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While the rest of the retail world may be focusing on improving its online sales reach, the high-end watch industry is continuing to put an emphasis on bricks and mortar.
For example, more than half of the 51 participants in the Deloitte Swiss Watch Industry Study 2015, published in September, said they were likely to open stores within the next 12 months. Only about 10 said the same in 2012.
So as stores continue to be fine watchmakers’ primary showcases, every element of the interior design is carefully thought through to ensure the result creates the right atmosphere to generate sales.
The Swiss brand Richard Mille went for a theatrical look but with a touch of femininity at its new boutique on Avenue Matignon in Paris, one of five stores it has opened so far this year, with Beirut still to come.
“I wanted to go against the traditional macho design, with its dark materials, cold metals and dark atmosphere,” said Mélanie Treton-Monceyron, the watchmaker’s creative director. “I thought we needed to open the shops, give light and add lighter colors.”
The space itself is Ms. Treton-Monceyron’s starting point. “I was a choreographer and dancer before,” she said, “so I look at a shop from a stage design vantage point and move inside the space — using my own body to sense the space left and right and position everything from the watch displays to sofas to walls.”
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