A fit-out project Triplar completed last year for legendary bootmaker Dr Martens has been recognised in the prestigious Retail Week Interiors Awards 2010.

Triplar completed work on the Dr Martens pop-up shop in Spitalfields Market, London, last Autumn and the project has recently won the ‘Pop-up Store of the Year’ award.

Designed by consultancy Campaign, the store was originally envisaged to be ultra low-cost and temporary. Now nearly a year on it remains open and has attracted critical acclaim from a number of retail commentators for its rugged, paired-back ‘rough luxe’ appearance and commercial success.

Triplar completed the store in just six days, fitting a combination of off-the-shelf industrial fittings, like simple light fittings which hang along one wall, and customised elements such as a cash desk made from salvaged crates.

The Triplar team also worked closely with Campaign to value engineer the design and ensure the project came in on budget.

Triplar director Tim Rodwell said: “The tight timescale and unique nature of this exciting project made it particularly challenging. But the finished result and subsequent praise the store has attracted speak for themselves.

“The Dr Martens Spitalfields store illustrates how we work closely with design consultancies and brands to realise imaginative briefs. Our team has the skills, vision and knowledge to bring any design concept to life and it is tremendously rewarding to be involved with a project that has received such acclaim from across the industry.”

We read with interest about Mary Portas, the Queen of Shops, being asked by government to investigate the plight of the high street and were keen to feed into her review.

In our experience there have been too many barriers for independent retailers setting up shop and we have been approached by a number of entrepreneurs in recent years that have simply found the logistics of setting up a shop too complex and abandoned their plans. Overall, cutting red tape and set-up costs, allied with a reduction in the cost of starting out could be a powerful formula for getting the high street back on its feet.

In a letter to Mary Portas we proposed a range of measures to address the high price of setting up, including the creation of standard ‘starter packs’ containing set items of well-designed and attractive display equipment that would be a useful tool for retailers. We highlighted how this could be adapted in style and content for different types and shop and would form a platform from which shop owners could create an attractive and appealing retail space.

Another idea we detailed was the creation of a dedicated auction website where used retail display equipment could be sold. At the moment there is no viable secondary market for many of these items; the majority of which are disposed of when stores are renovated.

Mary’s office made contact with their thanks for our proposals, citing them as ‘salient themes’ that would be ‘incredibly useful’ in the research. We followed this with an outline of our ideas to Retail Week and our letter was printed in the magazine this Autumn.

We have also approached the CEO of BIRA (British Independent Retailers Association) for a meeting to discuss taking this forward. Here’s hoping that the ideas get the attention and buy-in they need to come to life and help our High Street.

Mike Rodwell’s credentials as one of the UK’s most respected and influential names in shop fitting have been further cemented with his appointment to the Executive Council of The National Association of Shopfitters (NAS).

The Triplar owner and director took up his post following the NAS Annual General Meeting held on the 14th February, where he was elected by a cross section of the industry members.

The National Association of Shopfitters (NAS) is the only trade association that exclusively represents, promotes and is dedicated to service the needs of the shopfitting and interior contracting sector. It role is to provide a single voice on behalf of the industry, protecting its economic and commercial interests and it has been doing so since 1919.

Mike Rodwell said: “Having served, in former years, on Confederation of British Industry (CBI) work groups and other industry boards it is a privilege to be asked to help represent shop fitting at our highest and most influential level.

“Our principle role is both to represent the needs of our customers and statutory bodies to the industry, and encourage and guide our members in good practice and quality workmanship. Difficult as current times are for our industry we are determined to enhance our image and be at the forefront of economic recovery’’.

The team at Triplar have been working alongside leading education consultancy firm Bryanston Square in a bid to revolutionise the design of schools and other learning environments.

The London-based consultancy offers a wide range of services for schools – all of which rethink where teaching should take place. The firm’s aim is to redesign study spaces across the country to make them more engaging for young people.

Challenging the status quo is no mean feat. Bryanston Square has requested Triplar’s input in helping to update the design of learning environments and bring them into the 21^stcentury. The agency is keen to understand how Triplar’s award-winning retail display and shop fitting experience could be used to help develop ‘relentlessly relevant’ educational spaces.

The Triplar team recently headed to St Michael’s Catholic College in Bermondsey, to undertake a site visit and discuss and contribute towards Bryanston Square’s vision.

Martin McElreavey, consultant at Bryanston Square said: “At Bryanston Square we are championing a paradigm shift in the areas where learning takes place. Accordingly, we are looking for inspiration from the wider world so we can build new schools that better meet the needs of young people.

“I am incredibly grateful for the input from the expert team at Triplar regarding the internal design of these new educational environments and hope to employ these innovative ideas in schools very soon.”

Triplar MD Tim Rodwell has outlined his views on the role for temporary stores in two editorials over recent months.

Differing from pop-up stores in that they are commercial, rather than marketing-led, temporary stores continue to make regular appearances on the UK high street. Triplar has worked on a number of temporary stores over the past year for clients Lush, Dr. Martens and Nike.

Tim explained: “There’s been a lot of recent talk about pop-up stores. But with an increasing number of empty shops on many UK high streets, we’re starting to see a new type of store emerge that takes the benefits of pop-up stores and allies them with a strong commercial focus.

“Temporary stores provide retailers with a number of unique opportunities. They are a cost-effective channel in which to sell overstock and can be a great way of revitalising a unit that is near the end of its lease. By incorporating some bespoke furniture and graphics and reusing standard display items such as racking and shelving, stores can be transformed in the eyes of shoppers.

“Retailers can also take advantage of short-term lease deals to capture seasonal, geographical or demographic demand. And much like the highly conceptual pop-up stores dreamt up by marketing departments and design agencies, temporary stores can revitalise and reposition a brand in the minds of shoppers.”

Triplar recently helped Dr. Martens gain a retail foothold in Glasgow before the busy Christmas shopping period. The brand is currently looking for a permanent location in the city, and Triplar’s shop fitting division helped launch a temporary store in the St Enoch Centre.

The existing perimeter system, flooring and light fittings were kept ; while a newfascia and internal signage was installed, and existing cash desk and centre floor tables were refurbished to provide a Dr. Martens look.

The project was completed in just five days, allowing the retailer to be and up and running for the important Christmas shopping period, as well as providing them with the opportunity to understand the city’s retail scene.

Triplar’s display team has completed its 50th factory store for Levi’s as part of its latest European roll-out, fitting the iconic brand’s new Roppenheim location in Alsace, France.

The longstanding relationship with one of the world’s biggest clothing retailers reflects the company’s commitment to rolling-out consistently high-quality, stylish stores.

The nature of Levi’s relationship with Triplar means the fashion brand was happy to entrust its retail display team with a European-wide rollout of factory stores, including new stores and re-fits throughout Europe and North Africa.

Despite reaching half a century in number, each store has been different and the display team enjoys the challenge of creating a consistent visual image at every location; incorporating the right mix of metalwork, wall system display, free standing furniture, cash desks and graphics. The logistical challenge then begins, with both materials and the installation team transported across Europe to fit the equipment in the shortest timescale possible, sometimes in as little as two days.

The Levi’s store in Roppenheim marks a significant landmark for Triplar, further demonstrating its commitment to the highest standard and service. Triplar MD Mike Rodwell said: “Our clients expect a quality product and a ‘no fuss’ installation ready for the stock to arrive and to be open for trade two days after we finish. There is no room for error. Levi Strauss relies on us to consistently deliver and complete to schedule and so far we have ‘hit the mark’.

“Delivering a half-century of stores without any major hiccups or problems is a fantastic achievement. I know our team will deliver the same result whether it is store one or one hundred and one.”

The display team has enjoyed a busy spring, simultaneously working on stores in Northern and Southern Europe, as well as North Africa, for Nike.

March and April have seen the team work on three stores in:  Heraklion, Crete; Roppenheim, France; and Oran, Algeria. The three projects have involved completely different shipping and process protocols – stretching the team’s logistical skills and presenting a number of unique challenges.

Crete was a time critical despatch to tie-in with ferry sailings to the island, and the Algeria store has relied on Triplar’s internal expertise in preparing packing lists and invoices in accordance with the local legislation in Algeria.

The metalwork elements of the three stores were manufactured by Triplar’s European factories, while wood, plastic, mirrors and other elements were sourced and manufactured in several other territories throughout Europe.

Triplar project manager James Freeman said: “Manufacture lead times had to be carefully managed to ensure the goods were prepared according the schedule and all materials were combined in our central despatch hub in advance of the loadings.

“In total, the three stores represented 18 container loads, spread across a combination of road haulage and sea freight containers. Quality packing has been critical to ensuring the risk of damage is minimised, especially when the goods are transported in freight containers and offloaded and reloaded on several occasions as the journey shifts between road and sea transport.

“Our install teams were present for both Crete and Roppenheim, with the installation of the Algeria store being completed by a local team. Our Install Quality Manager will visit Oran to ensure the work has been completed in accordance with our guidelines before we hand the store to Nike.”

As always when completing long distance projects, Triplar’s display team has ensured that accurate packing lists, high-quality packing protocols and timely despatch are all in place to ensure that goods arrive to site on time, and in exactly the same condition as when they leave the factory.

Triplar has just completed the worldwide supply of bespoke window displays components for one of the world’s best-known fashion retailers, meaning its handiwork was unveiled in over a thousand stores in 43 countries simultaneously.
The process started when Triplar won the tender and began reverse engineering initial client samples, bringing the Scandinavian brand’s designs to life while working within the constraints of a tight budget. The overall window display ‘sets’ required a series of 25 different components realised in a range of materials: metal, MDF, plywood and various laminate finishes.
Production was ordered in stages to ensure a steady flow to Triplar’s Czech storage facility during a 7-week shipping window. There, further quality checks were completed – ensuring all items met the client’s stringent packaging and labelling guidelines.
The challenges of shipping to 43 countries and abiding by customs requirements were met head-on by the display team;  working around the clock to ensure a smooth delivery and a roll-out of high quality window displays in 1312 stores, located everywhere from Slovenia to Singapore.

Triplar is celebrating a number of award nominations in two sets of national awards.

The team has been shortlisted in the Best Small Store category at the Retail Week Interiors Awards 2012 for its work on the Dr. Martens store in Spitalfields, London. The awards ceremony takes place on September 27.

Criteria for the category dictated that stores entered ‘should be both innovative, demonstrably successful and be the kind of place that shoppers are going to want to come back to again and again.’

Triplar has also been nominated for a trio of awards in Family Business Place’s Red Ribbon Awards 2012: New Frontiers; Customer First and Fastest Growing Family Business. The awards are designed to recognise excellence in family business and take place on November 23.

The awards are designed to recognise excellence in family business and take place on November 23. Covering a number of different business areas, they look at:

·         New Frontiers: Celebrating the family business that has embarked on new projects overseas and can demonstrate how export strategies have been developed to grow their business outside of the UK.

·         Customer first: Recognising the family business that puts customer service at the heart of everything they do with clear objectives and methods of monitoring customer satisfaction.

·         Fastest growing family business: Identifying a family business that has seen unparalleled growth compared to non-family business competitors in the same market.

Triplar’s display team has completed the first stage of its first project with fashion brand APRICoT.

APRICoT was established in 2007 and has hundreds of concessions in New Look and Debenhams stores in the UK, as well as several standalone inline stores. The brand is now expanding into Europe through the addition of new concessions – of which Triplar has just completed four Italian department stores: three in Rome and one in Milan.

The custom modular display system including wall bays with backlit branded headers, freestanding gondolas at varying sizes, 2-ways, 3-ways and various options for displaying merchandise. Finished in brushed stainless steel and laminates, the fixtures were fitted and merchandised within one day at each store.

Triplar project manager Nicole Phillips said: “APRICoT is an exciting brand that has enjoyed considerable growth over recent years through careful expansion. We’re excited to be playing a role in the next chapter of that story, and are using our considerable experience operating in Continental Europe to supply furniture, fittings and install services for a number of new APRICoT concessions.”