Timberland opens eco concept store on London's Carnaby Street

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Nov 13, 2019

As eco concerns continue to dominate retailer thinking, Timberland has opened its first “purpose-led flagship store in Europe”, at 5-7 Carnaby Street in London’s West End.

The 2,594 sq ft space features living trees, a full height living green wall, and natural elements throughout. It “immerses visitors in the brand’s creative vision, which sits at the intersection of nature and fashion,” we’re told. 

And the company said it “showcases a natural but urban materiality to bring nature into the city and encourage interaction and exploration” with “powerful stories of eco-innovation [that] showcase the brand’s commitment to a greener future”.

The sustainability message is clear throughout, “educating consumers on the recycled materials and responsible technologies” used in the production of its merchandise. Further sustainable elements include a combination of recycled materials obtained from industrial leftovers with Bio-resin for mannequins.

The product offer itself takes in footwear, clothing and accessories for men, women and kids and with experiences to the fore, there’s a Design Your Own (DYO) station for consumers to create their own versions of some Timberland styles. 

The opening comes after the brand recently launched its largest ever global campaign, with a commitment to plant 50 million trees around the world by 2025 and “a call to action for people everywhere to join the movement to be heroes for nature”. 

This campaign is boosted in the store with full-height digital screens highlighting the Nature Needs Heroes manifesto “and real people making real change, while a central community table offers tangible and small actions that can make a big difference for our communities and planet”. 

In London, the message focuses largely on urban greening and as part of the campaign, it linked with MTV, London National Park City and musician Loyle Carner on a new documentary called Concrete Green. This will premier on November 18 on MTV. There will also be an exclusive private screening of episode one in-store.

The company said it chose Carnaby Street for the store as it’s an “iconic” location and that the new shop is one of three purpose-led stores opening internationally this season. The others are in its domestic American market in Philadelphia and New York.

The opening also means there are now 17 directly-operated Timberland stores in the UK and Ireland, as well as 22 franchise stores.