Niketown- London Trip

Niketown was one of the shops that I visited on the London excursion. I found the way that the shop layout had been created very interesting. It resembled a gallery rather than an actual shop. With a standard shop you tend to find the maximum amount of merchandise has been displayed to ensure that the maximum amount can be sold. This tends to result in a cluttered environment. An example of these kinds of shops in relation to “sport” is JD Sports, and Sports Soccer.


With Niketown I found the amount of space very appealing. The customers had an spacious environment in which to view the merchandise. The goods that was on display were quite minimalist. Once again the shelves weren’t crammed full of items, they were carefully selected, and had only a few on display. Due to the fact that there were only small numbers of products made the items available seem somehow more precious, more desirable.


One of the spaces that really interested me was the shoe area. This was almost a secret annex, at the back of the shop in a cylinder shape with shoes on all walls- this to me created an immersive space simply full of Nike shoes.


Another aspect that I found very interesting about the Nike shop was the whole concept of the NikeID. This is where customers now have the option of creating their own custom made shoes. To me this is a real step forward in terms of interactivity in the retail environment. The customers are no longer the consumer- they have now become the designer/creator.


Overall I found the excursion to this shop not only very informative due to the layout and scheme- but interesting in terms of the psychology of the various aspects of the shop.

There are lots of elements that I feel that I can take from this and apply to my own design. Once again the whole concept of the user getting something out of an experience, (making their own shoes) is very interesting- and could be related to my own design.

This could take place in the form of users making a scene using the multi-touch video wall and a snapshot being taken of them or their families, which can then be printed- or downloaded. This would add to the level of interactivity and give the user something in return.