TOPSHOP has landed

After many rumors & a long wait this year, it's finally arrived....TOPSHOP. Listen closely...you can hear many girls bursting out of their skin with excitement.  If you're in Melbourne today, you can visit the store located at the Jam Factory on Chapel Street for it's grand opening. 
Now, how long do we have to wait until one opens in Sydney??? (rumors are it will be located in the Gowing's Building in Sydney City)

H&M and Karlie Kloss

Some cute fem looks in a great falling-leaves palatte from Euro fashion chain H&M. Love the touches of leather. Word in retail land is that the chain is heading to Australia....

Muji Meets Idee

Muji's look is simple and natural, reflecting the calm and serene Japanese approach to living. I love the feeling of the rooms featured for the collab between Muji and Idee. Muji stocks apparel, stationary, homewears, luggage, fragrances and everything in between; Idee is a company who operate with a similar aesthetic, focusing on homewears.

Have a look at Muji here
 and Idee here

More work updates...

We are a talented bunch here at superhypermost... if we do say so ourselves! Images above are from more recent work. I was involved in the merchandising of the beautiful new Tuchuzy store in Bondi Beach. The space was designed by Akin Creative, the team behind the stores such as Sass and Bide, Ksubi and many other spaces such as restaurant Ms.G's in Potts Point. In the set up, we got to play with the likes of Helmut Lang, Rag and Bone, Jeffery Campbell, Ellery, Nathan Smith, Bassike, Bec and Bridge, Daryl K, Kimbery Ovitz amongst many more amazing labels.
The design of the store seems to follow the Japanese idea of wabi sabi, beauty in imperfection, with  raw textures juxtaposed with shiny and slick surfaces. There are some rad light installations and there is a bright feeling of newness as soon as you step in.
Visit the girls and their new home at Shop 11, The Beach House, 178 Campbell Parade

Keedoozle 1948

Keedoozle was the world's first automated supermarket chain. Grocer and innovator Clarence Saunders started this shopping concept in 1937 and it was revolutionary for the time.

A system of codes and ticker tape meant that the shoppers didn't handle product. They viewed the items through the windows and inserted their tape for coding. Once they had collected all the codes they needed, they took their tape to the register where the shopping was tallied and the order was processed in an automated system and shot out at the end with a customer code. Customers waited in a fancy schmancy room where their shopping was 'delivered' to them.

The concept didn't survive. In busy times the orders got confused and the automated system couldn't keep up with the demand. Keedoozle's three sites closed for business in 1949.

It seems like it would take the fun out of grocery shopping. Grabbing items off the shelf, piling them high in the trolley, browsing the shelves, chucking in the occasional addition. I can appreciate the innovative approach Saunders applied to his business, but it seems like a redundant concept... like table service at McDonalds!

 

Photos: Francis Miller/Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images

The Evolution Store NYC

Part of my job involves keeping on top of what is happening in retail all over the world. As international travel isn't something I can do on a regular basis, the internet and the library become my go-to research tools for images and ideas. This mornings' online gem of a find is a space in NYC's Soho called The Evolution Store.

The store sells museum quality natural history collectibles and specimens. The store is packed with insects, fossils, taxidermy animals, minerals, sea life, botanical posters, real human skeletons and so on. Also stocking jewellery, home decorating pieces and even a digestive system model or two. Clientele includes museums, universities, private collectors, nature enthusiasts, interior decorators and photographers. I would like get lost in this store. Not after hours of course... imagine the wall of skulls watching you with their hollow eyes!


You can buy or hire and an online store is available to browse. Check it out.

 

Images from The Evolution Store web site.