Founded in 1898, Chopes is a family run business that has been an integral part of Bideford town centre for over 100 years. JSA were contracted by Chopes to undertake a full refurbishment of the store, including a major rethink of the ladies fashion department.

“We felt the store was looking old-fashioned, outdated and a little scruffy,” says Managing Director Oliver Chope. “There had been no serious money spent on the store for at least 20 years and we were beginning to feel we weren’t meeting the expectations of the modern shopper.”

JSA were chosen after Chopes conducted their own research into projects they had completed, and were impressed by feedback from other AIS members including Austins in Newton Abbot and Wroes of Bude.

“We took on JSA for both the design and build aspect,” continues Oliver. “By giving them the whole project to handle including the management and supervision of implementing the design, we were able to get a much higher quality product.”

The store refurbishment was divided into two key areas – the 2000 sq ft homewares department which involved installing new flooring, ceiling and lighting, whilst keeping the original fixtures; and the 5000 sq ft lower floor area which was basically a blank slate, requiring a total re-design. This area houses ladies fashions, menswear, accessories and lingerie. Each area has its own distinctive look via the use of strong accent colours. It has also given Chopes an opportunity to reintroduce their own-brand ladies fashions.

“JSA did things we simply wouldn’t have thought of, ideas that really require a professional eye to create. Once I had approved the design and agreed the calendar, the whole process was quite painless! It was lovely – everything happened the way it should.”

The design itself involved using bolder colours, including a vivid raspberry for the pillars and other key features. JSA also introduced a new bespoke display system that had been used in other stores to great effect.

“Everyone has been pleased with what we’ve accomplished in Bideford – customer feedback has been 99% positive and we’re achieving more than our budgeted sales figures. It’s a pleasant environment to both work and shop in.”

Chopes before refurbishment

New design concept sketches

Site work in progress

On my recent visit I took the opportunity of looking at the 'Warehouse' or the 'Big Red Box' as it is affectionately known. Since 1982, The Warehouse Group has grown from one small store on Auckland's North Shore, to a retailer with over 128 stores throughout New Zealand.  It has a floor area of more than 8,850 square metres compared with the first store’s 550 square metres. Instead of displaying its goods on plywood sheets supported by trestles - the standard fittings in 1982 - the South Dunedin store is fitted with twenty kilometres of hungry shelves which take up to six truck-and-trailer units a day to keep filled. Each section houses a category killer in virtually every category you can think of.

The transformation carried out by a Brit' from the old to the new 'Red Box' is quite dramatic including the recent introduction of a large food offer. Racks have been lowered to 2 metres, gangways widened to 2 plus metres, smarter shopfitting, smarter lighting, and improved graphics. Huge skylights ensure that the vast space is flooded with natural light - always a popular feature of Warehouse stores - although the store’s 356 high-bay lights, and its Tempest air conditioning, are now constantly monitored and controlled by computer to maximise customer comfort and operating efficiency, whilst minimising operating costs. 

Customers can now shop for groceries in the Warehouse rather than the 3 very successful supermarket chains that already exist. Whether the sophistication of wide isles, lower fittings, and improved graphics will be perceived as a move upmarket remains to be seen. As a result of these changes the new Warehouse is a much more comfortable shopping experience and time will tell whether the New Zealand consumer will appreciate the changes.

Auckland and Newmarket
My itinerary included a visit to downtown Auckland and Newmarket to specifically see the recently refurbished Smith & Caughey Department Store, followed by a visit to one of the principal Malls in Auckland, Sylvia Park.

The Smith and Caughey Department Store in Queen Street Auckland which could and should be a mini 'Selfridges' with location and scale, but sadly no where near lives up to expectation of the 'real thing'. In 1880, Marianne Smith opened her own drapery store with the vision of providing the early pioneers of Auckland and beyond with quality merchandise at good value, with the best possible service. Today, almost 127 years later, Smith & Caughey's has grown, claiming to be one of New Zealand's best-loved department stores. The Queen Street store offers three floors of shopping- Men's and Women's Fashion, Cosmetics, Fine Fragrance, Accessories and Homewares. There is a great and recently fitted out cosmetic hall all with house branding, recently refurbished menswear and home departments, but the lack of branding, graphics and signage here reduces the potential impact enormously.

Auckland already has some excellent and busy Malls, but Sylvia Park which opened in Autumn '06 is really ahead of the game in terms of layout, store design, merchandising and presentation.

Sylvia Park is a straightforward single level concept featuring marble and subtle pastel colours and is extremely spacious and well lit. Its location, at a strategic junction on the Auckland transport network, puts the centre within 20 minutes reach of half the population of Auckland.  The complex consists of 24 hectares of land, making it one of the largest property developments in New Zealand. There are further stages of the development still to open this year including a leisure and entertainment zone. Shop fronts and interiors are of a very high standard but without being 'standardised'. Fascia lines differ as do materials and styles giving an overall feel of a comfortable shopping experience.

Interior presentation of the shops is superb with clever use of the rear walls for either graphics or branding, lighting has to be one of the most dramatic changes since my last article. Low voltage lighting and strip fluorescents have been replaced with metal halide and compact fluorescents. Whilst the metal halides wash the walls and adjustable gimbals give feature lighting onto product, compacts are used to provide ambient lighting. New Zealand retailers have really embraced the changes in lighting and the development of large scale graphics very quickly.

Whilst on my travels I found time to seek out a personal favourite, the Natuzzi Furniture Store. A quote from Chairman Pasquale Natuzzi states "Every day, 4000 people across the world choose a Natuzzi product to furnish their home with.  4000 people that recognize in our style their own lifestyle.  Our greatest success is their satisfaction.” With this in mind, and as one of the 4000, I made my annual visit to the store. Set in the middle of an Auckland industrial estate I still get a buzz from this furniture store and its comfortable ambience which is partly due to the great displays and knowledgeable staff.

Then onto Newmarket NZ, which by the way is nothing like where I live in the UK!. First of all to the regional Smith & Caughey store which underwent a major expansion and refurbishment in 2006, and now offers an outstanding collection of Men's and Women's Fashion, Cosmetics, Fine Fragrance, Accessories, all superbly fitted out and well illuminated, but a little disappointing with the lack of branding and signage.

Trillis Cooper a renowned fashion designer has extended into a beautiful fashion range of childrens clothes with a shop to match in Newmarket. Superb window displays lead you into a completely uncommercial but gorgeous environment. The centre of the floor has recessed glass showcases with cameo displays of Sylvanian type figures in each one, whilst the ceiling mural reflects the floor. The shopfittings are minimalistic to the extreme with the majority being single hanging even for childrens clothes. There is a huge mirror at the end between four of the most elaborate fitting rooms I have ever seen which reflect all the central beauty. I found this a unique and very special experience.