Virgin Mobile opened an 800 sq ft (80 sq m) outlet last week in the recently refurbished Virgin Megastore at Piccadilly Circus, formerly Tower Records (Retail Week, August 6).
Designed by London-based design consultancy Start Creative and Virgin Mobile in-house designer Damian Schnabel, the store is located at the entertainment emporium's Piccadilly Tube station entrance. To attract customers from street level into the basement area, a projection screen and large neon sign are located on the Megastore's ground-floor level.
Start executive creative director Darren Whittingham said: 'The creative challenge was twofold: to reinforce Virgin Mobile's brand positioning alongside its target urban youth audience, and to draw this audience off the street and into the store.'
The retail space, with raw cement walls intended to emphasise its urban setting, is divided into four key areas: the entrance, the 'hero' phone wall, mobile services promotional wall and a flexible free-standing mid-floor display.
Within the shop there are two talking brochure plasma screens broadcasting promotional messages, and phones are mounted on a glowing Virgin red strip set into the wall.
Handset pricing and technical information is displayed on touchscreens beneath each phone, a first for PoP in this area, according to Start Creative.
The wall opposite this will feature backlit updatable promotional posters.
Schnabel said: 'The store provides individuals stuck in a saturated market with an alternative, innovative offer that challenges conventional phone retailing formats.'
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