In the last decade, there has been a trend towards brighter retail interiors. Selfridge's in London, Printemps in Paris, Myer in Australia, The Hudson's Bay Company in Canada, and many others, have created interiors that are brighter and lighter than stores in the past. These are also in stark contrast to Nordstrom, which tends to go for more subdued, slightly old-fashioned interiors. Let's have a look...
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| Selfridge's Wonder Room, London |
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| Selfridge's Wonder Room, London |
Selfridge's in London's 'Wonder Room' on the ground floor. They've created a lovely bright, upscale interior, using their trademark yellow as an accent colour. It's executed wonderfully... it's elegant, bright, and the yellow creates a sense of place that is uniquely Selfridges. A+.
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| Printemps Paris Hausseman, Ground Floor Entrance to Luxury Accessory Floors |
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| Printemps Paris Hausseman, Atrium, Luxury Accessories |
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| Printemps Accessories Floor |
The flagship Printemps department store on Paris' Boulevard Hausseman has seen a spectacular renovation. It has a luxury accessories hall of three floors, being over 100,000 square feet. Canada's interior design team Yabu Pusselberg has executed the renovation in a spectacular fashion, creating one of the world's most productive and beautiful retailing spaces.
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| Myer, Melbourne Australia |
Melbourne, Australia-based Myer has recently completed a renovation of its flagship store. It's light, bright, and a little strange looking... but airy and pleasant nonetheless.
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| Third Floor, Hudson's Bay Company Toronto Queen Street |
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| Handbags Hall, Hudson's Bay Company Downtown Vancouver |
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| Second Floor, Hudson's Bay Company Vancouver |
Canada's Hudson's Bay Company department stores is also using the design team Yabu Pushelberg to renovate its Canadian stores. So far the new, brighter interiors have facilitated continually higher sales per square foot.
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| Neiman Marcus, Bellevue Washington |
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| Neiman Marcus, Bellevue Washington |
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| Neiman Marcus, Houston Tx. |
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| Neiman Marcus, Short Hills NJ |
The American retailer, Neiman Marcus, is well known for its bright, light interiors. The relatively large size of their stores and their clean, bright interiors, create an airy sense of luxury.
American retailer Nordstrom, as a contrast, uses a more conservative approach to their interiors. Nordstrom also tends to pack merchandise closer together than stores like Neiman Marcus. All Nordstrom photos are from Nordstrom at Westfield San Francisco Center, and are generally similar in all stores.
I personally prefer the brighter interiors. But that's just me. What do my readers think?
