Gumiho was developed by its passionate owner to share the virtues of Korean beauty alongside the richness of Korean culture with the European audience. The retailer’s ambition at the time of consulting me was to open a first shop in Brussels which, if successful, could easily be replicated across Belgium and then further abroad.

She had already defined a very clear offer focusing on the K-beauty ritual, complemented with gifts, food and drink, and had worked hard on an initial brand identity scheme anchored in soft refinement and mysticism. Additionally, she had also reflected on the intended store experience and designed herself a couple of AI renders of this one.

Given the retailer’s rather tight timeframe and budget, I was initially contacted to develop the store vision into a more operational concept. Practically speaking, I was asked to provide advice on the store organisation, flow and finishes, carefully considering the given range of products on offer.

However, during our first meeting, I shared with the client my strategic approach and suggested we start first with a small brand and retail vision audit before diving into the concept. We agreed on a three-phase retail design consultancy scope as follows:

1. Strategic analysis & advice
2. Concept sketch
3. On demand design and construction advice

I delivered reports for each of the phases, excerpts of which can be found below.

Phase 1 – strategic analysis & advice:

• Review of the current brand identity: mission, promise, values, personality & story > suggesting some tweaks on weaker points
• Proposal for a short AND long term omnichannel strategy detailing which platforms to use and for which objectives
• Based on the above, suggestion for a retail design strategy:
  • • Which goals to aim for within the (short and long-term) omnichannel strategy
    • How to translate the brand identity in a multi-sensory way
    • Which customers to target and in which order of priority
    • How to curate and organise the offer based on the targeted audience
    • Which key aspects to consider in the design of the first store… but also the subsequent ones
    • How to bring customers more than they expect at each visit

Phase 2 – Concept sketch

• 3 shopfront proposals
• A strategic floor plan accounting for the 2 targeted customers’ ideal store journeys
• An interior sketch with 2 colour palette options accompanied with reference pictures for the look & feel

Phase 3 – On demand design and construction advice

• The retailer asked me to develop a signage brief for her graphic designer and signage contractor.