A Wren Says

If you are headed to New York, you have plenty of museums to fill your art desires. But maybe heading into a sunglasses store will fill that bucket for you as well. I bring to you Gentle Monster.

Yes, I suggest you should visit a sunglasses store. Yes, you are a work of art and will recognize that when you look at yourself in some shades in the mirror. But I really mean go in and pay attention to the space and the sculptures. The space was had stark white walls with sunglasses displayed on the perimeter. Those were cool, they looked great, yada yada. However, the standout in that space for me was the playful art installed there.

There were moving structures and stationary pieces that called to mind the world of gentle monsters. I spent more time paying attention to those pieces while my friends tried on glasses. When I think of brands I often think about what it is that they produce and how that leads to a certain brand image. However, here was this brand that was using the design of the retail space to add to my perspective. I came away thinking of the brand as playful, creative, and thoughtfully produced.

Having that in-store experience, even though I didn’t interact all that much with the staff elevated my perception of the Gentle Monster. It gave me more food for thought about the ways that the store experience can be used to enhance customer relations in ways that online retail experiences simply can’t.