Just because the nation’s finances have gone to pot doesn’t mean that innovative new brands and retailers won’t start up. They’re still out there, but they’re just having to be a lot more cautious.
Struggling with the necessary set up costs to go it alone, a trend is starting to emerge. Concessions within department stores or other shops provide the platform necessary to build a brand presence from scratch in an environment already populated by the clientele you require.
Furthermore, a concession is far less risky than committing to a lease you can’t be sure you’ll be able to pay.
Setting up a kiosk in an existing retail environment undoubtedly has many advantages to new retailers; however, the difficulty remains that the newer brand will be fighting for attention within surroundings that are insistent on overseeing their brand isn’t diluted by the appearance of the concessions.
It’s important in this situation to ensure the kiosk you open is appropriately located with other brands that share a similar vision and audience. As much as the desire to remove yourself from competition is high, by clustering with other similar concessions, the chances of being found by the customers you’d like is generally always higher.
A recent example of where the concession model has been successful is Snog frozen yoghurt. With standalone stores in London’s South Kensington and Soho, Snog envisages being successful in an array of locations; including airports, train stations, cinemas and shopping centres.
This month a further Snog concession was opened in the Westfield shopping centre in London.
Although Snog’s presence was controlled to an extent in the centre’s requirement that the concession be freestanding. What they got was a glossy, dimpled and curved standalone display kiosk that’s pretty lush.
With a policy of vinyl graphics being a no-no in the centre, the accents that are carried across Snog’s other outlets were at risk of dilution. Instead the graphics are to be incorporated in to stylised tables.
Looks good to us here at Design 4 Retail!
You may also be interested in seeing the final photographs of the Snog Kiosk at Westfield Shopping Centre. It really works very well in the centre, and has proven a big hit with shoppers!
http://www.cinimodstudio.com/snog-westfield