Founded in 1994, Icebreaker is an international outdoor and sport clothing company headquartered in New Zealand.

With an existing design concept that did not properly convey or highlight the history of the company or uniqueness of the brand, our main objective was to dive deeper into the company’s core values and then make the physical store reflect them.

By introducing elements reminiscent of their origins, such as weathered wood planks, a moss wall, and rope and pulleys, and then coupling this with the introduction of technology, the end result is a design concept that is authentic yet modern and successfully both elevates the store image and improves the in-store customer experience.

Founded in 1994, Icebreaker is an international outdoor and sport clothing designer and manufacturer, headquartered in New Zealand.

Supplying its clothing to more than 4,700 stores in 50 countries, and traditionally selling through wholesale channels, partner stores, and icebreaker.com, the company more recently tapped into the retail market and turned its sight on North America to broaden it horizons.

Conceived and designed around the philosophy of sustainability, using natural fibres, environmental and social ethics, and animal welfare, what makes this brand unique is their use of merino wool in their apparel. In 2008, the company even launched the Icebreaker Baacode™, a system that allows consumers to trace the origins of their Icebreaker purchase right to a sheep farm in the Southern Alps of New Zealand, where the merino fibre is grown.

As for the design of their retail stores, while the existing concept had a certain rustic feel, it did not convey, nor properly highlight, the history of the company or uniqueness of the brand. This said, in developing a new design concept, it wasn’t about completely altering Icebreaker’s existing image but rather diving deeper into the company’s core values and then making the physical store reflect them.

In the early stages of development it took numerous conference calls with both New Zealand and the newly established Vancouver office to really understand the brand’s philosophy and values as we wanted to ensure that these were well translated in the new concept.

Ultimately, the New Zealand countryside, the barn, and the sheep that provide the merino wool, all became our sources of inspiration. Therefore, the introduction of certain elements, such as the weathered wood planks and rough timber, the moss wall, the rope and pulleys, all contribute to the origins of the brand.

Contrarily, technology was introduced to heighten and reinforce the customer experience. The 6 frameless screens mounted on the back wall not only immediately capture ones attention but also provide giant imagery featuring anywhere from the brands history to short stories to promotions taking place within the store.

The end result is a design concept that is authentic yet modern and successfully both elevates the store image and improves the in-store customer experience.

Also, although it is too early to properly evaluate sales performance as the store only recently opened, it is known that the C-suite have decided to quickly move forward with the new concept and will soon apply it to their next store located in West Edmonton Mall. There are also plans to expand in the Montreal area, Toronto and the Western USA.

In an array of predominantly black and white mall facades, Icebreaker offers a unique storefront made up of authentic recycled barn wood planks installed in a random pattern.

Upon entering, the back wall features frameless screens measuring 126”x48” that provide quality content on the brand and its history. This both engages the customer, exposes them to the brands culture and communicates the company’s overall story.

Visual merchandising plays a key role and consideration was given for props (lanterns, picture frames, antique cameras,vintage books, etc.) all of which relate back to the story of the brand.

Wall merchandising is a combination of basic front faced, folded and side hanging displays. However, the addition of 2’x3’ visuals, boxed products, and the occasional prop, gives it a whole new dimension clearly supporting the slogan “Live wild. Be wild.”

The custom designed floor units take on a low profile to clear all sightlines and also provide a good balance between simplicity and authenticity with their wooden end panels and visuals.

Designed with no front or back, the 'cash unit' allows for circulation on all 4 sides and becomes more of a transactional counter, offering a more intimate way of serving the customer and does not restrict the sales associates to one particular area.

Even the fitting rooms offer a unique experience with their sliding barn doors, interior benches made up of rope and pulley, full-height mirrors and painted inspirational quotes.

The previous design concept basically had either wood beams running across the store, which was meant to recreate the barn effect, or a ‘faux wool carpet’ to emphasize thus use of merino wool in their garments, however the remainder of the store did not follow suit with any recollection of these ideas. Therefore the stores appeared rather bland with their white walls, few visuals and not much else. The overall result was a concept that was not that engaging, had some visual merchandising but nothing that pulled everything together.

The new concept is essentially an evolution of the basic design however it dives much deeper into creating a genuine experience for the shopper that well represents the company’s philosophy. The new concept also provides a much more engaging environment with both its large video wall playing interesting quality content and introduction of more visuals.

Additionally, subtle details, such as reversing the standards so they would not be visible to the shopper, and providing a platform where up-lighting could be integrated in the back wall, played a key role in enhancing the wall merchandise. By creating this subdued effect, the merchandise became the focal point the store. By also hiding the slotting on the standards, the store immediately appears as a brand in a higher-end category.

Re-purposed barn wood planks cover the entire storefront. For contrast, the posts/beams are a darker tone while the fitting rooms and feature tables have an off-white weathered wood finish.

Made of 100% natural preserved moss, the moss wall reflects the company’s viewpoint on the environment and adds a touch of greenery amidst the various wood textures.

Matte black metal was used for the fixtures and details like the metal bands on the beams. Although a simple finish, it recalls the blackened metal found in rural settings and anchors the color palette of the store.

For durability reasons, the floor is covered in a dark-toned wood simili porcelain tile installed in a diagonal pattern to provide a more dynamic effect.

The raw wool carpet, leather upholstery on the Hans J. Wegner shell chair, and coarse manila hemp rope and pulleys in the fitting rooms, all add that extra touch!

It is still too soon to tell how well the store will perform but if we were to base ourselves solely on the 2 first weeks after opening, sales exceeded projections by 35%! It would be misleading to presume that this number will be a constant throughout the year but we can definitively say that the Ottawa clientele have responded very well to the new design concept!

As for the client, upon seeing the newly revealed photos of the Rideau Centre store concept, unanimous positive feedback was received from not only the Head Office but also from the European and Asian teams. Icebreaker is also enthusiastically moving forward with rolling out the new design for their next store renovation, which is located in West Edmonton Mall and is slated to open late September 2017! With a few other locations in Toronto and Montreal currently in the negotiation phase, more stores may also added to the 2017 expansion list.

Overall, this `design` success story demonstrates that a great design, which is well reflective of a brand`s core values and effectively communicates to its targeted clientele, can be very effective. It will allow Icebreaker to tap into a larger market, create depth to their brand, and become a hot name in the North American retail landscape.

A total cost of $3780 per sq. meter was spent for this project.

We were actually slated to come in at a higher amount (+/- 10%) but with some small compromises and hard work from the GC, suppliers and especially the millworker, we managed to get back on track with the budget making it all the more worthwhile when we heard our client say (in a very distinctive ‘down under’ accent) - “good job mates!”