Holland & Barrett chief executive Anthony Houghton and property director Nick Gerrard give Retail Week an exclusive tour of its first-ever experience store on Cardiff’s Queen street.
Spanning 3,710 sq ft, Holland & Barrett’s first experience store is also its largest store to date and forms part of a multimillion-pound investment into transforming its stores.
If all goes well, Holland & Barrett boss Houghton expects that the Cardiff experience store will shape future store concepts.
“We’re in year three of phase one of our transformation and the key aim was to fix the basics,” Houghton explains.
“Health and wellness is growing and we’re front and centre at the right time and we have around 50 new stores in the pipeline in the next 12 months.”
Gerrard adds that Cardiff represents a key urban area where Holland & Barrett can explore a bigger site with added products and services.
This store has been a year in the making and has taken over a former Wilko site. Its proximity to other retail giants such as Next, Primark, JD and Lush also makes it attractive.
“This site can grow into three floors, but for our proposition today, we’re happy with the ground floor,” the retailer’s property director Gerrard says.
“We wanted this to have a broader appeal across age groups and showcase the best of what Holland & Barrett has to offer.”
Upon entering the store, it is immediately noticeable that it differs from the retailer’s previous style.
Developed in partnership with creative agency Syn, the store is made up of vibrant colours, a modern layout, and new tech and innovations in products and services. What especially stands out at the front of the store is the beauty section.
Houghton says beauty is undergoing the “biggest product transformation” as it is the retailer’s lowest awareness category.
Formerly focusing on “natural beauty”, Holland & Barrett is building its range to offer what it calls “efficacious brands, better education, expert advice and experiential elements” across skin and hair.
Customers can also use the beauty sampling station for a sensory experience of new products.
“More brands will come in over the next few months as we continue to champion health and wellness in beauty,” Houghton adds.
He emphasises that food, drink and sport categories are also going through a “huge transformation”.
The retailer has launched over 600 new own-brand products in food over the last 18 months, and will soon have renovated or changed up to 70% of its product range over two years.
It also displays food from third-party brands and taps into the latest health and wellness trends with ingredients such as mushrooms, matcha and magnesium.
Throughout the store it is evident that tech is at the heart of it. Several digital screens advertising in-store products are slotted onto walls, and one screen allows customers to select an item and explore benefits and key features.
Self-checkouts and in-aisle payments have been introduced for those looking for convenience and speed, and the team can gain insights into customer behaviour.
“The tech allows us to know where the dwell time is and where people shop,” explains Houghton.
“Our new self-checkout tills are now in eight stores with 50 about to go live imminently.
“We know that our stores can be overwhelming if you’re not into health and wellness. This experience store tackles this and connects digital, personalised content, and a strong service with our colleagues.”
One way for colleagues to showcase their expert advice is through the store’s wellness hub in the centre of the store.
The area acts as a conversational space for consultations to talk to customers about personal needs for anything related to sleep, gut health, hormones, joint pain and more.
“We’re trying to set ourselves up—whether that’s physical, digital or through staff—where we give personalised, non-generalised advice,” Houghton says.
Gerrard adds that it’s important that this is the core of the store to “bring that mission to life”.
Keeping in line with health, wellness, and personalised expert advice, Holland & Barrett’s partnership with health diagnostics company Randox has made its way to the Cardiff store, offering blood tests and health checks.
“We’ve got the space to do this and we want to do more of this in other locations,” Gerrard explains.
“It goes beyond what Holland & Barrett typically does, and we can gain clinical insights and create a more compelling offer with this partnership.”
There are also three consultation rooms for customers and Randox clinicians to speak privately in.
Following any tests, customers can view their results and speak to Holland & Barrett staff to find out which vitamins, supplements or medicines are appropriate for them.
“The tech allows us to know where the dwell time is and where people shop”
The final stop of the tour is at the wellness studio which acts as a space for any pilates, yoga or meditation classes for the community.
Gerrard says it has the capacity to put on 26 hours of classes a week, which will eventually build to 50 hours. Prior to opening, yoga classes were already sold out for the first two weeks.
“I’m pleased we’ve opened the experience store in Cardiff,” Gerrard says. “We’ll learn a lot, and it will tell us what we’re able to do in the busiest city centre locations.”
While Cardiff will act as a blueprint for future experience stores, Gerrard hints at another priority.
“The opportunity for us is in travel stores with massive footfall, and we’re doing that mainly in train stations.”
The retailer is also expanding its shop-in-shop offer with Next. It currently operates concessions in three Next stores, with two more launching soon.
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