is expensive), and was also able to take a picture of myself with the built-in camera, and send this pic with my emails.

Apple stores are also well-lit, with higher ceilings than typical retail. Also, they spend money on store design, and don't clutter the space with excess merchandise.

Radio Shack hasn't re-branded itself in ages (maybe ever). It seems old and second-rate. The stores are often under-staffed and usually sloppy. However, I still go there when I need a cheap and reliable __ (fill in the blank).

AP said it - Most companies use their branding to catch your eye. Target stores have the bullseye integrated into the facade. Best Buy has their blue wedge. Apple has their new hip ipod image.

For the most part architects have nothing to do with the branding image. I know people that have tried to get rid of the blue wedge on Best Buy stores. Good luck with that. Retail design lives and dies by what the marketing people learn and tell you to do.

the work typically reflects the image. Urban Outfitters go raw and industrial, apple goes modern and slick, Prada went Koolhaas, LV went Marino etc.

the problem, or reality, with retail work is that most larger companies hire an arch work as a "design" arch and come up with a prototype store or standards and then use local architects, or a single firm, to fit out the spaces they lease. Of course there is opportunity for modification because every site is different and retail happens quite fast, so evolution of an idea or image is always essential to them.

I don't know if I actually got to the question but maybe added some context???

Yes, this is good.

So we like:
-bright
-high ceilings
-interaction
-uncluttered
-familiarity

Keep it coming.....what about the front windows? What attracts or detracts people in the front windows of a retail venue?

sure, front windows are great if the display area is uncluttered and allows for a view

look at high end retail for good ideas. The only reason low end retails doesn't do it is because of budget, not because they don't want to.

spatial changes are great too, or the illusion of them. often retail spaces are narrow and long, so a good design will play with the perception of the space, via lighting, reflections, figureground games, etc.

it all comes down to good design, unless you are already familiar with the product (like Best Buy, even Apple).
High end clothing stores are the best examples of successful interior designs that I can think of. There are some great examples out there.

Wonder K
I'm sure you'll find this article (and the reader comments) by Lorraine Wild in Design Observer thought provoking.

wonderK, i am failing to understand what you mean by 'we' - is it us architect/designers, or general consumers??? - im afraid what the consumer wants is many times vastly different from what we like.

For example I love walking into the apple store, but i know many people who conciously try to avoid it, because it just somehow seems 'too expensive', while they would frequent a radio shack just because it somehow seems more inexpensive, even though most of the staff are jerks.

In the end it boils down to the consumer group each brand is trying to attract, which actually is a very interesting field, almost a science called branding and marketing strategy.

I def. agree with trace's comments above.

Some of the hottest window displays I've seen are in Italy. They put so much thought into the composition, the type of manikins, and some stores change them as often as every week. Most examples that come to mind are high-end clothing stores, although Benetton does a decent job as well.

this is a technical footnote, but non-reflective glass helps too...

i've seen robert gibbs lecture a few times and he seems to know quite a bit about retail. supposedly he is writing a book, but for now you could try some of the publications on his website, such as "what main street can learn from the mall" which offer many insights although they're scattered about and not cataloged in any manner.

As someone who shops often with his wife... I like stores that play good music and have somewhere to sit and watch what's going on. I agree with 'trace' re: spacial variations....

Display / feature lighting is key as well. Focus on making the product look as good as possible.

RadioShack-exterior design is very bland. I feel radioshack is the worst retail store compared to circuit city or best buy; because interior design is not spacious, I feel I'm at a hardware store whenever I go there. They clutter to many products in their tiny retail stores. Unless I know exactly what I want to get in RadioShack, I don't go there.

Apple store-interesting usage of glass and sunlight in the overall design. The glass windows of the storefront allows people to look into the store. The store itself seems inviting, since you have many people from different age groups lingering in the store. with staffs circulating around the store (but not leering over your shoulders). Apple also offers comfortable furnitures for people. Overall, I think apple spent a lot of money in their retail design to provide a sensual relaxing experience for consumers. I think they would probalby get more business if they had a cafe there, or at least I would go there more often. Great store, even though I'm not a devoted apple consumer.

As someone who has designed hundreds of retails stores, it is all about understanding the image and brand of the product in the first few seconds of looking at the store. Your store design needs to appeal to the shopper you want to attract. It has to speak about the product. So what if your storefront attracts a bunch of architects and you sell 'hello kitty' dolls? You need to think about what is attractive to your target audience, the customer. If you are selling inexpensive goods, the store cannot look too intimidating. That's not meaning it has to look cheap, it just has to speak to the merchandise. IF you are selling $300 cashmere sweaters, the look better be up to the quality and expense of the merchandise. A kid's store should be fun, creative, exciting. A Harley Davidson store should say something about mechanics and brawn. You get the idea.

lately brands make me turn away. if it ain't got a sign saying its levis or prada i'll probably have a look.

maybe only me but i think we are entering a situation in retail marketing of non-trust, where the hard sell vibe of the ubiquitous logo is a turn-off. no logo means fresh, naive, welcoming...

i don't know the name of half the places i frequent in tokyo in ginza, omotesando or in the less high end places, but i know what is inside and what kind of quality i can expect. what attracted me to look inside was something off kilter. ie, love ando's H+H store, all black, noname, entrance formed by a sloping/overhanging wall. prada by h+deM is similar. name is there but almost invisble, while all the cool goods are on display though the warped glass. Less high end shops that attract me do the same thing. i guess it is all about street presence. if i have to be standing 90 degres in front of it to know the stor is there i probably won't go in...

MALLS? don't shop in them basically,and am not attracted to most shops in them. holy blandness batman. when i hed back to NA and go to a mall i tend to go to the shop i know sells what i want and don't think twice about the design (gurantee it is non-existent anyway). same mentality as the big box. it's there, it's convenient and it has what i want. design ain't an issue...

this store gets my pulse thumping...

Hot Topic, now there's a paragon of retail design. ;o)


Thanks everyone for the thoughtful responses!

My favorite retail spaces are hardware stores with tall crowded aisles full of random combinations of useful and specific items infrequently needed. I also like those privately owned convenience stores with too bright fluorescent lights illuminating over-ripe aromatic fruits and vegetables. These are the best at about 1:00 am, especially in NYC.

I go to the Apple Store and Radio Shack. Radio Shack is a little bit like a Mom and Pop hardware store with a minimum wage employee at your service, but they have vital stuff and neigborhood stores. The Apple Store is good because it offers extremely convenient, personal customer support for the products.

Once a design concept is propagated into a brand image it loses much of its architectural interest. I haven't fully thought this through, but the high design shops that seem interesting are not multiples.

not multiples, but if you look at the chains they have a 'theme' and they stick to it (at least the one's I am thinking of). You wouldn't be able to tell because they are still custom to the store, but the 'feeling' and atomosphere is the same.

one company I have to hand it to for design is Crate and Barrel. I've only been to a few, but the exteriors are really well done, particulary the one here in Denver. Room and Board has one or two niche one's too, although the one here is pretty boring.

I agree somewhat, though that the branding and logo need to be fully integrated into the design for it to come across well.