Tourneau Inc. Launches New York Concept Store

Timepiece specialty retailer Tourneau Inc. opened a 3135-square-foot concept store in New York.

As the brand’s third freestanding retail outlet in the U.S., Tourneau commissioned Eight Inc. (San Francisco) – the same architectural firm that created the first 300 Apple Inc. stores – to design the space.

Unlike Tourneau's other 38 locations, this store is built around the concept of “counterless selling,” in which the counters are accessible from both sides so that sales associates can stand alongside the customer while showing them watches.

“It’s a clean, modern and a new look to luxury retail and the product is still hero,” says Wilhelm Oehl, principal, Eight Inc. “It’s a new way of interacting. There’s no longer a person behind the counter, you’re side-by-side. Every element has been designed to make the experience of selecting a watch easy.”

At the end of each brushed nickel display case is a seating area with glove leather-topped “watch tables” and matching chairs. The store design includes LED lighting; a row of vertical walnut wooden shutters; an LCD video tower; a discovery wall adjacent to the video screens that showcases a specific brand or trend; and eight vignettes that border the store, serving as a platform for brands to tell their story through video and product.