Ted’s Cameras general manager Nic Peasley explains the marketing strategy guiding the re-design of the 133 sq metre Ted’s Fountain Gate store – the template for ‘how Ted’s store will look into the future’:
While the entire photo retailing market is currently under significant change and in particular rationalisation we have continued to grow our business and invest in the future. Our new concept store at Fountain Gate is the most radical approach to store design taken in the history of Ted’s, and more importantly in the Photo Specialty Retail sector.
The history behind this design goes back over two years ago when the Ted’s Management Team undertook a brand repositioning. ‘Helping You Capture Life’ was born, and the foundation of this position is two specific brand archetypes:
1.The Advisor
Playing to the Ted’s strength is fantastic product knowledge and ranging of product, supported by excellence in service and store presentation;
2. The Enthusiast
Engaging our customers through enthusiasm for the product and for photography, and really bringing this to life while developing enduring relationships with our customers and helping them with their photography.
The design that we have developed for Fountain Gate directly supports and demonstrates these two key brand archetypes, and finishes off the repositioning adventure by bringing the Advisor/Enthusiast to life at store level.
The store
Apple has by far the best example of engaging store design. Our new concept takes its roots from the Apple stores where the activity is on the floor where the key products are, and the staff work in and around the stock in delivering the Apple experience.
We have moved all of the ‘hero’ hardware (cameras/lenses) onto play tables on the shop floor and surrounded that stock with all the relevant accessories hanging from the walls. The consumer can walk through the entire range of hardware products, which provides an aspirational environment. This also provides the shop staff with the opportunity to engage with the consumer in a far less confronting manner and approach from any angle.
Also we can offer a far broader accessory selection, that will be zoned by category and will thus complement the relevant hardware products. We have also branched out into Ipad/Iphone accessories, which we believe are ideally suited to our type of customer and will add an additional age group to our shopper demographic.
We have used top-flight materials in the build, as well as the best technology available in terms of the camera displays, and merchandising overall, and have been conscious also of the environmental impacts that this store would create in terms of heat and power consumption.
This is an extremely exciting step into how our stores will look into the future, and while our industry shrinks and typically retailers are not re-investing in their businesses, Ted’s continues to expand and drive Photo Specialty into the future.
– Nic Peasley,
Ted’s Cameras
We followed up with a few extra questions:
Who did you use as a designer and what did it cost?
– We used Zone Design and Construction. This was slighlty less expensive than a typical Ted’s store fitout even though we used new technology and had a far greater structural construction component than other store builds.
The specific cost is not something I want to disclose.
This appears to be a a departure from the recent Ted’s Photo Lounge approach – are you putting more emphasis on hardware than photo services ‘going forward’?
– Not at all. If you look through the store the dedicated photo printing area is clearly defined using different finishes, floor coverings and new lower counters and funky stools. We are clearly still heavily in the photo finishing business as a natural extension of selling hardware.
Is this the look of Ted’s stores in the future or rather a one-off? Time frame? —
– This is clearly a store design that we are proud of and one that we believe will sustain us into the future. We will learn from this first design and build on this in creating a true destination in our Elizabeth Street flagship early next year.
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