NORTH SAILS STORES

#GoBeyond, the commitment of North Sails

The challenge

When the philosophy of a company marks each of its actions, the challenges are common. Everything is going in the same direction, in a project like North Sails Stores, both the brand and us were clear about building points of sale with the least possible impact on the environment. Hence the use of recyclable materials. Our objective was to capture the change in the brand’s design, always using non-polluting materials, thus reinforcing the image of an eco-responsible brand.

The result

We managed to create very defined spaces that are different from the rest of the brands. Stores and corners in Spain, France and Italy with a brand image that breaks with what they have been doing up to now and with which they manage to reach their public.

Each store is made in a personalized way, the moment of the measurements is fundamental so that later each piece of furniture and each decoration coincides with the proposed design, being able to make adaptations at the time of installation.

Introduction

The roots of the brand

When in 1957 the American Lowell North, sailmaker, sailor and Olympic medalist founded North Sails , he could not have imagined that it would become the largest sailmaker in the world and a benchmark in the world of fashion, since Currently, the multinational’s second line of business, its nautical-inspired clothing collections, are distributed through more than a thousand points of sale around the world. After having opted for corners in multi-brand stores and shopping centers to distribute their collections, North Sails Apparel, the fashion division, decided in 2015 to open its first flagship in Spain. From that moment on, our collaboration with the American firm has been continuous, developing each project adapted to the design guides provided by the brand and adjusting to each type of store, taking into account its typology and its target audience.

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The development

We make sustainable projects a reality

At INSTORE we have been in charge of the producción e instalación del mobiliario and all the decorative elements of the North Sails Apparel stores and points of sale in many Spanish cities as well as in Paris, Bordeaux, Milan or Padua. Tables, shelves and display furniture have been manufactured using top quality materials that respect the environment. The careful placement of the product in each space, mixing with elements from the world of navigation, gives the stores an appearance that generates a unique shopping experience for the customer, making them enjoy the nautical atmosphere of North Sails. The graphic production of the paintings that decorate the stores or the canvases created for the light boxes have also been made with non-polluting materials, following the company’s policy of caring for our planet and more specifically our oceans.

“Campaigns with a message”

INSTORE has also been in charge of installing large LED screens integrated in the different spaces that help the brand to transmit the message of each campaign with remote image change. The technology applied to the point of sale facilitates updating and unifies the visual communication of the firm’s image. The general lighting of the stores, their displays, the light boxes or the facade signs has been carried out following the brand’s sustainability policy with LED light.

«Reuse, recycle, respect», «Free the sea» or «The sea is my land», there are many promotional campaigns that try to raise awareness about the problem of pollution of the oceans with plastic. North Sails takes it very seriously, claims like #GoBeyondPlastic become the idea of an entire campaign, they are the benchmark for both a new collection and the message that is transmitted in the store and that reaches each customer.

North Sails dedicates space in its stores not only to exhibiting its products, but also to creating such interesting corners as the plastic museum, a section that collects examples of the pollution of our oceans and shows the North Sails manifesto:

“Every breath of air you take and every drop of water you drink comes from the sea. The ocean generates 50% of the oxygen we breathe, regulates the climate and is a fundamental source of food, energy and life.
For years, we have dumped huge amounts of metal, plastic, and pesticides into the ocean, putting flora and fauna at great risk.
If we continue like this, by 2050 there will be more plastic than fish in the ocean.
The good news is that it is still not too late to take action and make changes that translate into small daily gestures and individual decisions.
From North Sails we are going to donate 1% of our income to the Ocean Family Foundation and we are going to invest in a communication based on this objective.
These are just a few small steps but, as you know, to sail the great seas, you have to overcome each one of the waves.
Go Beyond Plastic”.

“Coherence in brand communication”

At INSTORE we join the company’s philosophy by trying to provide practical solutions to the needs that North Sails poses to us in each campaign. We seek to satisfy the demands regarding the use and handling of the materials that make up each window display and the ephemeral elements of each campaign. The timing and updating of stores is one of the key pieces of brand communication. Each store is different, each point of sale requires a particular treatment focused on the potential customer and the level of sales in the area. At INSTORE we are specialists in creating promotional campaigns adapted to the branding of each brand.

North Sails has some untouchable guidelines to follow in terms of production, either of its products or of the elements that make up its points of sale. This is shown in the declaration of intent that Marisa Selfa, CEO of North Sails Apparel, made for different media in the sector:
“The motto “Go Beyond” is not just a marketing question, it is a state of mind that permeates the entire company. We need to apply it to our daily life and we are building a community in that sense. Something that by the way is obvious for the new generations.

The eco-responsible movement already existed before Covid-19. But now it acquires its full meaning: people are sensitive to local production, to social responsibility. For us, this implies an education to explain what the organic, recyclable, circular, etc. economy consists of. The planet is sick. People have been and continue to be sick… It is necessary to make people aware. People will buy less but better. We claim our commitments by innovating, investing and we do not aspire to be perfect, but we do aspire to be consistent and sincere.”

Unique project keys

01

Recyclable materials

The use of non-polluting materials that are natural is one of the premises of the brand. Each project is made with wood and metal as the basis of the elements that we are going to manufacture.

Iron structures created with laser cutting, welding points and folding for trays. Wood manipulated with numerical control and expanded sheets, are part of each design.

02

Temporary campaigns

Updating the different points of sale is essential to generate positive experiences and meet customer expectations. But sometimes it can be expensive or complicated. If we start with easily removable elements that do not alter the overall design of the store, we can create campaigns for each moment of the year with effective visual communication. Graphic production is the answer, whether it’s canvas for light boxes, vinyl for shop windows or in-store signage.

03

Smile Plastic

One of the key materials in the projects carried out for North Sails is the recycled plastic from Smile Plastic. Panels created by transforming plastic waste, a 100% recycled and recyclable material that is used to make furniture, back panels, counters…

North Sails has included this material in many of its designs, demonstrating that recycling, in addition to being essential for the future of our planet, is something possible, useful and can help us create unique spaces.

04

Custom productions

One of the secrets of the success of the campaigns we carry out for North Sails is the adaptation of each project. The image is global but the spaces are different, that is why each piece of furniture leaves our workshops as finished as possible and it is at the moment of installation that it is transformed, so that the final result is excellent.

Depending on the type of store, manufacturing can start from scratch or be based on reuse, always bearing in mind that the purpose is to save resources.

05

Limited times

Adapting to the production and installation times that the brand sets is another key to highlight. Assemblies in a single night inside Shopping Centers or international campaigns that have to be managed efficiently have been possible thanks to the coordination of the different INSTORE departments with the brand.

Having the entire process managed with a single supplier guarantees delivery times. Knowing when to start and when to finish is one of the fundamental keys for points of sale to work.

06

Attention to detail

Taking care of every detail and looking for premium finishes is one of the characteristics of INSTORE. Our team of assemblers goes to each store outside and inside Spain to ensure that the elements made are treated with the care they require and are not damaged during loading and unloading.

Access to points of sale is not always easy and this requires special transport with special vehicles that respect the assembly areas and also the material that is moved.

“X360 Client″

Outcome

Give a gift to de Ocean

When a client like North Sails comes to us and raises their concerns and needs, all INSTORE departments get down to work. We design, produce and install each part of the project, offering a global solution that facilitates the development of the different brand campaigns. From the total decoration of its new flagships to the vinyl with which it announces its sales, any visual communication element that the brand needs knows that it can count on us. The seasonal windows are very remarkable, North Sails takes every opportunity to launch its messages of fight for the environment and we could see it in the Christmas windows of its Milan boutique, “Give a gift to the Ocean”, quite an allegation of awareness about the pollution of the oceans surrounded by a Christmas atmosphere very different from what we are used to seeing. If we have learned anything from the brand, it is that the company philosophy guides them in each project they carry out, leading them to make decisions that sometimes will not be economically profitable but that are in line with the social commitment that gives them meaning. It is up to us to be as decisive as possible, advise and continue innovating to achieve optimal results.

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