How do you shave store renovation expenses when times are tough?
A few years ago a Hair Salon and Spa called Spa Rivier in Quesnel, British Columbia decided to open a women’s fashion store when the store next door became available. This all went well until Covid 19 showed it’s ugly face. Store closures, staffing commitments, Rigid rules, Back Orders to Non Shipping of orders…If you’re in retail, you will all know this well!
Over the past fifteen years I have had the pleasure of working with Donna, the owner, on various store design and merchandising projects.
I got a call in January asking for my help.
She wanted to find a way to have one cash centre manage both the Salon side and the Boutique side. Currently there were two, meaning that staffing had to happen in both places at all times. She also realized that sight lines were going to be critical to see both sides of the store.
This post is about how we went about this. VIRTUALLY!
We started with tons of photos and measurements.
Here’s the Spa side. The room behind the sign was a tanning room and was not being used, so it was decided to move that wall back 8 feet to gain the much needed front-of-salon retail space.
(They were in ‘Sale mode & pre-reno mode’’ when most of these photos were taken…so they aren’t pretty!)
Here’s the Boutique side. The entry door is to the left of this opening on both sides of the Boutique & Spa. The cash desk on this side was comprised of three different cabinets.
Dozens of photos were taken of available cabinetry, tables, risers etc. We always try to use existing pieces before we purchase new ones. Again, keeping expenses down and utilizing the three R’s of environmental stewardship. REDUCE * RECYCLE * REUSE
Hand drawings were done to scale with a variety of desk placements. The one above shows the exploration of the process. Donna and I had numerous phone calls, face-time calls and a back and forth of emails to make decisions, and of course proper ‘presentations were done in PowerPoint for discussion.
We enlarged the opening between the Boutique & the Spa to 14’ allowing the desk to be placed in that opening.
Here’s a photo of the desk positioned in the archway on the Boutique side and looking into the Spa side. In the background you can see that there is no longer a Spa Salon Desk, and that the wall which has been moved back now has the relocated fixture system and it’s now holding ‘skin care’ products.
The back wall on the salon side now holds giftware and fashion accessories and provides the link to shopping both sides of the entire space.
This photo above was taken on the Salon Side. Did you notice that both fronts of the desk now have ‘Logo’d signage’?
Isn’t this just so pretty? Repurposed white-washed electrical spools were used as nesting table.
And here we are looking back into the Fashion Boutique with a great presentation of Bob’s footwear. Remember that ugly wall behind the cash desk? Well it’s gone and we’ve gained about 12’ of selling space. 12’ of selling space normally holds about 300 garments. THAT’S A LOT OF MONEY!
This Skin Care and Make-up Area now has it’s own space. In the future, signage will be added above the Wall fixture.
Above…great and INVITING merchandising! I love their cake stands and wire baskets for holding product. The storage area below the table top is ideal for holding over-stock of product.
This is a before and after shot of their windows above. Note how the windows were totally shutting off the interior of the Salon? All that product got relocated onto walls, allowing customers to see into the space. It’s so much more inviting!
Above…Here we are back in the Fashion Boutique. They have done an AMAZING job remerchandising this area. I am so proud of their team!
A few slides from the Store Renovation Presentation that I thought you might like to see
So that’s a wrap!
I hope that you loved this store renovation, and that it’s given you lots of ‘food-for-thought’!
Do you need customized help with for your space? I work in Design Packages either On-site or through E-Design Consultations.
I make it easy to get the advice that you need.
Just in case you didn’t see my last post here is a link to our
NEW ARRIVALS & IN-STOCK MANNEQUINS
& OUR INVENTORY OF IN-STOCK TAILOR FORMS AND BASES
AND…here’s a great link below provided by Gender Mannequins as to how to put them together once they arrive. You’ll never be scared again of assembling them.
Gender Mannequins are now printing a scannable QR code on all their boxes with a link to a mannequin assembly video on YouTube.
We hope it will help new customers and inexperienced staff with their first assembly with our products. It’s a straight to the point minimalist guide optimally designed for mobile use that shows each step visually inside and out. It’s also a great way to demonstrate our quality hardware and how easy it is to use.
The video will also be available for all our customers to use for training and we can customize it by adding corporate logos.
Customer experience is as important to us as it is to you.
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