GDR meets… Gala Magriñá Design
New York-based design agency Gala Magriñá Design designed the cover of the 71st Global Innovation Report, which is currently on its way to our clients. To celebrate that, we spoke to Gala Magriñá to find out…
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These Boots are made for wellbeing: high-street pharmacy concept bets on beauty and wellness
3 July 2019 -
brand values, Customer experience, Design, Retail design, Retail innovation, Retail technology
With the beauty and wellness industries booming, UK high-street pharmacist Boots is getting in on the action with its recently opened 28,524 sq ft flagship concept in London’s Covent Garden. Innovation Researcher Harriet Cox went along…
Leveraging new talent to create unique retail spaces
GDR’s John O’Sullivan explores the experiential spaces that are constantly evolving to keep customers coming back for more. During the last six months we’ve noticed a real spike in the number of new multi-brand retail stores…
GDR visits … the UK’s first “till-free store”
7 May 2019 -
brand values, Customer experience, Omnichannel retail, Retail design, Retail innovation, Retail technology, technology
Two weeks after writing this article unpicking the future of cashless stores, GDR’s SVP Global Innovation Alex Sbardella visits Sainsbury’s new “till-free” store to interrogate the format from the customer’s and the brand’s perspective. I was…
A masterclass in visual merchandising: H&M’s new homeware destination
H&M’s new homeware flagship on London’s Regent Street focusses on high style over high tech. Innovation researcher Harriet Cox went along to check it out. Coming just months after the brand opened its first dedicated Home…
Exploring the key trends in beauty retail
3 April 2019 -
Creative packaging, Customer experience, Retail branding, Retail design, Retail innovation, Retail trends, Sustainability
GDR CEO Kate Ancketill discusses personalisation, sustainability, transparency and how beauty brands are working hard to fit into the wider context of their customers’ lives Earlier this year GDR CEO Kate Ancketill spoke to Retail Focus…
The buzz around natural beauty: Burt’s Bees London pop-up
22 February 2019 -
brand values, Campaigns, Customer experience, Design, Retail design, Sustainability
US personal care brand Burt’s Bees has launched a three week pop-up store in London’s Covent Garden to promote its new colour cosmetics range. Innovation researchers Harriet Cox and Charlie Lloyd went down to check it…
GDR visits … Showfields
1 February 2019 -
Customer experience, Design, Omnichannel retail, Retail design, Retail innovation, technology
The shop window at multi-brand New York concept store Showfields proclaims it to be “The most interesting store in the world”. GDR SVP Global Innovation Alex Sbardella dropped in when he was in town to put…
GDR visits … H&M’s Hammersmith concept store
14 December 2018 -
brand values, Customer experience, Design, Fashion, Omnichannel retail, Retail design, Retail innovation, Retail technology, Sustainability
H&M has redesigned its three-floor store in London’s Hammersmith to look nothing like H&M. GDR’s Babette-Scarlett Schossau paid it a visit to see how the space has been transformed. H&M gave its 2,300 square metre store…
GDR visits … Dirty Lemon’s The Drug Store
GDR innovation researcher Babette-Scarlett Schossau describes the emotional rollercoaster of visiting a store where you can walk out without paying. As a new customer to Dirty Lemon, I didn’t know what to expect when I walked…