Design Challenge and Design Ideas

The design standards for the flagship store were established for ease of rollout, flexbility across formats and inclusivity to essentially bring ‘The Home of Pet Care’ to all. Five of the seven key principles were considered, not only to ‘tick-the-box’ of universal design, but to define a best-in-class experience for all customers.

1. Equitable Use
The open layout upon entry is ideal for customers with mobility issues and subliminally encourages customers to take a moment and scan the store to find what they need. This is aided through clear sight lines across the store and a robust communications hierarchy identifying sub categories from a distance for customers with visual impairments, in each of the three key pillars.

2. Flexibility in Use
The mezzanine area housing the grooming zone and training areas was designed as an informal community hub for pet owners. Starting with the warmest pet reception where check-in podiums encourage conversation on carefully curated healthcare products and value-added services such as free workshops. The open space caters to both pet
owners who actively participate in pet care and those who prefer to observe with a complimentary coffee.

3. Simple and Intuitive Use
The customer journey is simplified with intuitive wayfinding and clear, consistent in-store communication, ensuring that customers can easily find products and services, and understand how to use them. Educational displays and end-of-aisle moments positively disrupt customers to provide valuable information without being overwhelming.

4. Perceptible Information
Working with 3rd party digital suppliers ‘Focal Media’, eye-level touchscreens within the healthcare and nutrition pillars allow for haptic feedback and scalable font sizes, making information more accessible for customers with limited sensory abilities.
Use of single, flat colour with a refined material palette within each pillar helps to zone the experience for visually impaired whilst use of natural daylight and ambient lighting enhances in categories such as bedding is chosen to instil calm.

5. Size and Space for Approach and Use
The store accommodates a range of mobility needs through spacious aisles designed with minimum clearspace of two metres, fitting both customers and their pets and mobility aids. The mezzanine is accessible through a customer lift located at the shortest distance from the entrance.

Petmania’s flagship store design reflects a commitment to Universal Design principles, creating an inclusive, welcoming environment for all customers…and their pets.

How the brief was fulfilled

The research identified Petmania’s exceptional service and staff expertise as a key differentiator. The design language of the retail experience reflects their warmth with an upbeat yet informative tone of voice and vibrant messaging. A confidently simple and reduced material palette with inherent sustainable credentials, from FSC sourced timber, ceramic tile and box section steel, Warm, durable and robust architectural finishes that compliment the vibrant brand colours: This creates a welcoming atmosphere that reinforces the positive, helpful, and knowledgeable staff interactions that are central to the Petmania brand.

Key features include:
• Strategic Experience Mapping
The store layout is designed to optimise product discovery and encourage exploration. Interactive “In-aisle” and “end-of-aisle” touchpoints create positive disruption, providing pet insights and product recommendations, actively fostering customer engagement.

• Mezzanine Hub
Formerly a standard, box retail unit for a car showroom, we identified the opportunity for first floor mezzanine as an intrinsic feature to elevate the retail experience. This spacious area now houses the dog grooming and pet training areas, functioning as an unofficial community hub for pet owners. Complete with a ‘pet glam station’ for pet owners to capture post-grooming pride and encourage social community building; it’s a true in-store destination that fosters a sense of community and strengthens the brand’s connection with its customer base.

• 20ft Digital Screen
This large-format digital display is a visual statement, keeping pet owners engaged with informative pet care tips, and entertaining social content.

• Natural Light and Feature Lighting
The strategic use of natural and ambient lighting creates a welcoming atmosphere. Softer lighting used in calming areas, like the dog bed section, further enhances the pet-centric environment.

The revamped retail experience strengthens Petmania’s brand identity as the ‘The home of pet care’, the ultimate one-stop-shop for pet owners. The new flagship store is the showpiece in Petmania’s growing retail presence across Ireland and serves as the template for all future store roll outs. Combined with a complete overhaul of all brand assets and communications, the brand experience now resonates more authentically with customers, positioning Petmania as the trusted partners in holistic pet care.