Aura Riyadh

This is stage-style retailing where the carefully merchandised rooms are lit by overhead spots on lighting gantries and with a blacked-out ceiling void as well as grey walls and floors, the focus is almost exclusively on the stock.

Handled incorrectly, this could be a little dour, but colour blocking and white or bright products mean that the stock reaches out into the mall. To make the offer easier to read, the interior is in departments that range from bedroom to bathroom, living to dining, with the merchandise grouped in lifestyle displays.

Designed by London-based consultancy Dalziel + Pow, the store is intended to have a ‘Western’ feel, but also to appeal to Saudi consumers. For this reason the in-store communication is in both English and Arabic. Aura is a brand that is new to the Saudi market and its Western appeal is intended to be heightened by products from around the world –  providing a point of interest for the intrinsically conservative Saudi customer.

There is much about this store that will appear familiar to UK homeware shoppers. Yet the notion of creating a store that is essentially dark is a complete reversal of a trend that for so many years saw the primacy of white box in fashion and homeware. It also happens to look good, which may sound a mite superficial but then homeware is a little like fine food – you consume with your eyes and so providing there is an element of drama you will probably give it the thumbs up.