Whether you are a specialty boutique or a big box store, flexible retail flooring options and durability are important in creating and maintaining an ambience in which customers will spend and come back.
As the customer experience continues to change as consumers become more connected, the role of the store needs to evolve to become one part of a much more complex relationship between the retailer and consumer. It needs to find a new balance between providing inspiration and emotional engagement while offering new ways of experiencing the breadth and depth of the range; and do this in a consistent and relevant way across all channels, including retail flooring.
Retailing is all about image, and nothing sets the tone of a store – or an entire mall for that matter – like the choice of flooring. “We like to say that the floor covering is the canvas on which the rest of the store is painted,” Edward Korczak, executive director of the National Wood Flooring Association, Ellisville, MO, told National Real Estate Investor.
Flooring organizes the space, defines paths of circulation and creates merchandising zones. Flooring also helps set the tone and reinforces a brand. With plenty of retail flooring options available, there is no one perfect flooring material for every situation.
Today, many retail environments are mixing pattern with a host of materials. Stores that pride themselves on their bargains – like Ross and TJ Maxx – opt for plain pipe racks, industrial-looking fluorescent lighting and inexpensive flooring [or even bare cement] to give the perception they are passing on savings to customers. Upscale malls and specialty boutiques, on the other hand, use various luxury materials like marble, hardwood, porcelain or ceramic tile to attract customers.
According to Jennifer Sweas, a Chicago-based interior designer, a luxurious floor plays a key role in setting the image and atmosphere of a store or mall itself. Specialty retailer Nordstrom, for example, prides itself on its store design and appearance, and more specifically, comfort while walking through the store. In its Indianapolis, IN, store contractors installed porcelain and marble tiles, while carpeting was installed in “islands” surrounded by tile.
Concrete is also an up-and-coming player in retail flooring options. Take Gap’s European team. They set out to reinvigorate the store design and give the brand more relevance in the European market. The team designed a new store concept, taking its inspiration from the very first Gap store which opened on Ocean Avenue in San Francisco in 1969, with a painted concrete floor.
Don’t be afraid to mix and match materials to create your own floor design. Mid-level retailers are following in the footsteps of their luxury cousins, incorporating trendier materials that relate to nature and texture. Think commercial grade cork, bamboo and laminated flooring, as well as engineered hardwood.
Another retail flooring option is the modular carpet tile. The most versatile for floor design, modular carpets is an innovative system of carpet squares that you assemble to create custom wall-to-wall designs of any shape and size. Its versatility allows you to create different patterns with the same tiles across collections with a wide variety of colors, patterns and textures. Plus, you can mix and match materials with the tiles.