New Strategic Store Design
The Hudson Bay and KitchenAid Collaboration
My team at LG&P In-Store Agency was approached by KitchenAid to design a store-in-store concept at the downtown flagship location of The Hudson Bay in Toronto. The Hudson Bay, in an exclusive collaboration with Kleinfeld Bridal, was in the process of redesigning their 7th floor. This was Kleinfeld’s first Canadian endeavor and The Bay was excited to expand the partnership with Kleinfeld to KitchenAid. Kleinfeld imagined a space at The Bay that would allow their brides to participate in the “say yes to the dress experience” then allow them to scan household items in an expanded housewares section.
“We want to inspire her to “design her dream” of starting her home through the gift registry.
It’s not just about selling products, it’s about selling memories. We don’t want the bride to just imagine a stand mixer on her counter, we want her to visualize the memories she will create with it”
To make this dream come true for The Bay and KitchenAid we needed to understand our target: The millennial. We wanted to inspire them to do more with their kitchens: how they eat, entertain and live. We set up the environment with multiple interaction points that inspire and educate a theme of modern living.
We set up three floating, back-lit color boxes that show off a new trend in kitchen design: Matching all your small appliances. These appliances are not being placed behind cabinet doors and are left out on the counter to add an accent color to the space. The bridal registry is about a fresh start. It’s about getting rid of objects from a past life and designing a home with the one you love. Buying a color collection lets the bride get all the appliances at once in the color she loves. When we interviewed an employee of the space, the color collection wall was her favorite part, but for a different reason.
“The 7th floor has an overwhelming amount of space with a lot of clean white fixtures. The KitchenAid color collection looks so premium but also, so fun! Also, when shoppers are looking for the Kleinfeld section, I use the KitchenAid wall as a locator for them. Everyone can see it from anywhere in the store, so I just point to it and say “it's right next to KitchenAid“.
Store Associate
This was a major success point for us. Shoppers would then see the appliances as color collections; the perfect seed to plant for a Bride that is planning her registry.
KitchenAid is known for its timeless style and modern technology and we wanted the showroom to feel the same. The center displays have been constructed in white washed wood that creates a subtle contrast between the modern Bay finishes and little details of black cast hinges and handles bring back a traditional flavour.
“We wanted to keep the fixture height lower in the center to help open up the space and creating smaller centre islands lets the shoppers flow freely throughout the fixtures. All products are placed in the center islands or on the back walls that can be seen from the aisles, walls that are only seen from the inside of the section are reserved for saleable product; this helps create the feeling of a luxury showroom.”
We used the back wall of the section to set up a color story for the iconic KitchenAid stand mixer. Shoppers are known to scan for this product to find the KitchenAid section. We created a “step-up” story that explains the differences in value between the different versions. This consisted of three boxes that appeared to be floating on the wall. They had a KitchenAid red face with backlit internals to draw attention to the product and messaging. We focused the communication on the main benefit of the machine through a call to action, and then backed it up with sub points of technical bullets.
Next, we looked into issues when closing a sale with Millennials. One major hurdle for new
KitchenAid customers is understanding the value of the Stand Mixer attachments. These attachments turn your stand mixer into the ultimate tool that makes everything from pasta to ice cream. A new foodie can be intimidated by the assortment of attachments and lack the confidence to ask.
“If the shopper can’t figure it out in-store they will continue the learning process at home and usually buy online. We need an entertaining and efficient way to engage Millennials through entertainment and education. They want a general idea of how an attachment works, but aren’t interested in being told how to use it.”
Since Millennials learn through technology, we wanted to integrate a “how to” interactive video experience into the showroom. The Attachments display allows the shopper to press a button to view a short clip on how an attachment worked and what it can do. The videos are concise with very little lead in, branding or filler: It’s instant education! This mix of entertainment and education helped our millennial target interact and connect with these products at their own pace.
The showroom has been a major accomplishment for all partners involved. With a great understanding of trends, markets and retail execution both KitchenAid and the Hudson Bay have been a pleasure to work with. I highly recommend taking a visit and experience the future of retail.
Matt Isenburg – Creative Director LG&P Toronto
