As regular readers of our blog will know, Barber Design have been shortlisted for two Retail Week Interiors Awards this year. And as we wait in anticipation for the awards ceremony next month – we’re taking a closer look at one of our shortlisted designs: for Neal’s Yard Remedies flagship store in London’s Covent Garden.

This year marks the 35th anniversary of the iconic organic brand and they wanted to honour the occasion by redesigning and refitting their original store at 2 Neal’s Yard, in Covent Garden. The company wanted the new design to reflect the two key areas of business: organic skincare and natural remedies and they worked closely with Barber to capture the history of the brand at this location. The new store design acknowledges the brand heritage, whilst accommodating recent changes to both the business and customer shopping habits. Herbs and natural health are at the heart of the store and the new design gives a fresh, clean reboot to their popular apothecary shop styling with the core brand values: natural, ethical and British.

Retail Interior Design

Inside, the store features traditional natural wood and tiled surfaces mixed with the brand’s trademark blue glass bottles in backlit displays and a cluster of blue glass bottle pendant ceiling lights and a backlit blue glass bottle display. The unique displays and shelves are constructed from premium materials which infuse the Neal’s Yard Remedies’ ethos and clear brand identity throughout the store. The displays exhibit their organic beauty products including a ‘most loved by you’ feature plinth to display the ‘Top 10’ Neal’s Yard Remedies products. There is also an experiential tincture area to the rear of the store, which creates customer engagement and interaction in a friendly and welcoming setting.

The Director of UK Sales at Neal’s Yard Remedies describes the changes to the design:

“For me the key really is in the improved look & feel and customer journey / navigation…the improved layout, size and interaction on the shop floor will also play to improve the customers experience and discovery of both the brand and individual products of focus.”

The Covent Garden Flagship retail design is the latest in our international roll out for Neal’s Yard Remedies with many more to come. As promised in a previous post here are a series of shots of the new interior and a short video describing the refit.

Alex Leach, Director of UK Sales at Neal’s Yard Remedies is delighted with our work so far:

“We recently won the Best Branded Store at the Natural Beauty Retail Awards which we were incredibly pleased with. Huge thanks to Doug, Alex, Neil and all the team for their hard work in designing the new store concept.”

Although we have been shortlisted for two designs in the same category and only one can win, we are really thrilled to be shortlisted again – our third time in a row. The Retail Week Interiors Awards really set the bar within the retail design industry – showcasing the best store designs of the year – exemplifying the standard for others to follow. The prizes will be given at a special ceremony at the Hilton Hotel in Park Lane London on November 3rd – so keep watching this space to find out what happens!