Ragtrader regularly profiles new retail concept stores across Australia. Here, Assia Benmedjdoub discovers Saxony.
"Grab and go” is how Stan Wan describes the growing approach to retail in Australia.
“[The] weekly engineering of markdowns, monthly category offers and divestment in service has spawned a national of ‘grab and go’ style consumerism,” the Saxony designer says. “This has robbed customers of any branded touch points.”
Loaded words call for loaded action, which is exactly what Wan and his in-house team took when launching Saxony’s first concept store in Melbourne last month. Measuring at 80sqm and located inside the Melbourne Central shopping complex, the store was a collaborative venture between Wan and interior design specialists Interni and Stag.
Dimly lit and featuring high-shine black flooring, the store is framed by a dramatic curved concrete wall. Traditional window displays have been replaced by a single slab of concrete at the centre of its exterior, with one male and one female mannequin modelling the latest product offers. Just two long racks inside maintain the external symmetry; one rack servicing male customers, the other female.
Wan says the concept will flow through to the brand’s World Square and Sydney Westfield stores, due to launch later this year.
“Saxony specifically chose these high traffic sites because of its dormant scope to address an emerging market,” he says. “From the broader context of consumer experience, Saxony intends to challenge the tangible and intangible responses to traditional bricks and mortar retailing and these locations were complementary to its business model.”
Saxony is a private company owned by Wan and Diana Fallon. The product is manufactured in China and stocked exclusively at Saxony stores and department store giant Myer.