Portfolio: Just Play, Verona, Italy

ITALIAN STREETWEAR CHAIN Just Play (Verona, Italy) kicked off its new store format in Verona’s Adigeo shopping center. Designed as both an energetic retail experience and a flexible community space, the store is brimming with playful, sporty homages.

Guests begin their journey at Just Play through an entrance bordered by glowing, backlit logos of iconic athletic brands, showcasing the store’s offerings. On the ceiling are parallel line lights, evoking the lines of a track field and inviting guests to explore further into the retail floor. The metal batting cage enclosing the sneaker section and wall graphics of basketball courts celebrate the diverse arenas of sport. Guests can try their hand at shooting hoops with a small-format basketball game included inside the store.

“We wanted to design a space that feels like a natural extension of the worlds of play and sport,” says Valentina Dallari, Architect, ABCPLUS (Verona, Italy), the architecture firm behind Just Play’s design. “A dynamic and visually striking environment where architecture and graphics interact to generate energy, movement and engagement.”

With a crisp white canvas of walls and floors, the vibrant red, yellow and green geometric details pop to create visual energy and draw eyes around the space, encouraging guests to interact with the product displays on white fixtures. Curated departments of products are color-coded with large, playful graphics, helping guests in wayfinding. Glowing lights frame and illuminate the edges of the space.

White walls and floors act as a blank canvas, allowing colors and graphics to pop.

​Another strength of the new concept is its flexibility: The design was planned not only for retail, but to offer a space to host events as well, establishing Just Play as a hub for community activations. “Every element has been conceived to encourage sharing, interaction and a genuine sense of community,” says Dallari. Just Play plans to integrate the new design concept into all its stores.

PHOTO GALLERY (7 IMAGES)
PHOTOS: ABCPLUS