House of Fraser — World of Shoes

Creating the premium footwear destination on Oxford Street.

House of Fraser is always reinventing themselves and has dedicated its entire basement to a new footwear department, doubling its size to 25,000 sq ft. It is aimed at the mid to premium market.

The outcome is a glamorous and almost cavalier use of space, allowing brands to flourish whilst sitting comfortably within the House of Fraser signature.

For this to be a real destination, getting the customer into the basement was key. It was important to access the basement both from street level and from inside the store. When the shopper descends from street level via the dedicated external escalator (we installed a large street-facing attention grabbing LED screen next to it) the view on arrival is extensive. It is part raised, part accessed by three descending steps, thus avoiding the danger of creating a long undifferentiated platform. Further interest is added by display blocks for mannequins.

High lighting levels and a predominantly white fit-out means that the sense of space is reinforced. There is not a hint of the dark and dingy feel of the basement about it. The best part is that like-for-like sales are 75% up and World of Shoes has been nominated for Fashion Retail Interior of the Year.