Designing in an Uncertain Age

ALTHOUGH YOUR CORRESPONDENT has views on what tariffs will mean for all affected (and that could be everybody), it’s worth considering whether store design will feel the winds of change.

Think of the following: We have quite a few design consultancies this side of the Pond, not least in London, and a good number of them do work, from time to time, in the U.S. So, are they likely to find their services being subject to tariffs when they design something in Europe that will be executed and built in the United States?

It’s by no means obvious and is a lot less clear-cut than, say, a piece of store fixturing that is made in China. Instead, a store design could easily disappear as a cost if just a small part of the work involved were done in, say, New York City or Columbus, Ohio. And particularly if (perish the thought) the bulk of the price were to be shouldered by the U.S.

All of this means that the cost of creating new stores and refurbs in your country does not have to see any Euro-input disappearing – it’s just a matter of how you look at what’s being done.

Meanwhile, over here, changing the way a store looks or creating a new branch is going ahead at pace as much of what is being done was put in place PT (pre-tariffs), and therefore, everything is probably in place, in spite of general uncertainty.

Equally, shoppers may have some trepidation about what lies ahead, but rather than locking up their wallets, many are going ahead and spending in case things get tougher.

For every action, there is always an opposite and broadly unintended reaction. This may mean that no matter where you happen to be, real change will be part of the agenda when trying to read the runes. It may not be a matter of slowing down, pause or even stasis in the VM and store design sector. Instead, an urge to get things done may prove to be the order of the day. Keep busy – it’s the right time to do so.