Next Chapter - Terhi Pölkki opens a new flagship store in Helsinki
TERHI PÖLKKI FLAGSHIP STORE
To celebrate the 10th anniversary of our Terhi Pölkki brand, we opened a new flagship store to Helsinki, Finland. For the past two years we had our store in the beautiful Kämp Galleria shopping centre, but we decided it's time to move on and start a next chapter as a brick and mortar store.
"I've had a feeling already for a while that I want to take the next step and improve my brand. I want the brand to reflect the important values and look more like me. The new store allows this so much better", Terhi tells.
In our new store we want to offer a bit of a luxury to everyday life by having leisurely moments and time to try the shoes on in peace. We believe in face to face meetings and brick and mortar stores. Shoes are the kind of products that people want to try on physically at the store. In the new store we also want to combine the physical store and online store better.
The store can be described as a new kind of a store that inspires and tempts to enjoy and spend time. The important values for the brand, like high quality, domesticity and naturalness have been taken into account in the design process.
"I wanted the store to be simple and practical so that the actual products would stand out. Nature and domesticity are really important for me and for the brand. I get a lot of inspiration from nature and I wanted to reflect it in the store with natural colours and materials. We co-operated mostly with other Finnish brands, which was truly fantastic", Terhi says.
The idea for the interior of the new store started from the gallery that used to be in the same space before. The realisation was made in collaboration with the designer Tytti Leppänen. The store was designed so that the products will be in focus and the interior and colour palette will not dominate and "steal the show" of the shoes. A solid bench made of ash was placed in the center of the store, so the customer can sit down and look up to the "artworks" and enjoy the view, just like being in a exhibition. To slow down in a busy everyday life, the bench gives an opportunity to take a deep breath, and enjoy a cup of coffee while trying on some shoes.
The fixture of the store were made by a talented carpenter Ari Hirvonen. With the light colour of the ash, the idea was not only to keep it natural, rather to highlight the Terhi Pölkki brand image, that became known by the wooden clog heels. Domesticity was also the supporting theme through other design processes. The store space was painted with ecological and plastic-free painst from a Finnish brand, Cover Story. The light colour palette got the zest from Terhi's favourite colour green, which is unusually placed on the roof of the store.
As part of the interior we wanted to present other Finnish design brands too. We collaborated with Upload Audio, Lapuan Kankurit and Anno Collection. For the shop window we did a collaboration with the designer Tero Kuitunen to show his artwork.
Terhi Pölkki store is open
Tue-Fri 10-18
Sat 11-17
Uudenmaankatu 2, Helsinki, Finland.
We hope to see you soon!
