Schuh Kids, Liverpool

Liverpool One is home to a new fashionable kids footwear concept from an old favourite.

Schuh has dominated the ‘young and trendy’ market on our high streets and in our shopping malls with its fashionable footwear for many years.  Renowned for stocking some of the most popular brands, as well as its design led approach to footwear retailing, Schuh is now entering into the less saturated kids market with gusto. 

The Liverpool One store is one of three newly launched outlets (Braehead and Lakeside being the other two).  Whilst being initially sited next to the parent store, Schuh Kids is an entirely separate business with its own identity that will eventually stand alone.  This new format sports a brand new ‘child inspired’ interior concept designed and developed by Briggs Hillier that will appeal to children of all ages.  From tiny tots to teens it offers the latest must have brands in a funky, fun and fashionable environment. 

The concept is simple, engaging (especially if you’re a small person) and utterly accessible.  An invigorating colour palette and quirky hand drawings that will appeal to kids the world over have been applied throughout the store.  The double height, glass front complete with doodles is simply stunning.  Whilst internally, differing styles and heights of wall units mix casually with a variety of freestanding display fixtures and fittings and are kept purposely low to aid the younger shopper. 

Divided into three key sections, boys, girls and ‘little ones’; each area has a distinct appearance to help direct the correct customers to the relevant shoes.  The boys are on the left.  A practical, fully adaptable white wall unit displays shoes and bags on a range of small individual and large glass shelves and hooks.  The unit is set against a striking graffiti wall – white hand drawn monsters, cars, skulls and amphibians are sketched onto grey graph paper - to designate the boys’ zone.  The girls, on the right, have a similarly eye catching background that has also clearly taken its inspiration from the school exercise book.  Hearts, swirls, twirls and all things girly are doodled in white on a more fresh and feminine green wall.  They create the perfect backdrop for the slightly more sophisticated perimeter ‘wardrobe style’ showcase that displays product in the girls’ zone.   Finally, on the back wall, Little Ones is emblazoned in blue neon and items are displayed on individual shelves within a wood edged perimeter cabinet similar to the girls’.  Further white, hand drawn pictures are set off against black on a striking panel at the bottom of the unit.

Shopfittings and display equipment play a key role in creating the relaxed ambience where customers feel totally at ease and the quirkiness is part and parcel of the design.  The counter, located at the back of the store, is as a much a feature of this concept as the three sales areas above.  It has a textured green wall, smart stainless steel top, shiny black front and its very own chalk blackboard to complete the look.  Finally, individual seats shaped as arrowheads, that allow for storing empty boxes whilst kids are trying on the shoes, can be grouped together to form banks of seating.

There are very few stores dedicated to children’s shoes and this store with its young, inquisitive approach should prove popular with kids and parents alike!