How Retail Can Save Itself
Are all stores destined to die? Or can the growing trend of brick and mortar closures be halted by a transition to something new?
Enter community-centric experiential shopping.
My Lyft dropped me off at a quaint blue cottage situated on a square of browning grass. Tall trees cast dappled shadows across a pair of hammocks swaying gently in the warm Texas breeze. A man lounged in one of several Adirondack chairs circled around a fire pit, and a couple sipped iced coffees on the front porch.
The scene was idyllic. I looked up from my Google Maps–was I here?
I was. But this charming place I carved my morning out to find wasn’t a bed & breakfast–it was the TOMS Austin store.
Spearheaded by the millennial tidal wave, the consumer landscape is transforming. As another wave of stores have begun closures following a poor holiday shopping turnout at malls, it’s apparent our shopping habits are changing. Many of us seek convenience and experience over browsing through rows and racks.
No longer is it enough to step foot into a bright department store to try on a pair of shoes or even just quick snatch up a peppermint latte from Starbucks. A need to share our moments on Snapchat and Instagram fuels our search for more in everything we do–even in something as simple as shopping for a new pair of shoes.
Drawn in by the garden and promise of coffee on the other side of the door (and the ideal setting for an Instagram photo or two), I wandered into the TOMS store.
I wandered out with two new pairs of shoes.
Community-Driven Retail
In an age where retailers (including Macy’s, The Limited, SEARS to name a few) have begun to close their doors on hundreds of underperforming stores, many retailers are looking for fresh new ways to appeal to the wave of online shoppers to bring them out from behind the computer and into the store.
A few forward-thinking brands, including TOMS, have begun to elevate their shopping locations. By transforming stores into retail experiences, they build a community around their brand to bring shoppers back for in-person purchasing and social sharing that extends far beyond a one-time purchase.
A Brand Becomes an Experience
One can very easily scoop up a pair of iconic TOMS slip-ons from a department stores or have them delivered with a click of the mouse. But as I experienced on this hot and dry Texas day, to enter the TOMS store is to enter the brand of TOMS itself: a humanitarian-focused footwear company that changes lives (also happens to serve up really great coffee.)
We all know TOMS is about more than footwear. Their one-for-one philosophy means for every shoe purchase you make, they donate a pair to a child in need across the globe. The TOMS retail store reflects their mission by walking each visitor through the TOMS journey. Smiling faces of children in far-away nations grin down on you from the walls. Inspirational quotes and art spark a sense of creativity and belonging–you, too can help change a life.
An integral part of the story is the one-for-one giving. Employees share their own tales of attending Giving Trips, a right of passage they can embark on after a year of full-time employment.
My salesgirl talked of her recent service trip to South America where she gifted TOMS shoes to an orphanage while fitting my feet with a pair of brown suede TOMS sneakers.
Creating Community-Centric Spaces
After my purchases were complete, I explored the rest of the cottage–because, well, coffee. Much like my own beloved SF coffee shops, the TOMS store makes a lovely place to gather with friends and sip a cup of Joe. The cafe brews up TOMS Roasting Co. coffee for here or to go with ample seating for groups. Long wooden benches line the walls and tables dot an outdoor patio where a few lone workers hammered away at their laptops. A bulletin board lists upcoming events including speakers and musicians who will be stopping by over the next month.
Comfortably fitting in the TOMS one-to-one theme, I was told all coffee purchases give a person in need access to clean water, continuing neatly with their one-to-one theme. Outside the shop, an inviting back lawn boasts games of cornhole and artfully mismatched seating arrangements smattering the patches of shade beneath the trees.
I step outside of the blue cottage and take a seat in an Adirondack chair.
Can creating these experiences save retail?
There is something to be said about touching clothing fabric and trying products on before passing over your credit card. But for me–and many others–the convenience and ease of online shopping, free returns, and time saved by not having to run to the mall often wins out.
(And the lure of an artsy Instagram opportunity does tempt my visit.)
These stores like TOMS, rather than purely existing as a transactional base, become an extension of the brand. They are a destination within themselves.
They connect story to brand to space.
When I leave, I leave with the experiences of my sweet salesgirl and her trip to South America and the image of little girls’ cracked heals that she slipped into new pairs of shoes along with my bags laden with new footwear.
Despite the fact I dropped 2.5 weeks of grocery money and somehow must fit my purchases into an already over-stuffed carryon to trek back to SF, I feel good about my shopping. I leave with a sense of belonging to the brand, and a desire to support other retailers like TOMS.
Why? Because I too want to do good, even if it means just starting with the simple purchase of a pair of shoes.
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How to Save Retail Series
Over the next few weeks we will explore several different community-focused brands transforming the way we shop and interact with their products and stores. Check back soon for our next installment!
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Please note: I was not sponsored by TOMS to write this post. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Other claims are supported by outside sources, linked to within the article.
