Great Little Trading Company (GLTC), London

When an online retailer embarks on their first ever store in 20 years of operation, there has to be a responsibility to deliver what is fitting for a brand.

Working with retail interior consultancy, Resolution Interiors, Michael Grubb Studio were appointed to create the lighting scheme for children’s furniture, home accessories and classic wooden toy retailer Great Little Trading Co (GLTC). This was for their 6,000 square foot flagship store in Wandsworth, South West London.

One of the initial challenges was to light spaces where people were only familiar with that they saw online and within brochures. It was the objective of Michael Grubb Studio to create a lighting language that did not necessarily exist.

The showroom has been designed to inspire and assist families to create homes they will love. Within this are multiple room sets, but with limited amounts of natural daylight.

A challenge for the studio was to ask the question, “How can you bring the feeling of daylight into a retail environment without it looking over lit or too stark?”

The entrance consists of an atmospheric lounge area that opens up into the gateway showroom, where the lighting becomes more focused and configured to directly relate to each project range.

To complement this, lighting was also discreetly incorporated within the displays. This was to make each aspect more striking. For instance, the storage boxes were successfully lit with linear lighting integrated within each shelf.

It was the intention of the studio to create a lit environment that was relevant to the products, the brand but also to assist parents with their understanding of which products compliment each other.

Laura Burnside, Resolution Interiors creative designer commented, “Delivering a new lighting scheme by Michael Grubb Studio helped to create an environment and an experience.”

“They have created a real sense of home and warmth. Each room has its own style that allows children to interact and play, effectively in little bubbles.”

Great Little Trading Co’s CEO, Jamie Reeve highlighted, “It was critical for our design partners to understand the culture and values of our brand to ensure they bought GLTC to life in way that would strike a chord with our customers. We set out to inspire customers and to let them interact, discover and play with our products in a way they have never been able to before.”

Launching a new award-winning store was something that Great Little Trading Co had not done before. We understood the pressure on doing everything for the first time. This was why we took responsibility and delivered an ambience that will stand the test of time.