Shop Fitting

After the location, the next most important aspect of a successful retail site is the look and feel, the ambiance,  does the store accurately represent your brand? Our Team of expert Interior Designers will help bring your store to life 

Steps in the shop fitting process
Oxford Dictionary defines shopfitting as,” the business of putting equipment and furniture into shops”.
Historically, shopfitting would include a shop front that would be a permanent and well-appointed entrance to the retail outlet. It would outlast the store and lease, to be used again and again.

In modern times, with the speed and cost at which manufacturing happens, often the equipment, furniture and equipment is installed only for the length of the lease of a specific shop.

In retail, shopfitting would apply to all kinds of outlets from small corner shops to hypermarkets. In the true sense, a “shopfitter” executes planning, designs shop layout and installs equipment and services. In most cases, a client will employ a professional interior designer, who will in turn appoint a shopfitting firm typically, who will manufacture bespoke furniture, signage and fittings. Not all work in a shopfitting factory is done internally. Some of the specialised work is outsourced to more specialised service providers such as signage artisans, steel fabricators and stone masons.

It is also interesting to understand the different approaches that different countries might have to shopfitting. For example, in the UK, the shopfitter will employ the interior designer to assist with design elements, construction drawings, materials selection and other services, whereas in a country like South Africa, it is often the Interior Designer that will employ the shopfitter to carry out the manufacturing of the interior on their behalf. Of course, developers and larger retailers would have a different relationship with the shopfitter owing to the larger scale of the projects and the need to keep costs under control

From a South African perspective, it is possible that shopfitting cycle begins with a survey and measurement of available space and preparing design drawings for submission to the client. Alternatively, the client may have their own drawings prepared by an independent interior designer. The shopfitter arranges for purchase of standard equipment and merchandise or production of bespoke furniture, delivers and physically installs them—until the shop is ready for daily operation.

There are many factors that will influence the complexity of the process of the shopfitting cycle, such as the intended use of the outlet. The approach to a supermarket verses a bespoke high-end fashion or jewellery outlet is very different. In a supermarket, materials need to be robust and withstand high traffic and occasional abuse from runaway trollies. In a high-end fashion boutique, the materials must be selected to compliment or stand apart from the items on display. The colour selection must ensure that it does not detract from the product on display. The combination of these materials is, in most high-end outlets, so deliberate that it sends a message to the consumer about the brand and must either make it appear to be premium or appeal to a lower LSM market. Large scale retails will spend a fair amount in consulting fees investigating latest colour and design trends to influence the Interior Designer to focus in a very specific direction.

When the concept and design is complete, the next and equally important step would be for the shopfitter to be briefed to make sure that the design intent is clear. In addition, in the cases where it is the Interior Designer producing the concept and drawings, the collaboration between designer and shopfitter is integral to the success of the project. The shopfitter will have a far more practical and sound knowledge of the materials and will influence certain aspects of the build such as rations, fixing methods, finishing options. This process is almost a negotiation between the shopfitter and the designer, but both need to keep the client’s approved concept in mind. The shopfitter will also consider issues like access into a space and how to build various products in a modular format to then deliver through smaller access points to be assembled inside the intended space.

The length of time required to manufacture is directly linked to the scale of the project, the availability of the materials specified. Locally available materials will speed up the process, but imported finishes like specialised timbers, vinyl, ironmongery and fabrics could add months to a project’s build period. The most complicated component of a shopfitting project is the joinery. Ideally, the shopfitter has a factory with all the equipment such as CNC machines, spray booths, lathes, thickness planers, panel saws, to name a few. In a controlled environment and with all the required tools, the shopfitter has the opportunity to create great quality. The challenge starts when the premanufactured goods are transported to site and then often moved through awkward spaces. It is here that the shopfitter faces one of the biggest challenges, in assembling the beautifully crafted furniture / units in an unfinished site. Around them will be the tiler, painter, electrician and other that all have to work together to achieve the desired amazing outcome. It does happen where trades do not respect each other’s work, causing heart ache and tension on site. The role of the project manager becomes paramount, like a conductor, this person must coordinate the trades to come in sequentially and continually keep a close eye on all involved. The joinery is usually the last trade to work in a space and it carries the most weight with respect to the final outcome of a project. The custom-made goods are where the eye goes when you walk into a space, making the joiner’s job the most difficult and often the most expensive component and therefore judges critically.