It’s funny how quickly things change. Just over a year ago, Gap unveiled a store that was intended to be edgier and marginally more industrial-looking, which was to take the brand back to its denim-based roots.

The shop, in Brent Cross, was supposed to give a Euro-gloss to this quintessentially American proposition.

And foremost among the store’s many features was a mid-shop structure called “Architect of denim”, which comprised a free-standing, translucent wall into which vertical blue neon tubes had been inserted. Above this, a circular platform was suspended. This was used as a dramatic lighting rig and around its edges two-dimensional cut-outs of jean leg shapes had been hung, indicating the various options available on the shelves attached to the wall.

All in all, it was a pretty impressive element in the heart of the shop, with generous space left around it. This created something that looked almost like a circus rink, in which the stock was allowed to be ringmaster and performer wrapped up in one.

Walking into the store last week, however, something was different. The jean shapes had been removed and more mid-floor equipment had been crammed into what was previously an open space. In short, one of the better things about this shop had been degraded, presumably in the name of making it work more effectively as a selling vehicle.

Fair play. Except that, in the process, the element that gave this store a sense of individuality and made it stand out from the herd had been sacrificed at the altar of operational efficiency. To single out Gap for vilification is perhaps a little unfair. This kind of thing goes on at almost every pilot store you might care to consider – witness the disappearing internally illuminated caterpillar at New Look’s iconic Oxford Street West store.

But the point is that it is not necessarily for the best. Making a space commercial very often entails stripping out that which makes it worthy of consideration from a shopper’s perspective and ensuring that it looks pretty much like many of its competitors.

Along the way from Gap in Brent Cross is River Island, which has just emerged from a four-month period under wraps, as it was expanded and remodelled. There is a lot that is new about this store, but most of it is a matter of moving on that which was hinted at in previous store fit-outs. This means that it won’t suffer post fit-out rationalisation and will continue to attract admiring glances. It’s a store development model that many would do well to emulate.

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