A retail fitout that bends the rules to create a new outlook on shopper experiences.
Winning Appliances has opened it’s 16th showroom for the 113-year-old family business in Richmond, Melbourne. The showroom aims to provide a unique, multi-sensory shopping experience while being the first of its stores to stock luxury brands from overseas. Storepro completed the fit out, with extensive and technical shopfitting services to deliver a completely functional and enticing space.
Sizing up at about 1800m2, this project started as a fit out of the ground floor only. Early on in the project Winnings decided to utilise the mezzanine area as a showroom space which lead to Storpro upgrading the fire services, adding a lift and staircase. The design for upstairs is very fluid, the Storepro team were involved in many design meetings to discuss ideas and adapted to their needs by making design changes to suit, offering options and adding additional items at various stages.
But what makes it so different?
While we describe this project as a retail fitout, the showroom is offering more than appliances from leading brands. Stepping away from the typical retail space and mundane customer service practices, it boasts a space where customers can watch professional cooks prepare food in fully designed lifestyle kitchens and grab a coffee while exploring.
John Winning the CEO of Winning Group explains that the space is “designed to allow customers to imagine what the appliances will look like in their dream kitchen, in different styles, rather than just the products themselves.” When coming here customers are looking for more than products, they are looking for an experience outside of their typical store. Visitors gain insight into the way the appliances work during the cooking demonstration and get to touch and engage with the displays, to make an educated purchase decision.
Designed by Cera Stribley Architects, the brief was to evoke a luxury home environment.
The shopfitting incorporated steel-frame windows, brick walls, timber floorboards, and luxe decor throughout to take the customer on a journey of imagination, giving them the ability to envision each appliance in their own home.
A fully functioning American BBQ was incorporated into the central kitchen, involving the addition of a new exhaust canopy, fire suppression system and an upgrade of gas services. This impacted budget and meant Storepro had to be dynamic in achieving what the client was asking while also managing expectations on costs and programs.
The showroom’s natural, modern warehouse look has an urban Melbourne twist to it, making it feel right at home in Richmond. The lifestyle kitchens and sitting areas have been designed to create a sense of homeliness by incorporating warm lighting, greenery, decor, utensils, and soft furnishings. The luxe colours such as the matte black, shiny silver accents and mixture of light and dark timber mixed with the surfaces of stainless steel and marble benchtops make the environment feel on-trend, high end and high quality.
Spaces like Winning Appliances’ Richmond are all about enhancing the customer experience and creating an immersive journey for shoppers. Winning Appliances have changed the whitegoods retail game! Storepro is excited to have played a part in bringing this flagship store to life.
