ITAB Shop Concept focuses on modern comfort and sustainability

Pop-up stores made of recycled textiles.

ITAB Shop Concept (China) Co. Ltd., a company that is rethinking retail by helping its clients design their physical spaces, worked with a fashion brand last year for the latter’s Takashimaya and Hankyu pop-up stores in Japan. The brand developed the design concept for these pop-up stores and partnered with ITAB, who sourced and procured the sustainable materials both in Europe and Asia, produced the fixtures, and handled the final installation. This collaboration has earned ITAB the Pop-up Retail Project of the Year (China) prize at the Retail Asia Awards 2021, which recognises the outstanding innovations and accomplishments of the region’s retailers in the past 24 months.

The store design was characterised by the use of recycled textiles, reflecting the comfortable modernity and sustainable values of the company’s “buy better, keep forever” philosophy. This has been expressed in all of its shops around the world since the fashion brand was launched in 2007. Its pop-up stores in Japan showcase special collections and reinvented classics for the local market. 

The capsule-shaped retail spaces are made of solid textile boards made from end-of-life wool and cotton that came from industrial laundromats and fashion and textile firms. Applying sustainable products in the retail design process is a natural aspect of ITAB’s business development, which also pays attention to systematic internal environmental work, energy efficiency, and climate-smart solutions.

The key achievements are in the following areas: (1) reduce: the materials used as a structure and visual finish are sustainable solid textile boards, (2) reuse: ITAB’s developed construction is modular, which enables the fashion brand to use the material again for its future pop-up shops, and (3) recycle: when the store material reaches the end of its lifecycle, it can be sent back to ITAB for recycling into new solid textile boards.

Believing that “we are what we create with our customers,” ITAB consistently enhances its expertise and innovative capacity by collaborating with a network of partners, thereby boosting customer value. ITAB’s projects are characterised by improved operational efficiency and service, increased sales, reduced internal costs, and highly effective in-store installations to ensure seamless and engaging environments for all those who occupy and visit the retail spaces. 

ITAB starts every project by identifying the consumers’ needs and carefully co-creating a new concept with the retailer. Companies not only in the fashion sector but also in the home improvement, grocery, consumer electronics, health and beauty, and café industries have collaborated with ITAB to establish stores that clearly emphasise their brand values and aspirations. Thus, the physical space elevates the consumer brand experience through remarkable design know-how. 

ITAB’s range of services includes customised shop fittings, consumer flow, and digitally interactive solutions, checkout structures, and professional lighting systems for various types of retail shops. These effective solutions contribute towards a versatile image and an inspiring mood, which attract numerous customers to the retail spaces.

In its global operations, ITAB ensures that all of its projects meet the relevant standards through tests that are managed internally and certifications approved by third parties worldwide. 

A sustainable future is one of the company’s strategic priorities, which are achieved by streamlining its business and helping drive growth and dynamism throughout the enterprise. ITAB focuses its efforts on goals such as value chain efficiency, ethical practices, and a healthy working environment for its employees.

Watch the interview below to know more about their winning project: