Retail Case-study: Nikes House of Innovation by Torvits + Trench out of space

nike house of innovation

They have succeeded in achieving one of the most challenging tasks in design terms — bringing holistic cohesion to an environment hosting many different visual styles, and functionalities. It’s kinetic, exploratory, and engaging, and prioritises individuality and personalization above all else. It’s an unequivocally cool space, with lots of Nike products, which of course draws a crowd. And the buying process uses technology to create pretty seamless, high-speed, hassle-free ways to purchase through an app.

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We didn’t get a chance to join a session, but this would be a great opportunity to educate participants on what really goes into making those great-looking kicks. That said, we felt the focus was still too heavily on the act of purchasing, and not enough on the innovation. Nike can sell shoes and hoodies in any of its stores, but what elevates the HOI are the floors with minimal product sales and maximum atmosphere, and we feel there are opportunities to give visitors more here. Nike has innumerable other stores that do a great job of selling, but the HOI was meant to peel back hidden layers, prioritise purpose, and build community linked to its immediate locality. To take the ambitious HOI concept to the next level, we feel Nike could be even braver and show less product, in order to focus on the immersive, creative elements that make this store truly special. Moving the focus away from ‘direct’ in-store buying and shifting the balance more towards openly content-rich experiential would be a risk, but one that would certainly smash the bar for the road ahead.

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Nike's new House of Innovation brings an undulating glass facade to Fifth Avenue - The Architect's Newspaper

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Posted: Thu, 15 Nov 2018 08:00:00 GMT [source]

As previously mentioned, the House of Innovation 000 provides visitors with various customization experiences. The store is equipped with two maker's studios, including a full customization wing on The Arena. Here, customers can take advantage of laces, fabrics, decals, and more to truly personalize purchases. Today Nike opens the doors to its new 68,000-square-foot flagship store in New York City, referred to as the House of Innovation 000. The massive space spans six stories, including one below street level, located on the corner of Fifth Avenue and 52nd Street.

LIFECARE RESOURCE AND REFERRAL SERVICE

Here, in a loungelike setting, members of NikePlus (a free service available through Nike’s app and website) can schedule one-on-one apparel consultations for a big race or for a night out. Here too, as on the first floor, shoppers can work with specialists to customize and remix their clothing. “As stores moved from transaction to experience, we are also moving from transaction to relationship,” explains Madden.

Inside Nike's new House of Innovation flagship

In theory, a great idea, but the mannequins were either dressed in outfits only a Nike mannequin could wear, or in looks so high fashion it was really difficult to decipher what the individual elements were and how you could put them into a look for yourself. In this case, Nike would have done better to be a bit more practical in order to help people shop easily (for ‘Nike Women Yoga Favorites’ for example) and leave the high fashion to the L05 Expert Studio. The mass appeal of the Sneaker Lab did however make us reflect on how much, beyond the enticing world of experiential and lifestyle type offerings, connecting to a brand is still inextricably linked to the love we have for the products they create. On L04 is the Sneaker Lab, which displays the largest collection of seasonally current Nike footwear anywhere. We’ve taken a close look at the 6-story retail mecca in New York — with the intention to be purposefully critical, looking into what is most successful, and where there might be further opportunities.

Customers gather here to customize their kicks however they please—from a faux ostrich Swoosh to a rainbow of laces. In a separate, glowing cube next to this counter, store employees in white lab coats (internally referred to as “Athletes”) dip-dye, stencil, and embroider the shoes. Titel Media GmbH (Highsnobiety), is committed to facilitating and improving the accessibility and usability of its Website, Titel Media GmbH strives to ensure that its Website services and content are accessible to persons with disabilities including users of screen reader technology. To accomplish this, Titel Media GmbH tests, remediates and maintains the Website in-line with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), which also bring the Website into conformance with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.

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Despite debuting a month after the China outpost, the Manhattan location was dubbed House of Innovation 000 (Shanghai was 001) — a sprawling 68,000-square-foot, six-floor space that promises visitors a peek into some of the brand’s most cutting-edge creations in an experiential retail environment. Nike were also looking to innovate through the use of technology via the Nike app. An attempt at enhancing the actual buying experience was the ‘scan an outfit’ option in the app.

Perhaps one thing for the future would be to further consider the layers of content that can be woven into a space — informing visitors to whichever level they feel appropriate and manageable on that day. This could also trigger more repeat visits as, more like a museum, you might learn a bit more each time. While it sounds grandiose, Sparks' words might be an understatement, if anything. Nike's flagship lets shoppers do just about anything that comes to mind (especially with the app). Quick customizations on a pair of sneakers usually take 5-10 minutes, while larger projects — including a one-on-one meeting with a Nike employee to discuss the changes — generally take just 30 minutes to an hour, according to Madden. Those few hanging around inside the House of Innovation — Nike's most recent flagship — were store employees, Nike corporate employees and various members of the media.

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nike house of innovation

On a particularly miserable, damp day in Manhattan, people milled throughout the store—trying on shoes amid heaps of shopping bags, or pausing to watch Athletes customize apparel within their glowing workshops. Unfortunately, its shopping appeal outweighed any feelings of reverence, and hence it was the busiest and noisiest floor. To conjure ‘contemplative museum’ over ‘crowded marketplace’, it might have been more daring to showcase the shoes as one views precious objects, and offer buying only online or direct through the app. Using the product (in this case shoes) as a symbol, rather than purely as a commodity to be purchased, would elevate a simple display to another level. Are such bells and whistles enough to draw an audience beyond tourist-laden Fifth Avenue?

Grab-and-go shoppers head to the store’s basement Speed Shop for Nike mainstays (Air Force 1s, running tights) and storage lockers for fast pickup service. Here and throughout the rest of the building, shoppers check out with their phones without once, in theory, having to interact with an employee. Each floor of the House of Innovation 000 provides customers with a different experience, many of which offer personalized customization and convenient shopping with digital aids. This area utilizes local data in order to stock and restock its shelves based on consumer wants.

There wasn’t enough in-depth storytelling to walk away having learnt something around what Innovation means for Nike. This was a shame as we’d all love to see some super nerdy content about what actually makes Nike shoes what they are, in easily-digestible bits. Of the above cool facts only #1 was on display for curious customers — #2–4 we found out by talking to an (admittedly very knowledgeable) Nike ‘expert’. So much thought and consideration has gone into details of the design — it’s a shame not more of that great content is shared more visibly. Featuring a “digitally powered” end-to-end consumer experience, the outpost is the latest representation of “Nike’s bold vision for the future of retail,” according to Cathy Sparks, global VP and GM of Global Nike Direct Stores and Service.

One morning in 1970, track coach Bill Bowerman took the family waffle iron into the garage and poured urethane into it in lieu of batter. Something in that gridded pattern told him that, if affixed to the sole of a running shoe, it could provide the knife’s edge separating winners from losers. The molten material welded the appliance shut, but the experiment helped a fledgling company called Blue Ribbon Sports metamorphose into the multibillion-dollar empire we know as Nike.

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