The PSFK website has an interview with Brandon Avery, creative managing director for FRCH Design Worldwide, about his work developing a new physical retail concept for The Container Store.
It is instructive, and here are some excerpts:
“The Container Store wanted to reinvent itself, but wasn’t quite sure what that meant or how to do it. It had a long legacy of being known for great customer service and having a high-quality product, yet it was stagnating.”
“We uncovered a handful of opportunities. One was to drive shopper frequency by bringing some of the great products the brand has out of the shadows. All of its stores with the exception of one were presented in a big-box format, which didn’t align with the brand’s image of being an expert in a more niche market … We wanted to redesign the store so that all those great products including the more unique ones have a place to shine within the store.”
“There were also key categories that were ripe for reinvention, specifically kitchen, office and closets. We tried to make the rest of the store efficient, so that somebody could get in and get out easily, but also recreate the experiences of those categories to be much more inviting and engaging.”
“(Technology) needs to be helpful. It needs to go beyond entertainment. It should actually be a tool, not just a big flashy screen in the space. We focused on a few different elements for improvement: Integrating screens into key categories like kitchen, office and closets, to enable inspiration.”
You can read the entire interview here.
It is instructive, and here are some excerpts:
“The Container Store wanted to reinvent itself, but wasn’t quite sure what that meant or how to do it. It had a long legacy of being known for great customer service and having a high-quality product, yet it was stagnating.”
“We uncovered a handful of opportunities. One was to drive shopper frequency by bringing some of the great products the brand has out of the shadows. All of its stores with the exception of one were presented in a big-box format, which didn’t align with the brand’s image of being an expert in a more niche market … We wanted to redesign the store so that all those great products including the more unique ones have a place to shine within the store.”
“There were also key categories that were ripe for reinvention, specifically kitchen, office and closets. We tried to make the rest of the store efficient, so that somebody could get in and get out easily, but also recreate the experiences of those categories to be much more inviting and engaging.”
“(Technology) needs to be helpful. It needs to go beyond entertainment. It should actually be a tool, not just a big flashy screen in the space. We focused on a few different elements for improvement: Integrating screens into key categories like kitchen, office and closets, to enable inspiration.”
You can read the entire interview here.
- KC's View:
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A really interesting story, especially since The Container Store seems like such a well-run and consistently winning player. That’s especially the time when companies have to be willing to make changes, to try different things. To wait is to risk obsolescence, because someone else is able to step in and cut your legs out from under you.
