The adidas Flagship which became a New York landmark

adidas was the first truly global sportswear brand. A big brand calls for big plans, so we created a truly game-changing idea for their landmark Flagship store in the heart of New York. A new retail design concept that elevated their position in the USA, demonstrated the future of sports retail and cemented adidas as the global sportwear authority.

This is the story behind one of the world’s most award-winning retail store designs, EVER. A larger-than-life brand experience for adidas, that everyone, everywhere was talking about. One that drove record sales and market share whilst also catapulting #thefutureofsport to the No.1 trending hashtag in the USA. A creative brand experience design so good, it was rolled out to all adidas' brand spaces and concept stores globally.

adidas is a brand that understands community and regularly puts the fans – the creators – at the heart of their campaigns. We took the concept of ‘Stadium’ and thought bigger than just the energy of the players and sport - we thought about it from the fan's perspective. Anticipation in all its forms became central to the idea. This was about the human side of sport, the mental and physical preparation that gets us to race day, the excitement and build up to attending a sell-out game. These are the feelings that everyone can relate to, from local sports teams to sneakerheads, fans and athletes. Utilising awe-inspiring architectural design and shared experiences in-store, we reimagined adidas' Flagship brand experience with a truly customer-centric design approach.

Inside adidas' Flagship store, we created a dynamic retail interior design language around 'Stadium' concept - helping bring together different sports including basketball, running and football, under one universal design code. Everything we designed for this multi-award winning retail concept reflected the energy and emotion of sport - always beyond the field of play itself.

Here, tourists could enjoy the convenience of same-day hotel delivery services and experiential product testing, while locals could grab and go at the juice bar or book professional training consultations with experts in-store. Creating an energetic customer experience, designed to strengthen the bond between brand and consumer - whilst also taking their brand perception to the next-level.

For this exciting endeavor, we collaborated with the visionary team at adidas and architect of record Gensler, to bring to life brand's largest Flagship store in the world on Fifth Avenue. We explored, reimagined and developed a multi-dimensional 'Stadium' concept to have maximum impact in New York - thinking about the needs of the local retail market as well as it's global media reach. We then worked with the brand to take the brand experience design beyond NYC, and how this award winning retail concept could be roll-outed, scaled down and adapted for local markets.

Looking for an award winning retail design agency to create your next retail identity design, let's talk. You can also head over to our work page to check out other creative brand experience case studies. And, don't forget to take a look at our Wonder blog for the latest consumer trends and design inspiration.

You can also keep up to date with what we’re up to by connecting with us on LinkedIn.