AV tech in the retail vertical finds its way into more than just consumer-facing shops. Global footwear brand Vionic Shoes just opened a showroom in NYC dedicated to selling to retail reps. But that doesn’t mean they were willing to sacrifice style. [related]
With the help of PixelFLEX LED, they opened “Vionic Beach,” both an enticing environment for retail reps to shop for their stores and an entirely new store itself.
Needing a way to make sure the latest in life-changing footwear didn’t get lost on the showroom floor, the retail presence and showroom designer David Warwick created a unique and immersive LED video beach experience using FLEXLite II 4.8mm LED from PixelFLEX.
“With the growth of the Vionic Shoes brand, we were very fortunate to secure the showroom space at Avenue of the Americas and we wanted to create a space that would build the brand,” says Warwick.
“At the same time, we were also introducing a new beach lifestyle brand called Vionic Beach which is based on our heritage from Australia. I didn’t want Vionic Beach to get missed when reps came through, so we designed a unique space with FLEXLite LED.”
FLEXLite LED Inside Vionic Beach
“Once we started working with the layout of the showroom, there was a central area that really stood out as the best location for the Vionic Beach display because it was a lovely, blank wall that was about 10-feet high and 8-feet wide,” Warwick says.
At that point, he and his team decided to use PixelFLEX LED solutions to capture the wavy, breezy feel of an Australian beach.
Knowing now he wanted to use LED video for the retail design, Warwick began to take a look at industry examples of what the technology could do.
“One of the locations that really jumped out to me was a Nordstrom’s in Toronto that had a wall of PixelFLEX LED in the shoe area reinforcing the product with dynamic video of a trail runner. It was so immersive, and a really nice way to showcase product, capture attention and tell the story much better than static displays.”
He wanted something thin with an intense color that was easy to install, but it also needed to be IT-friendly and consistent.
FLEXLite LED Ease-of-Installation Accommodates Vionic Beach Timeline
With the FLEXLite LED video solution identified, the team had to hustle to meet the new showroom’s opening timeline.
“The service we received from PixelFLEX was excellent from day one,” added Warwick.
“We ended up building a freestanding structure that stood in front of the wall and then attached the FLEXLite LED to the back of the unit. The whole installation was completed in only a couple of hours, and for the control, it’s wired perfectly into the showroom so that all the manager has to do is walk in, turn it on, and away it goes.”
Impact on Vionic Shoes Sales
Taking visitors on a quick trip back to a relaxing memory of sand between their toes, the FLEXLite LED display is using the power of digital media make a true connection.
“The entire goal of the project was to have the LED video immerse the viewer into the brand of Vionic Beach, so the content is a relaxing beach environment with palm trees swaying in the breeze and the ocean rolling in behind it,” says Warwick.
“When you look at it, it’s one of those magical moments in retail design where it all simply comes together as it was meant to be. We have had numerous buyers who will literally stop to take it all in. Anytime you can incorporate movement into the retail space it always works better because with everyone being so bombarded with brands and digital information, LED video cuts through and allows you to connect very quickly.”
