An increasing number of stores are betting on offering more than just new apparel and fresh collections. They are gradually starting to offer additional services, most of whose are meant to encourage wearing apparel or footwear longer by adjusting, customising, recycling or simply giving a new life to old purchases.
Golden Goose is betting on "Co-Action"
As part of this direction, Golden Goose will soon inaugurate its Forward Store, what it calls its first "Co-Action"store.
Conceived with the aim of extending the life cycle of products by giving them new life, this innovative retail concept is based on four cornerstones: Repair, Remake, Resell and Recycle.
The new store, measuring more 370 sq. meters, wants to be a tribute to the brand's historic headquarters in Marghera, near Venice, a city hosting one of the most important industrial and commercial ports of Italy.
Upon entering the store, the customer's gaze is caught by a multitude of sneakers collected in an old closet. This area is dedicated to the Footwear, a space that recalls the atmosphere of an artisanal workshop, hosting the machinery needed for the shoemaker's work and the tools used to repair and customise shoes.
The wall at the far end of the room is covered with removable metal drawers that hold various types of decorations, buttons, patches, pins, bows and more, in various fabrics, shapes, sizes and colors. In addition, in this corner, customers can find many examples for co-creation to best reflect their own style and personality.
Instead, in the center of the store, on distressed-looking carpets, are reclaimed furniture paired with glass tables with industrial-style blue metal legs, a nod to Golden Goose's first Venetian headquarters and origins.
The central part of the store overlooks a hydroponic garden filled with purifying plants that help improve air quality.
The Forward Store offers new experiences under the banner of responsibility. "For more than two decades, Golden Goose has been committed to promoting its craft traditions and supporting those who are dedicated to these crafts-from artisans to tailors, local artists and many others. Co-action between Golden Goose artisans and customers will become a key element in this mission to raise awareness to safeguard craftsmanship. From sustainability to responsibility. From co-creation to co-action," said Silvio Campara, CEO of Golden Goose.
The Remake aspect, instead, is expressed by offering customers the opportunity to design their own unique products, choosing from a wide range of decorations and finishes to apply to new or used items. Customers can also choose from various treatments, such as distressed effect, embroidery, messages or handmade designs, to create exclusively unique items.
The Forward Store also offers a Made to Measure service for ready-to-wear and a Bespoke program for sneakers. Thanks to such services each customer can find new ways for expressing their own personality by choosing from various fits, fabrics, linings and buttons and customise their garments in store - which will be ready in about six weeks. As for sneakers, customers will also be able to work directly with the Shoemaker to create a pair of sneakers from scratch.
Golden Goose has also installed two recycling baskets in the store, where each visitor can leave any used product they no longer wish to keep. In partnership with ReCircled, a U.S.-based facility to foster the circular economy in fashion, the brand will ensure that these products and materials are reused through procedures that are also ethically sound.
Cobblers at work at Veja stores
Veja has recently opened a new store in Berlin, one of the first cities where the brand had been immediately appreciated 17 years ago.
Also Salewa, the Italian mountain sports brand, is involved in a series of initiatives aimed at raising awareness for proper care of alpine equipment.
With this goal in mind, the brand has recently opened a new Salewa Care Station at the Salewa Store in Munich, in Frauenstrasse 30. By visiting the store, customers can participate in a pilot project that offers services like, for instance, on-site washing and waterproofing to be used immediately and inspire a more conscious use of functional clothing.
"In the Salewa Store, our customer gets holistic advice. Care is just as much a topic as the functionality and use of the products," Alexandra Letts explained further. “For the Care Station, care products have been tested in advance for each product category and for each care process,” she continued.
The Salewa Care Station, equipped with a washing machine of the company Miele, accepts functional jackets, pants, vests and similar pieces immediately for the care.
More than 50% of the fee is reimbursed by the Care Station team in the form of a voucher that can be used for the next conscious purchases in the Salewa Store.
Those who prefer product care at home can find valuable tips for the proper handling of functional equipment at the Salewa website.
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