Having recently opened their largest Power Store concept in Europe, at the Liverpool One shopping centre, the global sportswear retailer set its sights on prime retail space in Central London, with an ambitious new store in Marble Arch. Also designed with the Power Store concept, the new store is situated beneath the historic Cumberland Hotel, and benefits from the heavy Oxford Street and Marble Arch pedestrian traffic.
The new Power Store concept has been designed to inspire shoppers, build community and provide a seamless, tech-filled shopping experience for consumers, with a strong focus on presenting a premium range of products and experiences in exciting and unique ways. Key elements of the local architectural heritage of this store are being celebrated, in particular re-exposing the iconic 68 foot long, 100 tonne riveted girder, that was originally the longest of its kind in the world when installed in 1931, with bolt riveted columns throughout. In response, the concept design uses slim modular profiles for product and brand activations, to provide an airy and lightweight feel to the monumental space.
The ‘London – We’ve Got You Covered’ brand message dominates both static brand graphics and digital presence on the large LED screen at the main entrance. Beyond the corner entrance, customers will find themselves immersed in an impressive 647 square meters of retail space. The customer journey is punctuated with varied engagement opportunities, including premium display and Foot Locker’s usual sheer breadth of range, all leading to the iconic red locker wall, a culture wall with works by artist, Tommy Bates and a customer service zone.
Customer immersion is heralded at the core of the store design, by deliberately creating a sense of openness and flow. The balance of product range and density, framed within a lightweight display, provides flexibility to generate focal interest. Digital activations and graphic branding intuitively bind the space together and provide varied storytelling opportunities. At the heart of the ground floor, enclosing the recessed mezzanine activation space, lies a framed structure that combines high impact display, focal product and digital activations. This core display incorporates a framed mesh walkway over the mezzanine void with glazed balustrades, maintaining transparency throughout and creating a fulcrum of activation within the space, and an enhanced storytelling opportunity.
rpa:group has designed the interior concept alongside Foot Locker’s current strategic brand development, in addition to providing a full range of architectural services that include feasibility surveys, planning, building control, landlord approval, merchandise installation and developing an optimised customer journey mechanism.
With the Liverpool ONE and Marble Arch stores successfully open for business, this exciting new concept is also set to be rolled out to other Foot Locker locations.
