Brands are using physical space and lived experience to deepen relevance.

In this edition of Weekly Curiosities…

…we’re looking at how brands are using physical space and lived experience to deepen relevance. One story explores how Emporio Armani is turning the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympics into a long-term lifestyle platform, extending performance wear into culture, retail, and everyday use. Another focuses on Sportsshoes’ new Shoreditch flagship, where retail becomes a place to move, test, and train, shifting the store from a point of sale into a space for participation.

Thanks for reading, and stay curious.

The Store as a Carefully Designed Journey

BRAND STRATEGY: Physical retail is paying closer attention to how people actually move through stores. Rather than treating the shop floor as a neutral backdrop, brands are designing in-store journeys that guide pace, attention, and interaction, from entrance to exit. Layout, lighting, sound, and touchpoints are increasingly planned as part of a deliberate flow rather than left to chance.

What’s changing is the role of the store itself. Instead of maximizing exposure to as many products as possible, retailers are prioritising clarity and comfort. Zones are defined by purpose, not category, and moments of pause are built in to encourage discovery rather than rush.

When stores are shaped around how people move, pause, and decide, they become more than places to transact. Thoughtfully designed journeys can reduce friction, build confidence, and make time spent in-store feel intentional rather than overwhelming. In this context, the customer journey isn’t an abstract concept, it’s the experience itself, quietly influencing how a brand is perceived long after the visit ends.

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When Beauty and Self Care Start to Overlap

RETAIL CONCEPT: Ulta Beauty is testing a new kind of in-store concept that brings wellness closer to beauty. With its Wellness Shop pilot, the retailer is expanding beyond skincare and cosmetics to include supplements, sleep aids, stress relief products, and self-care essentials, all curated within a dedicated space inside the store.

Rather than treating wellness as a separate category, the concept integrates it into Ulta’s existing beauty ecosystem. Products are merchandised with education and guidance in mind, helping customers navigate an increasingly crowded and confusing wellness landscape. The goal isn’t just to sell more categories, but to position beauty routines as part of broader daily care rituals.

The pilot highlights how beauty retail is evolving to meet shifting consumer priorities. As self-care becomes more holistic, stores like Ulta are adjusting their role, moving from product destinations to places that support physical and mental wellbeing. It’s a reminder that for many shoppers, beauty no longer stops at the surface.

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Armani Extends the Olympic Moment Beyond the Games

BRAND ACTIVATION: Emporio Armani is using the upcoming Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics as more than a sporting sponsorship, turning it into a year-long cultural and retail moment. Through its EA7 performance line, the brand is rolling out a series of activations, collections, and experiences that extend well beyond the Games themselves, blending sport, fashion, and national identity.

Rather than focusing solely on uniforms or limited-edition merchandise, EA7 is building a wider ecosystem around performance and lifestyle. From athlete apparel to consumer-facing drops and in-city experiences, the initiative is designed to live across channels and moments, keeping the brand present before, during, and after the Olympic spotlight. The approach allows Armani to connect elite sport with everyday wear, positioning performance as both functional and aspirational.

By stretching the Olympic moment into a longer narrative, Emporio Armani turns a global event into an ongoing brand platform. It’s a way of using sport not just for visibility, but for continuity, creating relevance that lasts longer than the closing ceremony and translating global attention into sustained cultural and commercial presence.

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Sportsshoes Turns Retail Into a Physical Training Ground

RETAIL CONCEPT: Sportsshoes.com is preparing to open an experiential flagship in Shoreditch, London, designed to bring its online-first brand into a physical environment built around movement, performance, and community. Named House of Sportsshoes, the space is conceived less as a traditional store and more as a destination for runners and fitness enthusiasts to test products, train, and connect.

The flagship will feature gait analysis, treadmill testing, recovery areas, and space for events and coaching sessions. Rather than focusing purely on transactions, the store is designed to support how people actually use sportswear in real life. Products are contextualised through activity, allowing customers to feel performance rather than just read about it.

With this move, Sportsshoes is using physical retail as a credibility and experience layer rather than a distribution channel. The Shoreditch location positions the brand closer to its community, turning expertise, trial, and trust into the main value drivers. It’s retail built around participation, where the store functions as a service as much as a shop.

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