The 100-sq.m FREITAG store is divided into two zones: the sales area, and the Sweat-Yourself Shop, where DIY-minded consumers can assemble and put the final touches to their own unique items using semi-finished products and tarp remnants from the Factory in Zurich.
According to the article on Retail Focus, the store design is an amazing mix of customer-friendly heights and upcycled elements, which were created in collaboration with local company Supermachine Studio. The ‘shelves’ extend from floor to ceiling with two large mirrors at either end. And because the ceiling is so high, a factory-style mezzanine has been integrated. So there’s a fantastic view of the entire collection of one-off items from the mezzanine floor.
You can get back down to ground level using the staircase or a fireman’s pole. And to cushion your landing, there’s a gymnastics mat from Swiss manufacturers Alder + Eisenhut that also has a cover made of a used truck tarp.
Opposite the dizzying wall of shelves are counters with surfaces made of used tire rubber. When old truck tires need retreading, the worn-out tread is removed and re-placed. A local supplier has pressed the resulting rubber waste into sheets that now complement the FREITAG display system.
In the Sweat-Yourself Shop, semi-finished F719 MEL BANGKOK tote bags in every imaginable shade of blue await a customized DIY finish. The large circle in the middle simply calls out to be embellished as attractively as possible with tarp remnants. Hundreds of tarp pieces hang above the worktable in a motorized cage.
As with the first store in Bangkok’s Siam district and the one in Chiang Mai, the Zurich bag manufacturers are relying on their long-standing and locally well-established partner Pronto for the new opening.
Photo credit: Adisorn Ruangsiridecha
