Architecture Sells

Up to this point in our Interior Architecture program, I feel as though we haven’t paid much attention to retail design, so I found it interesting to get to delve deeper into the idea behind flagship retail stores. As a consumer, I have been to a few flagship stores before, but honestly didn’t think much about their design or the experience the companies were trying to create. In Flagship stores as a market entry method: the perspective of luxury fashion retailing, Moore, et al. provide a strong foundation for understanding the characteristics of a flagship store as well as the motivations behind using them as a method of market entry for companies.

Throughout this semester, many of the topics we have covered have related architecture back to the economy in one way or another, but I felt like the subject of retail design has a more direct relationship to consumerism. By attempting to create the next tallest or most unique building, cities and companies have been attempting to establish, re-vitalize or further their brands less transparently; the average person does not necessarily make a connection between architecture and the way they spend their money. Flagship stores, however, are doing the same thing, but more obviously. Everything about the way a flagship store is designed – the store’s location, the materials used, the square footage, the floor plan - is intended to make a statement about the company’s brand, or at least how they want you as a consumer to perceive said brand. It’s an incredibly clever way to get consumers to not only open their wallets, but also buy in to the experience the company is selling.

What struck me about the motivations for companies to establish flagship stores in foreign markets was that they were remarkably similar to the driving forces behind cities who want to bring in celebrity architects to re-vitalize certain areas through architecture. It is all about creating or enhancing a recognizable brand that will attract consumers and tourists. Moore et al. indicate that a major impetus for companies to establish flagship stores is that they are able to recruit new, wealthy customers. Similarly, as mentioned in a few of the articles for this week, the “Bilbao Effect” is employed as a way to attract new tourists to an area via a standout piece of architecture. Essentially, flagship stores use architecture and design as a way to sell a brand and consequently, merchandise, whereas cities use architecture as a way to sell places and increase their revenue from tourism.  There is definitely something to this. I have noticed more and more that when friends or family are travelling to different cities, the first pictures posted on Facebook are those of them in front of the Space Needle in Seattle or the Eiffel Tower in Paris or the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles despite the fact that most of them are not architecture buffs and couldn't tell you who designed said buildings.

Iconic architecture has mass appeal and whether designed specifically for consumerism, has the potential to translate into big money for cities and companies alike.