Tiffany & Co. Tests an Experiential Concept in London’s Covent Garden
The shop invites customers to play, and has a fragrance vending machine, on-the-spot designing, engraving and embossing.
LONDON — Tiffany & Co. is debuting a retail concept called Style Studio in a new London neighborhood, and is hoping that customers will relax into it, leave traditional notions of luxury behind — and live a little.
The store, a global first for Tiffany, has a prime position in Covent Garden, an area that's been building retail momentum and raising the bar on luxury. The new Tiffany, at 13 James Street, is a few steps from the Covent Garden market and near to the newly refurbished King and Floral streets, which offer up a mix of food, contemporary fashion and luxury beauty. Petersham Nurseries has recently opened its first central London outpost — and a garden shop — in Covent Garden, while Sushisamba is set to open later this summer. Cora Pearl, a sister restaurant to Kitty Fishers in Mayfair, opens this week.
The Tiffany shop spans 2,160 square feet, and leaves the usual luxury tropes behind: There's a vending machine selling the brand's latest fragrance and on-the-spot jewelry engraving and leather embossing. Even the dress code is new: While all staff have to dress in black, they don't have to dress formally and can finish their look with sneakers. They can also wear and layer the jewelry the way they want.
Customers, meanwhile, can draw and doodle on a flat screen and then see their designs — or monograms — transferred to pendants or other objects. A big space at the back, lit by skylights, will be used for client events, exhibitions and parties, with a program of events already planned up to Christmas. Tiffany has been taking part in a three-year collaboration with the international art fund Outset, providing rent-free studio space to young artists, and some of the artists' works will feature in the space.
The space at the back is currently filled with cube-shaped leather stools in various shades of blue, while a big flat-screen TV plays clips from the brand's latest campaign with Elle Fanning. Some walls and surfaces are covered in an optical T motif against the classic blue background, while a white neon sign spelling out the brand's name lights one of the walls. Sleek trestle tables double as showcases for a mix of home accessories and jewelry.
Blue boxes of various sizes have been stacked in an alcove behind the cash desk, adding even more texture, while another wall is lined with phrases such as “Make it My Tiffany,” “Make it Hers,” “Make it Yours,” “Make it Wow,” driving home the importance of personalization to this retail project.
“We're seeing the emergence of a new kind of luxury, and we want to be at the forefront of that,” said Barratt West, vice president, managing director, U.K. and Ireland, during a walk-through. He argued there's less formality around luxury nowadays, and that Tiffany can play to the trend with its “natural wit and energy.” He noted that the store, which sits between the Bond Street flagship and the Royal Exchange unit in the City of London, is all about “having a bit of fun, looking, playing and interacting.”
West believes that customers nowadays are keen to showcase their own style and create pieces that are personal to them. He said that they are increasingly purchasing for themselves. In a further bid to appeal to consumers' needs — and to locals and tourists alike — Tiffany has stretched its opening hours until 8 p.m., so people can swing by for retail therapy after a long day at work, or before the theater.
The store, which will be in situ for at least 12 months, has been merchandised with a younger, experience-craving customer in mind. Jewelry collections on offer include the Tiffany T, HardWear, 1837, and Return to Tiffany, and customers will be encouraged to mix and layer those collections. There is a big emphasis on gifts, small leather goods and items for the home such as dog accessories and the new Color Block china collection.
The store is certainly off to a good start: West said that at 3 p.m. last Saturday, when much of Britain went dead quiet for the World Cup quarter final match that eventually saw England beat Sweden 2-0, the shop was packed — and it wasn't even showing the game. The next test of Tiffany's success will come on Wednesday when England plays Croatia in the semifinals, with the game starting at 7 p.m.