Japan – The Conran Shop has opened its new ‘locally edited’ concept store in Daikanyama, Tokyo, placing designers and artisans from Asia in the limelight.
One of the original concept stores where anything from furniture to flowers and books can be bought, The Conran Shop has opened the first in a series of retail spaces with an updated creative vision – focusing on locally edited spaces that are deeply rooted in the culture of the region. For the debut concept store in Japan, the shop follows the company’s ‘plain, simple, useful’ philosophy, carrying a hand-picked selection of items and decorated with pieces designed by about 60 Asian makers. The same careful curation is applied throughout the store, from the playlist created by a local record shop to the tea bar located in the basement, where a tea master serves organic brews, wagashi sweets and tea-infused cocktails.
The Conran Shop has imagined the store like a home, where visitors feel at ease and relaxed, a living space more than a retail space – what we call a fourth space, blurring home, retail and leisure, and engaging visitors at a deeper and non-commercial level.
Strategic opportunity
The Conran Shop shows how adjusting the experience to match local lifestyles can go a long way. Take cues from this approach, reframing the retail experience as a community-conducive local hangout