Flagship Design Workshop
ACV Consulting transforms brand identity into immersive physical environments through our Flagship Design Workshop. Led by SVP of Retail Development Christopher Peak, this comprehensive engagement bridges the gap between high-level brand strategy and architectural execution. We move beyond standard interior design to create a physical manifestation of your brand’s DNA—a space where every texture, light fixture, and zone serves a strategic purpose. By defining unique "Design Pillars" and rigorously mapping the customer journey, we turn your flagship location into more than just a retail store; it becomes tangible proof point of your brand’s DNA, designed to captivate customers and drive lasting growth in the North American market.
The Deliverable: A Retail-Specific "Brand Book"
The culmination of our process is the Retail Brand Book—a comprehensive, scalable playbook designed to bring your brand to life consistently across every store in your fleet. Far more than just a design document, this "living" guide codifies the sensory and operational DNA of your flagship concept, translating high-level vision into specific, executable standards.
How We Do It
We deliver a 60 to 80 page Retail Brand Book—a strategic roadmap that translates your brand’s DNA into a tangible customer journey. Our process includes:
- AI-Powered Historical Performance Analysis: We use powerful AI analysis to look at relevant historical retail performance metrics.
- Building On What You Already Have: We incorporate your existing style, budget and retail build goals so that our recommendations fit your actual needs.
- Conceptual Visioning: Defining the core "Design Pillars" that ground the physical space in your brand’s specific purpose and personality.
- Holistic Environmental Design: A complete visual guide covering exterior storefronts, signage, and interior sensory experiences, utilizing advanced 3D concepting to visualize light, texture, and flow.
- Strategic Zoning & Flow: Detailed floor planning that maps "decompression zones," hero displays, and conversion-critical areas like dressing rooms and POS to optimize customer engagement and revenue.
- Curated FF&E Specification: A distinct selection of materials, fixtures, and lighting—from custom GFRC screens to white oak veneer furniture—that balances operational durability with elevated aesthetics.
This process ensures your flagship location is not just a store, but a physical manifestation of your brand that serves as a physical proof point of your brand’s promise.
Why Choose a Flagship Design Workshop?
Manifest Your Brand DNA: We don't just design a store; we create a physical proof point of your brand’s promise. We transform your abstract values into a tangible, immersive environment that allows customers to step inside your brand story.
Create a Scalable Playbook: Walk away with a comprehensive Retail "Brand Book" that serves as the single source of truth for your physical expansion. This living guide empowers you to replicate your flagship’s magic consistently across every future location, from pop-ups to permanent stores.
Optimize Customer Flow: We rigorously map the entire customer journey, strategically zoning the floor plan from the "decompression zone" at the entry to conversion-critical areas like dressing rooms and the point of sale.
Bridge Design & Operations: We fuse high-level aesthetic vision with operational reality. Our process ensures that every artistic element—from custom millwork to lighting fixtures—supports the functional needs of a high-performing retail business.
Design for the Senses: We curate a holistic sensory experience, using light, texture, and materials to shift the mood from the outside world to a calm, inviting space that encourages customers to linger and explore.
Leverage Iconic Experience: Benefit from the direct guidance of Christopher Peak, whose background with global leaders like Apple and Universal Studios ensures your flagship is built on world-class retail principles.
Timeline
Week 1: Intake
We kick off the engagement by aligning with your leadership team to gain access to historical omnichannel data and gather existing brand assets, architectural plans, and strategic business goals. This foundational step ensures that every subsequent design decision is rooted in your specific commercial objectives.
Week 2: AI-Analysis
We leverage advanced AI tools to conduct a rapid, data-driven analysis of your historical omnichannel data, market trends, competitor spatial strategies, and visual benchmarks. This ensures our design concepts are not just aesthetically pleasing, but competitively positioned for the current market landscape.
Week 3: Site Visit Workshop
Christopher Peak conducts a six-hour on-site walkthrough and workshop with key members of your team. We analyze a retail space selected by the brand to evaluate the physical constraints and opportunities for your flagship design. We assess critical factors like natural light, street-level visibility, and potential customer flow to ground our creative vision in operational reality.
Week 4: Brand DNA Audit
In this two-hour call we bring together members of your cross-functional team to audit your brand’s core identity—its purpose, promise, and personality—and determine how these values translate into physical reality. We identify the specific "Design Pillars" that will turn your store into a tangible proof point of your brand promise.
Week 5: Design Workshop
In this collaborative session, we work with your team to storyboard the ideal customer journey. We map out the emotional and functional beats of the store experience, from the "decompression zone" at the entry to the conversion-critical fitting room interaction.
Weeks 6 to 10: Design Production
This iterative process involves key members of your retail team and ours to make concept into reality. We move into detailed design development, creating 3D visualizations, optimizing floor plans for traffic flow, and curating specific FF&E (Furniture, Fixtures, and Equipment) palettes. We refine the zoning, lighting hierarchy, and material selections to build a cohesive sensory experience.
Week 11: Draft Book Presentation
We present the comprehensive draft of your Retail "Brand Book" to your team. This interactive review allows for deep discussion and refinement, ensuring every visual detail and operational recommendation aligns perfectly with your vision before finalization.
Week 12: Final Book Production
After incorporating the feedback from the Draft Book Presentation, we deliver the final, scalable Retail Brand Book in both PDF and editable formats. This "living guide" codifies your flagship concept, empowering your internal teams and partners to replicate the experience consistently across future locations.