Why is store design important?

Future Systems’ design for the Birmingham Selfridges, UK, which opened in 2003, has become an iconic part of the city’s architecture. Like the flagship store on London’s Oxford Street, it does not have its name emblazoned across the entrance. Gordon Selfridge himself said that the store didn’t need a name—everyone would know the building by its very design—and the new store in Birmingham follows the precedent in spectacular style.

The design of a store can help support the brand image as well as underpin a successful retail strategy. Retailers rely on the design of the store to entice customers inside. While some retailers prefer a more subtle store design, others like to shock and inspire, creating stores that generate hype and discussion.

Before choosing which road to go down, a retailer should first consider the demographics of its customers. Traditional shoppers would possibly not be impressed if their local department store turned futuristic and contemporary. Most retail chains have a proven set format that they use when opening stores. Established retailers such as Britain’s Marks & Spencer would perhaps suffer if they unexpectedly designed an avant-garde store; the risk would be too high and might unnerve their loyal following. There are times, however, when it may be advantageous to break the mold. In September 2003, for example, Selfridges embraced a more contemporary outlook and departed from the turn-of-the-twentieth-century style of its Oxford Street building in London when it opened a futuristic-style store in Birmingham, England. The building was part of the rejuvenation of the city’s 1960s Bullring shopping center. With hundreds of silver disks adorning the blue organic shell, the new store is either loathed or loved by the locals, but, as Gordon Selfridge would have appreciated, at least it is noticed and opinions are formed.