Kelly M. Farrell, president and chief executive officer of CallisonRTKL, the global architectural, planning and design firm, muses over “the 10-minute chair.”
“At CallisonRTKL, we have this philosophy — never have a 10-minute chair for a three-hour discussion. If you start to twitch after 10 minutes it’s because the chair isn’t comfortable.
“In an office environment or conference space, the seating you pick, the finishings, the fixtures, matter a lot because you are telling people subconsciously how long you want them in your space. If you have a lounge space with hard chairs, you want people to leave as soon as possible.”
So what matters in designing retail settings? Farrell thinks it’s about creating space that’s interactional versus transactional, sustainable and flexible that enables shoppers to relax rather than feeling frustrated searching for something or waiting on checkout lines.
Farrell believes department stores must rethink the experience. No surprise there. She suggested creating specialized shopping areas, lounges, additional food and beverage offerings, Instagram moments, “bandwidth” in the offering, programming that gets consumers to visit more often, one-on-one shopper assistance to guide shoppers through the morass of merchandise, and greater curation of product. “Less is more, but selection matters,” she said.
“A smart retailer,” she added,
“At CallisonRTKL, we have this philosophy — never have a 10-minute chair for a three-hour discussion. If you start to twitch after 10 minutes it’s because the chair isn’t comfortable.
“In an office environment or conference space, the seating you pick, the finishings, the fixtures, matter a lot because you are telling people subconsciously how long you want them in your space. If you have a lounge space with hard chairs, you want people to leave as soon as possible.”
So what matters in designing retail settings? Farrell thinks it’s about creating space that’s interactional versus transactional, sustainable and flexible that enables shoppers to relax rather than feeling frustrated searching for something or waiting on checkout lines.
Farrell believes department stores must rethink the experience. No surprise there. She suggested creating specialized shopping areas, lounges, additional food and beverage offerings, Instagram moments, “bandwidth” in the offering, programming that gets consumers to visit more often, one-on-one shopper assistance to guide shoppers through the morass of merchandise, and greater curation of product. “Less is more, but selection matters,” she said.
“A smart retailer,” she added,
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