Holland & Barrett has officially opened its first-ever H&B Experience Store in Cardiff, marking a significant step in its £70 million retail transformation strategy. The new 3,710 sq.ft store, situated on Queen Street—recognised as the UK’s best high street – opened on Thursday 20 March and is the retailer’s largest outlet to date.
Designed in partnership with Syn, a creative agency specialising in experiential retail, the Cardiff store introduces a range of brand-first offerings aimed at creating a more immersive and personalised health and wellness shopping experience. A key addition is a dedicated wellbeing studio hosting sessions such as yoga and pilates, alongside health checks, blood testing services, and an in-store H&B&Me pod. This pod helps visitors discover their biological age and receive tailored health advice to support long-term wellbeing.
The Cardiff site has been crafted to reflect customer insights indicating demand for more interactive and supportive wellness spaces. With a refreshed layout and a focus on accessibility, personalisation, and clear in-store communication, the store aims to strike a balance between guided advice and self-directed exploration.
Holland & Barrett Store Design Manager Richard Fisher said: “We’ve partnered with Syn to embrace a fresh creative vision which has played out in Cardiff’s pioneering Experience Store design. At H&B we are committed to redefining the wellness shopping experience, fostering a sense of community and customer connection.
“The Cardiff team of expert colleagues are all qualified to advise customers. They can successfully cut through the noise of health fads and trends we’re all bombarded with on social media – offering bespoke, expert advice. And it’s this human-centric vision that has been woven throughout the redesign, allowing accessibility, personalisation and engagement at every touch point.”
The store features several new design elements aimed at enhancing the customer journey. These include the ‘Wow Wall’, the ‘Be strong for life’ campaign window, and a newly developed storefront design. At the entrance, a distinctive wooden architectural fixture leads into the heart of the store and towards the ‘Mission Island’ – a dedicated space for discovering tailored wellness solutions, from gut health support to sleep enhancement.
Syn, which led the creative direction, design and build, also developed the store’s tone of voice and communication strategy. Emphasis was placed on ‘feeling first’ design principles to elicit calm and comfort through material choices, tactile surfaces, and emotive signage. The result is an environment intended to welcome customers while facilitating interaction with trained in-store experts.
Chris Newell, Co-Founder and Creative Partner at Syn, commented: “We developed a ‘feeling first’ concept territory. From touch and tactility through to emotive expressions of messaging. The whole creative approach was about evoking a feeling of calm, comfort and welcomeness. Triggering the visual sense at first, into the tangible softness of materiality and the addition of an emotive script typeface at key signage touchpoints. Finally, we employed a more human tone of brand voice as the connective thread that openly invites engagement into store and with the qualified team of experts for those customers who are looking for advice and help.”
The Cardiff Experience Store signals a prototype for future developments, setting the tone for upcoming retail environments Holland & Barrett plans to roll out. It comes amid broader efforts by the retailer to modernise its customer engagement and reposition itself in the evolving health and wellness sector.
