The store, which plays host to the company’s ranges of organic beauty and body care, has been shortlisted as finalist for the best store design 2016 in the ‘best small store’ category.
“The brief for this store design was to create a clean, ethical, traditional but contemporary ‘health and wellbeing art gallery’,” explain the store’s designers, Barber Design Consultancy.
“With this in mind, we made sure to create an environment where customers feel comfortable browsing and exploring the beautiful Neal’s Yard Remedies product range in an unhurried, friendly, stress-free and uplifting environment.”
The nomination appears to confirm the steady rise in the wellness trend entering into beauty, developing further the consumer enthusiasm for naturals and organics which has dominated the market in recent years.
Specialty retailing
NYR’s boutique, curated flagship store taps into a healthy consumer demand for specialty retail spaces in beauty.
The boutique retailing model, also known as freestanding stores or vertically integrated retailers, has long been a key distribution channel, and despite the rise of e-commerce, remains a dominant platform for sales growth and brand presence.
Market research firm Kline notes that to stand out with specialty retail in beauty, brands must have a ‘unique premise’: in a recent report, the company picked our Lush and L’Occitane as two global players at the forefront of this market.
“Both have consistently registered growth above the industry average and been busy opening new doors each year,” the firm observed. “Both retailers have a unique premise—something that is essential to win in this channel.”
Following suit
NYR looks set to follow in these footsteps, with its flagship model set to be rolled out in the UK and internationally, according to the company.
“Derived from the original store, we updated it to reflect the changes in shopping habits and their core brand values; natural, ethical, British,” explain Barber. “It was fundamental in our new design concept to represent the best of the organic health and beauty brand.”