Conran & Partners updates Umbro stores

Umbro is designing a global retail design concept with Conran & Partners, which will be rolled out across its 1200-strong estate of stores.

The UK football brand will unveil the designs at its licensee conference next month.

Conran & Partners has been developing the environment since summer 2004, led by interior and retail design director David Chaloner. The consultancy was approached directly by Umbro to work on the project at the beginning of last year.

The design will be applied across Umbro’s three tiers of retail presence: flagship, secondary location and shop-in-shop. ‘The system in the estate at present is about five years out of date and doesn’t enhance the brand,’ says Colin Henry, senior vice-president for global product at Umbro.

‘We’d identified that we needed a new retail look [that] we could use across the world and I liked the cleanness and Britishness of Conran & Partners’ designs,’ adds Henry.

The stores are built around ideas of the football pitch, referencing terraces, grass and player movements. Dynamic elements are incorporated in ‘moving and leaping’ mannequins, as well as through electronics and pictures, says Chaloner.