Physical retail stores are becoming ever more thoughtful of the customer experience, an intention that seemed to be lost in the years of the pandemic when the digitization of society endangered the existence of brick-and-mortars.
In fact, Gen Z, the world’s first digital generation, is opting for more in-store shopping with 61 percent of Gen Z adults reporting they are more likely to shop in-person than online compared to a few years ago, according to a survey conducted by online wholesale marketplace Faire.
One retailer upping its game is Kith, the fashion brand that recently launched its inaugural Kith Women in Manhattan. Designed by founder, CEO, and creative director Ronnie Fieg, the flagship store marries materials like Venetian plaster with rosa aurora marble and travertine, imbuing the SoHo space with a modern elegance.
Here, we round up six more design-forward retail outlets that are proving physical outposts have more to offer than just products.
Tod’s

Stone panels and leather create a sophisticated shopping experience at Tod’s in New York
Also in New York, Italian fashion house Tod’s has revealed a redesign of its 2,400-square-foot flagship on the Upper East Side, which has been reimagined by locally based Bonetti Kozerski Architecture.
Upon entry, shoppers are greeted by a floor-to-ceiling rosewood bookcase-style display and a travertine table designed by Angelo Mangiarotti in 1971. The interior walls are crafted with textured stone panels and adorned with the brand’s signature leather, setting a neutral backdrop for its products. Thanks to the 14-foot-tall windows, natural light makes the space “glow in a very warm tone,” says firm partner Enrico Bonetti, and along the windows a double-sided bookcase made of mirror-polished stainless steel and leather showcases accessories. “The resulting atmosphere is calming and relaxing,” he adds.
Carolina Herrera Palm Beach

Pink furniture contrasts black and white hex flooring at Carolina Herrera Palm Beach
In Palm Beach, Florida, Carolina Herrera’s newest store shines a spotlight on its luxury womenswear in a space rendered in a blush tone that feels “ethereal and feminine,” says David Lucido, principal of his eponymous firm that spearheaded the store’s design alongside New York-based architecture firm MAOarch. “Subtle and soft, [it is] an understated backdrop to the bright, bold collection.”
Curved walls and arched display nooks pair with Mizner-style columns and twisted plaster pedestals made by local artist Evan Sahlman. In lieu of doors, drapes cascade around the dressing rooms, adding a layer of richness, while bronze hardware and custom pleated upholstery mingle with a black and white hex flooring. To match the walls, the ceiling was painted pink, a last-minute addition “to fully drape you in the blush fantasy,” Lucido points out. “It [feels] very soothing and very Palm Beach.”
Flamme Flamme

Playground-inspired climbing frames, swivel chairs, and swings make up Flamme Flamme
Meanwhile, on the other side of the world, Flamme Flamme in Nanjing, China makes a bolder, more playful move with its retail design. Stepping into the store—designed by One Plus Partnership—is like walking into an upscale play area. The two-story shop boasts a spacious basement level that showcases playground-inspired clothing and footwear displays like steel climbing frames, swivel chairs, and swings. Abstract red, white, and blue fabrics are twisted around flexible display shelves and extended to the tallest frame, which reaches up to 15 feet. The wrapped fabrics, which are changeable, encourage discovery as guests explore the retail offerings. “The store also becomes an exhibition space,” says Ajax Law, cofounder and design director of the Hong Kong-based firm. “We hope customers come to the store and [experience] a world of art together.”
Trove

At Trove in Kuala Lumpur, undulating walls are crafted from rammed earth and coarse stucco
At Trove perfume store, located within the Pavilion Damansara Heights Mall in Kuala Lumpur, the design “reenacts the notion of unearthing treasure from the ground into a 3D space,” says Edward Tan, founder and director of Shanghai- and Kuala Lumpur-based Spacemen Studio. Its curved perimeter walls, crafted from rammed earth and coarse stucco, “allow guests to imagine themselves running their fingers through soil to discover hidden treasures.”
The pièce de résistance reveals itself as a circular ceiling-height stainless steel cabin that commands attention with its anodized rainbow finish. Designed to resemble a lab, the aptly named Scent Trove offers an extensive range of perfumes, inviting customers to “meander and discover the space gradually, from the gray travertine façade to the curved wall displays,” Tan explains. “It’s a slow progression that ends with the final reveal in the trove.”
ATTIC

Linear modular lighting illuminates a custom marble jewelry bar at ATTIC
After six years at their current location, cofounders Melissa Gobeil and Susan Shaw of ATTIC, a Toronto-based ethical fine jewelry company, enlisted local designer Simone Ferkul to reimagine the space to reflect the brand’s evolution. Home to a goldsmithing studio and retail shop, the new iteration needed to be practical, yet remain visually appealing.
The result is a simple, timeless design grounded in textured minimalism. Anchored by a custom marble jewelry bar, the studio features custom-stained white oak veneer millwork and geometrical walnut stools, rounded out by linear modular lighting and locally sourced accessories. “It was intentional to create vistas into the workspace as part of the guest experience and to reveal the ATTIC craftsmanship and artistry at work,” says Ferkul. “It was gratifying to be able to showcase another designer’s process as an integral part of the spatial experience.”
CentralWorld

White branched columns extend vertically through CentralWorld’s atrium
Shanghai- and Hong Kong-based Linehouse reimagined the façade and seven floors of public retail space (including a food hall) at Bangkok’s CentralWorld mall with a design that explores the calm and chaotic nature of Thailand’s capital city.
“The approach was a departure from the typical surrounding shopping mall and retail typologies,” says Linehouse cofounder Briar Hickling. A dark cement and concrete exterior—nestled amid LED-clad buildings—gives way to an airy interior defined by organic and neutral materials “that is not sensorially overloaded, [unlike] typical retail malls,” she adds.
Located in an area once abundant in lily pads, CentralWorld translates the plant’s structural profile into white branched columns that extend vertically through the interior atrium, radiating out to create ceiling canopies. The void ascends through the mall’s seven levels, allowing for a shifting ceiling plane that begins with green metal grids, then moves to natural and tactile textures like timber and woven cane, symbolizing a movement from new to Old World craft. Here, the retail journey is meant to be “relaxed and meditative,” says Hickling, “a break away from the intensity of urban life.”
Photos by Richard Caden, Ori Harpaz, Riley Snelling, Depth of Field, Jonathan Leijonhufvud, David Yeow and courtesy of Kith