African design showcased at Bloomingdale's The Lion King pop-up

[Lauren Hartzenberg] African brands like MaXhosa by Laduma, Pichulik and AAKS are on show in the U.S. as part of The Lion King pop-up concept shop at Bloomingdale's...

Figure Forms: 3 decades serving the clothing industry

[Meagan Duckitt] Figure Forms is the number 1 technical and fit mannequin supplier in the Southern Hemisphere...

4 trends impacting point of purchase strategy

[Leo Van De Polder] One of our Shop members, Leon Nicholas, VP of retail insights and solutions at Westrock, explains the importance of POP and describe 4 big trends in the area of the retail environment...

Research indicates that retailers have a long way to go to reach Merchandising 3.0

[Kelly Wasileski] Results from JDA and EKN's latest survey, 'Merchandising 3.0: Why Retailers Need to Find the Perfect Blend of Art + Science to be Relevant to Shoppers', show that retailers are facing significant challenges in their efforts to advance through these maturity levels...

Shopfitting: bricks and mortar brand reinforcement

[Dharmesh Nagar] Brands establishing retail outlets or a presence in a department store typically issue design briefs and layout plans in line with the overall brand identity, leaving it up to the shopfitter to follow orders and simply get the job done. But few major brands consider the impact a shopfitter's approach to getting the job done can have on the brand reputation...

Designing the 'store of the future' - Q&A with Nic Criticos

[Jessica Tennant] Woolworths is about to undergo a paradigm shift. "We are working on the 'store of the future', essentially," explains Nic Criticos, head of store design at Woolworths...

How to capture shoppers' attention with the right window display

[Stephen Sandmann] A great window display has the ability to draw potential customers into your store, and with the festive season upon us, every store is battling for the attention of shoppers...

Influential use of colour in store design

[Callie van der Merwe] Colour has a profound influence on the emotion of a consumer. It affects how a person behaves, can alter movement patterns of consumers and influence their shopping patterns...

Commercial store design neglected by interior design schools

[Callie van der Merwe] Despite the strides made in interior design and retail design, most design schools are failing to cover this in their curricula and there is a need for a business approach to this rapidly growing industry.

It's time to wine

[Jason (Frich) Frichol] One of my greatest frustrations is shopping for wine. I, like most winers, have my favourites but I'm also a variety seeker. And in a self-service environment, I can go to a number of stores/channels in close proximity that stock my favourites. But as a variety-seeking wine shopper, no one store is speaking to me.

Are retailers forgetting the basics?

[Dave Nemeth] The retail sector is very aware that they need to do things differently in the wake of the recession, fast-paced technology and ever-changing consumer attitudes. These attitudes are still an unknown and we will be seeing retailers experiment with an array of different techniques and strategies to meaningfully connect with their consumers. While spending a couple of days in the field investigating various stores, what became glaring obvious to me is that in their pursuit of future brilliance, retailers have simply forgotten the basics.

Trendy home catalogue offers easy shopping

[ActivRetail] Boardmans is releasing its second Home Catalogue, a convenient home-shopping guide that offers three effortless ways to shop - in-store, online or telephonically.

Darkie puts the world in the shade

[Terry Levin] At the opening day of Cape Town Fashion Week on 8 August, models for local fashion brand Darkie swept the ramp like an unseasonal South Easter.