When organic grocery firm Unpackaged moved on from selling its loose goods on a market stall to selling from a shop in Islington, owner Catherine Conway knew the new shopping style was popular and that people understood it. But she wanted to work with design agency Multistorey, who she'd already worked with on the brand identity of Unpackaged, to make sure that the new premises were a usable space that sold the benefits of shopping more sustainably as well as the sustainable products.
The new premises were a Grade II Listed dairy which couldn’t be substantially renovated or built into, and Conway’s budget for refurbishment was very tight. That, and the fact that this was the agency’s first retail design project, didn’t limit Multistorey’s creative thinking about how the new shop design should work.
‘One of the cool points of a shop is that it’s often at night that people stop and look in. We wanted to make sure it was easy to see in so people could get to know what the shop does. And if people were looking in at night we thought this would be another good reason to use gold foiling to outline the jars logo in many different sizes on the window. It was consistent with the gold colours already used on the old dairy signs, but we thought it would stand out nicely at night too.’
Sustainability is about priorities
Inside the shop more creative thinking has gone into increasing the ‘perceived value’ of the shop and its products. Enhancing the sense that you get good value for money at Unpackaged is important to Conway, who says the 50p saving each customer makes when they bring their own pack for a product has encouraged people to make eco-friendly behaviour changes and reuse packaging, but that the interior design of the shop has helped people understand the value of ethically and organically produced food: ‘The supermarkets have spent a lot of time convincing people that food is cheap. We want to help people realise that good food costs money, but it’s not unaffordable.’
Drakeford says now the shop ‘is a bit of a destination’ and that working with the existing structure of the building and incorporating ideas from client Conway have helped encourage customers to return again and again. ‘The first important thing was working with the feel of the old dairy. We thought that it had such a beautiful black and white check floor that we designed custom made units with the same footprint as each tile that are painted black and white to give the impression that they’re growing out of the floor. In the tops we cut jar-shaped holes which customers use to serve themselves the dry fruit, flour, rice ...’ And all the jar shaped bits that were cut out from the lids of the self-serve containers have been painted with blackboard paint so they can be used around the shop.
The final results of the retail redesign show that eco chic doesn’t look cheap, dull or boring. But both client Conway and designer Drakeford agree that sustainable design isn’t always easy. ‘Once you start going down the eco route everything is questioned’, says Drakeford who focused on choosing flexible and durable materials during the specification process after consulting with Conway about which eco-route was appropriate for Unpackaged. ‘Cath has always been realistic. We know we can’t do everything but we can move in the right direction’, says Drakeford, giving the example of the floor tile inspired self serve units as one where tough decisions had to be made. ‘We had to decide whether to use MDF or acrylic for the bases of the boxes. In the end we agreed acrylic may be less environmentally friendly but it’s much more durable.’
Behaviour change takeaway
A need to sell some sort of reusable container for new customers, who didn’t know the Unpackaged concept before they arrived at the grocery wanting to buy wholesome food, required another tricky decision. Should Unpackaged sell substantial reusable packaging like Tupperware containers and risk putting off customers, or should they provide a free lighter weight reusable container, like a zip up plastic bag? ‘It’s quite a difficult decision to use plastic bags but they do last’, says Drakeford who has been constantly developing the bags they finally agreed with Conway would work best, so that they waste as little as possible and no longer need a label stuck on but can be stamped with an Unpackaged embosser.
The ongoing relationship between Multistorey and Unpackaged has worked incredibly well say both sides, who agree that while budgets for every stage of the project have been very tight that the return on investment has made it worthwhile for them both There are still many design developments planned, from an Unpackaged jar to new premises, and Conway insists designers will always be an invaluable tool in her sustainability quest: ‘Multistorey are non-negotiable.’
While changing people’s behaviour so that it makes a less harmful impact on the planet may be one way Conway is being sustainable through Unpackaged, the term sustainability means more to her than just saving the environment: ‘Sustainability means earning enough money to keep ourselves and the concept going and growing’, she says just before apologising to a customer that her quest for all unpackaged groceries is still ongoing: ‘I’m sorry about the packaging. I’m talking to our loo roll supplier tomorrow.’
Find out more about the project
Browse through the Unpackaged website for information on what the shop sells, how it sources its groceries and it's environmental policies.
www.beunpackaged.com
The Multistorey website has more information about how it worked with Unpackaged on the design of the shop in Islington and its brand identity
www.multistorey.net