The Earth Collection 

The Earth Collection, a well-known international clothing brand, was looking to open their third retail store in the Sylvia Park Shopping Mall. The shops are based on natural, environmentally friendly fabrics & staying true to this concept was an important aspect of the store design.

The centre operator, Kiwi Properties, wanting to set a quality benchmark for their mall, provided stringent design & fit-out guidelines. They required that all their retailers use an approved designer & all involved with the complex be site-safe.

Owner & NZ distributors, Ian & Fran Farrant, said 'they wanted to provide a higher level of design excellence for this store but didn't want to compromise the warm & inviting feel. We needed real expertise to develop an effective design to display our product & branding but also have someone who could help with the implementation plans that would comply. We wanted to maintain a natural look that was true to the brand.'

'The store sits well with other international brands & has a point of difference to others shops at Sylvia Park. In the process we have also developed a mall concept for our stores that we will be able to use in the future.'

'From our point of view Malcolm & Sumner turned the work around quickly. They were responsive & flexible to meet the mall developer's demands & provided a level of professionalism that was required to deal with Kiwi Properties. The concept sketches and presentation boards helped us sell the Earth Collection concept to the approval team.

'With their assistance we were able to meet the mall fit-out requirements. From a compliance perspective our designers made the whole process easy & straight forward.

'The fit-out went very smoothly due the level of detailing & clear construction instructions. Our design made it easy to react to issues that arose on site and very significant to the overall process. All those who worked on the project collaborated well to produce a great outcome & completed everything on time for the opening.

'Despite the tight time frame, keeping things to budget and rigid approval criteria we were able to successfully overcome the obstacles. We have a store that we're extremely proud of.

'In planning a retail store we highly recommend using professional design advice. We wouldn't hesitate to recommend Malcolm & Sumner to others.'

Ian & Fran Farrant P: (09) 411-5018 E: ian@theearthcollection.co.nz

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