Last fall, Mobilia’s management team learned that there was an opportunity to move its Pointe-Claire store to a new and much bigger space just a few doors down. Here’s a brief overview of the thinking behind the design of the new store.
“A new customer experience; to projecting Mobilia’s brand identity in the store in a distinctive way; to stimulate customer creativity; and to inspire design enthusiasts.”
Maxime Moreau, founding architect of MXMA Architecture & Design.
Inspiration and guidance
For the last three years, Mobilia’s marketing team has been travelling through Europe and the United States with its design agency Jump&Love to get acquainted with trends and best practices in the retail sector in a variety of fields. The design fairs they visited have been a great inspiration, along with small neighbourhood stores, restaurants, hotels and other businesses. Armed with all this new knowledge and information, Mobilia was able to move ahead confidently with the development of a new forward-looking store design.
“The architectural brief was clear: to contribute to creating a new customer experience; to projecting Mobilia’s brand identity in the store in a distinctive way; to stimulate customer creativity; and to inspire design enthusiasts” says Maxime Moreau, founding architect of MXMA Architecture & Design. “The new design erases the store’s past life as a Sears outlet with its unremarkable interior architecture. The space has been completely opened up from floor to ceiling and divided into four well-defined worlds of style. The worlds of style are ringed by displays of accessories, and the whole store is organized around an innovative central aisle.”
“Good design makes people happy and inspires a sense of pride”
Marie-Hélène Trottier, Creative Director of Jump&Love
“I truly believe that good design makes people happy and inspires a sense of pride, which is precisely why we wanted to be creative in our approach to the space, just as we would, say, for a booth at an interior design fair, where the challenges of limited space and lively competition spur you to find ways to project your personality and stand out from the crowd” explained Marie-Hélène Trottier. “We adopted the same approach writ large for the store, focusing on specific elements of the brand and incorporating them harmoniously into the architecture.”
The colours of the new store
Colour can serve to lend a strong personality to a given space or they can be primarily functional. Careful consideration was given to the use of colour in the new store. In view of the feast of colours and shapes in the store with all the furniture and accessories on display, a decision was made to paint the entire store and all the product stands in pale grey in order to soften the look and create a visual balance between the store itself and the merchandise. Moreover, having a single colour helps to showcase the products. One of Mobilia’s brand colours, pistachio green, was also used in the store as an accent colour.
“Everyone likes the colour green; it is the colour we see everywhere in nature and so it is already a part of our lives.
Marie-Hélène Trottier, Creative Director of Jump&Love
“In the field of design, there’s nothing more subjective than colour because colours evoke so many emotions! But everyone likes the colour green; it is the colour we see everywhere in nature and so it is already a part of our lives” continued Trottier. “It was also important not to choose a trendy colour, which might not be to everyone’s liking and could quickly go out of fashion. Pistachio green is perceived as a neutral colour, but it is cheerful and adds light to the space.”
Staging the store for inspiration and guidance
In addition to planning the look and feel of the store, much thought went into redesigning the shopping experience itself. The aim was, of course, to delight customers with the product selection and innovative store design, but also to steer them toward the product styles best suited to their personality and needs. That’s how the process of staging began, culminating in the division of the store into four zones.
1) The central aisle
Mobilia’s buyers are always on the lookout for new trends and keen to expand their expertise. The role of the new store’s central aisle is precisely to showcase their latest finds.
“The central aisle creates the effect of a cocoon in the middle of the four worlds, a home where people plan their own world”
Maxime Moreau, founding architect of MXMA Architecture & Design.
“Designed to resemble a big inspiring home, the central aisle was large and is 28 feet wide by 128 feet deep by 14 feet high,” explained Maxime Moreau. “Customers enter the store through ornate doors which reflect the different facets of Mobilia’s brand identity”, he continued. “Visible from outside, this new entranceway doubles as an innovative eye-catching billboard. On the ceiling there are 45 graphic elements evoking Mobilia’s stylized house logo all arranged to project creativity, intimacy and human-scale liveability – a big roof under which you find every kind of style and every kind of customer. Painted in pistachio green, the central aisle creates the effect of a cocoon in the middle of the four worlds, a home where people plan their own world.”
2) Mobilia’s four worlds
By now, many people are familiar with Mobilia’s four-worlds of style: Wow, Natural, Euro and Spontaneous. The new store was designed to allow visitors to navigate among them for a smart and memorable shopping experience. The directional floor signage in the main aisle guides shoppers to each of the four worlds.
3) Accessories on display
Since the centre of the store is devoted to the settings of the four worlds of style, accessories are displayed all around the store, grouped by category: rugs, chairs, frames and mirrors, light fixtures, and so on.
4) The service centre
This zone is cleverly designed to fulfill several different functions. In addition to the traditional check-out area, a space has been created where customers can confer with design consultants. All the fabric and leather samples are also housed in this area so that they are available to customers seeking customized items. Computers are available for them to consult Mobilia’s website, where they can find useful information about products. There is also a lounge, where customers can take a break, and there is a recreation area to keep children busy while their parents shop.
The new Mobilia store in Pointe Claire is truly a space that will delight anyone who appreciates design in addition to families and customers looking for modern designer furniture and accessories. We look forward to seeing you there!
Mobilia’s Pointe Claire store
Méga Centre des Sources
2365, autoroute Transcanadienne
Pointe-Claire (Québec) H9R 4N2
