TeknoSA had been unchallenged as the leading consumer electronics retailer in Turkey until the arrival, within the last 18 months, of pan-European technology giants such as Darty from France and Media Markt from Germany, and the imminent entrance of Best Buy. International retailers have been focusing on the rapidly growing Turkish economy, one of Eastern Europe’s great opportunities for revenue and store growth.

TeknoSA decided to confront this challenge with a store format that would give its shoppers reasons to remain loyal. The company chose Atlanta-based Rattray+Magness to create a “destination” to visit every weekend, principally through event-driven marketing and new-product launches as well as through a compelling store design.

Why an Atlanta designer for a store in Istanbul? Scottish-born architect Ian Rattray explains: “I did a project for TeknoSA about five years ago and then heard nothing more.” Until around 18 months ago. “It turns out they had been building like crazy and had opened about 200 stores based on our initial design,” says Rattray. “Now they were ready to move to the next level.”

TeknoSA Planet, the 25,800-square-foot store that opened in Istanbul in January, subverts most of the expectations that shoppers have when they visit a consumer electronics retailer – the most obvious difference being the circular shape.

Rattray says the store’s shape, built around a large central core, overcomes the wayfinding confusion that typifies a visit to many technology retailers. The aim is to get customers to the middle of the shop as quickly as possible. The various product categories are arranged around this central hub, so shoppers can orient themselves quickly and then radiate out to the area that best suits their needs. Of course, maintaining some excitement on the path to the center is also crucial, so commodity products, such as memory cards, adaptors and SCART cables, are relegated to the exit, en route to the checkout. This leaves the journey through the mid-shop free to display flashier technology, including the latest laptops, cameras and flatscreen TVs.

Flexibility is a requirement in such a quick-change world, so the walls and fixtures are movable and the lighting system adheres to the design mantra that the product, not the store, should be lit. “Around 80 percent of the lights are designed to be part of the fixturing,” says Rattray, “so they move as the fixtures move.”

The intent of the fixturing is that the primary product areas should appear to be part of a “never-ending” product display, owing to the curved vistas, reinforcing TeknoSA’s claim to be the biggest and best in Turkish technology retail.

And this planet is exploding. Plans are in place to convert or open six stores every year with this round format, to head off the invasion of the foreign stars.

Client: Hacý Ömer Sabancý Holding A.Þ., Istanbul

Design Firm: Rattray+Magness, Atlanta

Architect: KG Architecture, Istanbul

General Contractor: YMT, Istanbul

Audio/Visual: Tveez Marketing Intelligence, Digital Signage, Istanbul

Ceilings: Barrisol, Istanbul

Fixtures: Kartes Ltd., Istanbul

Scrims: Erka Fair, Istanbul

Flooring: Ayyýldýz Construction, Istanbul

Lighting: Lamp 83, Istanbul; Teknolight, Istanbul

Signage/Graphics: Nova Print, Istanbul

Photography: Koray Erkaya, Istanbul