Takapuna store impresses trendy cognoscenti
Monocle magazine, a respected mouthpiece in the fields of design, trends, retail, art, pop-culture and politics, has published a list of the world’s 25 best retailers and Takapuna’s The Department Store has taken the number one spot.
In the April edition, headlining with ‘The Art of the Sell: The World’s Best Shopkeeping and Retail Stars’, its scribes were sent off to scour the globe for inspiring new locations and new methods of retailing. And after a trip to Takapuna, magazine correspondent Tom Morris heaped praise on The Department Store’s ‘vernacular’ of celebrating local talent.
Morris visited Auckland in January and met with key Department Store partners on-site and creating a portfolio of the store before heading back to London. And, to compliment Morris’s acclaim of the store, Monocle also filmed The Department Store to feature in their online ‘Retail Awards’ section, along with four other inspiring global locations.
The Department Store opened in October 2009 as a collaborative, multi-dimensional retail experience and is led by three major businesses, Karen Walker, Black Box and Stephen Marr, and the store’s interior was created by acclaimed New Zealand designer Katie Lockhart.
Black Box business partners Dan Gosling and Bryan Eible sell premium fashion from around the world on the ground floor, alongside Karen Walker’s fifth New Zealand store and a concept store from furniture, object and lighting designer Simon James. Stephen Marr, his wife Lucy Vincent-Marr and business partner Mobeen Bhikoo launched their first retail arm, The Marr Lab, on the ground floor of the store, as well as the second Lucy & The Powder Room on the first floor and the third Stephen Marr salon on the top floor.
What do you think?