Soft Surroundings Pampers Customers as it Expands Store Network
Photo: ColorTek - Studio C, St. Louis
At a time when many retailers are cutting back on store expansion, Soft Surroundings is doing just the opposite, growing its retail footprint with a prototype that brings its brand experience to life.
The women’s lifestyle brand, founded in 1998 as a catalog retailer, opened its first store in 2005. But it’s only been in the past couple of years that Soft Surroundings, which also has a thriving online business, has made a big push into brick-and-mortar. (In summer 2013, private equity firm Brentwood Associates took a majority interest — 55% — in the firm.)
Soft Surroundings opened 10 stores in 2015, its single largest period of retail expansion ever, for a total of 29 locations at year end. With another 12 to 15 stores on tap for 2016, brick-and-mortar has become a crucial component of the company’s overall strategy.
“Retail stores are the last piece of the puzzle for Soft Surroundings,” said Danny Boddy, senior VP retail, Soft Surroundings, St. Louis. “As we move forward into the ‘omni’ future, we wanted to ensure that we gave our customers the ability to shop any channel with one cohesive experience.”
The physical stores give Soft Surroundings the ability to fulfill the need of the customer to touch, feel, try on, “and experience the brand in the way she prefers,” Boddy explained. “We are working quickly to strategically place locations where we know our customer base already exists,” he added.
Design: Soft Surroundings’ model for expansion is reflected in its store at Kierland Commons, Scottsdale, Arizona. In keeping with the brand’s ethos, the 4,000-sq.-ft. space is feminine and welcoming, and designed as an oasis of calm and serenity. The store immerses customers in the world of Soft Surroundings, with no detail left undone.
Product is displayed in lifestyle settings that mimic the comfy home setting of the catalog. The color and material palette, which includes robin’s egg blue and aquamarine walls and wood flooring, enhance the home-like feel.
The fitting rooms are highlighted with crafted chandeliers, oversized mirrors and seating. The restrooms feature a French-inspired wall covering.
“This is exactly the kind of store that the customer who shops the brand online or by catalog will go to as part of the 360-degree retail experience,” said Ken Nisch, chairman, JGA, Southfield, Michigan, which served as the design firm and architect for the prototype.
From scents to the ability to offer makeovers to the well-appointed fitting rooms, Soft Surroundings’ physical store exemplifies what merchants will ultimately have to do to attract customers who see this “circular aspect” of commerce, according to Nisch.
“Retailers have to give people a reason to experience brick-and-mortar, and to see it as a complement to the other ways they can shop,” Nisch explained. “From the architecture and other details to the sales associates, who are very social and interactive with customers, the Soft Surroundings store very much brings the brand to life.”
A large vestibule area, accented with decorative copper light fixtures and weathered and reclaimed woods, stone and tile, creates an entry zone for customers.
Soft Surroundings sells a wide range of items, from apparel and jewelry to beauty products and home accessories. The merchandise is grouped into different collections based around themes and seasons. The collections are displayed in zones that have their own distinct identity.
Customer reaction to the store has been very positive, said Soft Surroundings’ Boddy.
“Customers are overwhelmed at the level of detail we have gone to,” he added. “We hear all of the time that the customer feels like she is walking into the catalog, and that is exactly what we were going for.”