The Business of Fashion
Agenda-setting intelligence, analysis and advice for the global fashion community.
Agenda-setting intelligence, analysis and advice for the global fashion community.
Gone are mainstays like the intimidating black-suited security guard on the street and the separate sections for accessories and pricier items like jewelry. Those details are “snobbish” and create distance between a brand and its customer, said Bizzarri.
In their place are “connectors,” store associates hired for their ability to tell Gucci’s story. The centre of the nearly 10,000-square-foot space is dotted with sofas for admiring the merchandise, sneakers and dresses democratically mingled together along the original exposed brick walls. Bright lighting and riotous colours reflect Michele’s aesthetic, while video installations and reprinted copies of a 1985 issue of Interview magazine featuring Madonna nod to New York’s pre-gentrified heyday.
Gucci chief executive Marco Bizzarri in the company's newest store in Soho. | Source: Courtesy
With so many brands trying out "experiential" retail, the key to standing out is to create "meaningful moments" that go beyond a single transaction or an Instagram post, said Bart Higgins, a partner at ?What If!, a retail consulting firm. "[Shoppers] are going to start realising these things going on in stores are just marketing efforts," he said. "Consumers are quick to catch onto this stuff. One of the ways to avoid that fatigue is to allow the consumer to have control."
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So at Gucci, the goal is to create an impression that sticks with shoppers long after they leave 63 Wooster Street, Bizzarri said. "If you go out and you feel the energy and you feel the passion you want to have with Gucci, the customer is becoming loyal," he said. "You want the buyer to be free to visit and to experience something they cannot at other shops."
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