Toy Kingdom is not playing around. The larger than life toy store experience took home Best Hardline Specialty over 7500 sq. ft. in last night’s 2017 Shop! Design Awards presented at GlobalShop in Las Vegas, Nevada. In its 46th year, the annual Shop! Awards Competition recognizes the best new retail environments and experiences. Judged by a panel of retailers, designers, and industry journalists Toy Kingdom joins the esteemed design work from around the world including Lebanon, China, UK, and Canada.
Our team is of course proud and excited by this honor, and recognize that it wouldn’t have been possible without a truly visionary, collaborative client team. Working seamlessly across the globe with our partners in South Korea was a pleasure at every turn, from initial brand strategy to creative development to implementation, delivering on our client’s ask for a “toy store like no other.” But the biggest win? Watching kids play and explore, fueled by imagination and a sense of “wow!” – Jay Highland, Chief Creative Officer
The winning project is Chute Gerdeman’s response to Sinsegae’s desire to create an immersive shopping experience connecting with both children and adults on an emotional level. From this, “Toy Kingdom” was born, an entirely new brand within the Shinsegae retail family.
This new brand celebrates a vibrant, playful world that ignites the imagination of its guests and wins the hearts of children. The primary design element—the hero focal at the storefront—is a transformative experience for kids, where they can enter the store through kid-sized tunnels with interactive flooring setting the tone for an unforgettable store experience. Each key zone within the store has a supporting interactive element where kids can play and escape with the brand. These key experiential touchpoints—six in total—combine physical, analog, and digital elements that reinforce the immersive and transportive quality of the space.
For a complete listing of the 2017 winners and more information about the Shop! Design Awards, visit: http://www.shopawards.org
To learn more about Chute Gerdeman’s design of Toy Kingdom at Starfield Hanam Mall, visit: https://www.chutegerdeman.com/portfolio/toy-kingdom/