Ian Scott's Trip to Paris's Retail Delights
My Trip to Paris and It's Retail Delights...
Extracted from Ian Scott's LinkedIn trip diary posts
Ian Scott - NWA Contributor
Now I can immerse myself in the Paris retail scene for two days. And the whole experience will be enhanced exponentially by the generous hospitality of Chris Igwe. He has cleared his diary for the two days and has curated a tour of the wonderful and unusual of his adopted city.
While the Nike House of Innovation has been on my to do list since I visited the Shanghai store, I must say top of the list is La Samaritaine, the beautifully restored LVMH department store.
Fleux
When Chris Igwe arranged my two day tour of Paris, he managed to find several fascinating concept stores, and Fleux proved to be one of the most interesting.
Started in 2005 by florist Gaetan Aucher and architect Luc Moulin, Fleux started as a stylish home decoration store, located on Rue Sainte Croix de la Bretonnerie in Marais. The store quickly became a popular destination for Parisians looking to add some flair to their homes.
Now in 2022, Fleux has grown to become 6 separate stores, all clustered together on the same street. Each one has a slightly different feel, curated and merchandised in a range of styles from Anthropologie to a bric-a-brac store. A sign in one of the stores sums up the product range on offer:
Design, Decoration, Lighting, Tableware, Lifestyle, Fashion Accessories, Jewellery, Nothing Too Serious
And they all work wonderfully. The level of detail in the accessorising and display is top notch. Walking around a corner you find beautiful products combined creatively in each store. I particularly like how simple items like hanging hooks and wall decorations are creatively displayed.
These stores are well worth a visit, and allow plenty of time, because there is so much to see and enjoy.
CITADIUM
CITADIUM was one of the biggest surprises on my wander around Paris last week. Yet another concept store on Chris Igwe's hit list and it proved to be fascinating.
Set over four floors, this space showcases fashion and sport brands, in what appears to be a very free reign to express themselves. A stripped out old Renault 5 is used to present 4 shoes. adidas has created an Originals logo shaped seating unit, as well as recreating the same logo on a wall using bits of old skateboards.
I have never seen Asics look so hip and cool as in this store too. Each floor introduces recognised brands in fascinating new ways. The store designers must have had a field day working on this project.
La Samaritaine
Here is a video of me rabbiting on about this amazing store, helped by Chris Igwe and his skilled questioning techniques. Many thanks to Vicki Lynn for suggesting we create this video.
Undiz
Another store from my recent Paris trip - part of the Etam group, Undiz is a lingerie brand, targeted squarely at the Gen Z audience.
The store that Chris Igwe took me to has a large open entrance, allowing shoppers to clearly see the bright appealing interior. The front area of the store has fairly traditional black metal framework to display products, although there is also a liberal use of clear acrylic panels above units, with a striking boob graphic.
This boob graphic becomes a major feature further back in the store, with the rear area having boob carpet - not sure that's how the brand describes it....
More boobs cover the walls and ceiling, creating a surreal but not unappealing effect, because the graphic is subtle enough to be just a design feature.
Another striking feature is the yellow stairwell, with its yellow wall and ironic yellow messaging. I assumed this yellow is the corporate colour, but Chris assured me it wasn't. I like the contrast with the monochromatic store interior.
Overall, this is a striking and memorable store, perfectly pitched to it's youthful target audience. I would love to see more of their stores to see how some of these features are replicated.
STATION F
Chris Igwe started me off at this incredible innovation centre at the start of our second day in Paris. STATION F is the world's largest start up campus.
Housing 1,000 start up businesses, the 34,000sqm space is vast and runs 600 start up programmes. A large number of international businesses invest in the programmes, many of which are targeted at female entrepreneurs.
Further support for the businesses is Flatmates, a flexible, affordable housing development that offers accommodation for up to 600 entrepreneurs, located nearby.
It costs an exorbitant amount of money to tour the work area, so Chris and I focused on Felicita, the huge eat and work space at the south end of the vast structure. There are several cafes and restaurants offering a wide range of food and drink.
There is a huge array of flora and fauna throughout the space, offering relaxing areas to sit, eat, chat and work. I was pleased to see USB charging ports where we enjoyed a coffee, having brought a Chinese plus adaptor for the trip, rather than a European one. I managed to squeeze a bit of juice back into my phone, ready for the days photographing. I am such a hardened international traveller...
There is a raised mezzanine area offering further workspace, and fabulous views across the whole space.
Finally, Chris told me I had to visit the toilets. Rather than being concerned for my bladder, he wanted me to experience the eclectic washroom concept. Starting with the best toilet sign I have ever seen, I was treated to cubicles with individual designs. One with deer heads and a rotating warning light. The second had a clear tubular cistern, allowing you to watch like a little kid as it empties and then refills. Cheap thrills.
Station F is a huge venture, in a huge building. It is mightily impressive as a statement about supporting and nurturing start ups, with vast resources, corporate sponsorship and resources to help entrepreneurs focus on developing their ideas.
UNIQLO
Next we are off to visit the Uniqlo store in Marais, Paris. I thought I had seen everything UNIQLO had to offer, until I saw how they have developed this stunning space.
The store was originally a forge, and much of the character and history of the building has been thoughtfully embraced.
The entrance is an innocuous if stylish Parisian façade, into which you transition through a courtyard type space. After this the true majesty of the space opens up before you, and it's breath-taking.
The main space is a vast open space with a mezzanine walk around above. The focal point is a vast red chimney that rises from the rear of the store and pierces the skylight. The effect is immense, the natural light and impact of the industrial origins combine for a breath-taking experience.
The Uniqlo products have been thoughtfully presented, merging with the architecture in a way I haven't seen in their other stores.
The history of the original forge is acknowledged with two glass fronted rooms that contain some of the original foundry equipment and information about the building's history.
This is one of those delightful surprises you stumble across when wandering around a large city - or in my case, a must see on the wonderfully curated tour list from my host Chris Igwe.
Louis Vuitton experience
The very last store Chris Igwe took me to on Friday was this Louis Vuitton experience, on the Champs Elysee. And what a sign off it was for the two-day trip.
I gather it is a pre-launch promotion for a new range, and the creatives were given free reign to go bonkers, in the most wonderful way.
The white mannequins used some fabulous poses - check out the young man copying one pose... Interestingly, Chris noted that all of the mannequins are either Asian of Afro-Caribbean. The pale blue carpet is a brave choice, I dread to think what it might look like on a rainy day.
Set over two floors, the surreal experience translates into more conventional retail areas in the basement space.
A fabulous way to create some noise for a brand well know for bold retail displays.
With huge thanks to Ian Scott, NWA Contributor
Extracted from Ian Scott's LinkedIn trip diary posts
https://www.linkedin.com/in/ian-scott-0534694/recent-activity/shares/
