Gravitypope shoes Edmonton… original first store revamped. The roots of gravitypope was designed years ago and needed to be brought up-to-date. It had evolved into a shoe and clothing store and needed to be simplified into just a shoe store. Our objective was to create display for many pairs of shoes in as clean and simple style as possible.
We felt that this store needed to have a home-grown Edmonton-loved institution style. A major challenge was dealing with a long narrow space which would allow lots of merchandising and lots of try-on areas. The first thing we did was clean up extended walls and remove old change rooms and an overpowering backlit wall. Our experience with the painted floor in Vancouver inspired a new technique which we dared to try. First, we laid down new oak flooring then applied coats of stain and paint layering different colours hoping that natural foot wear would reveal the different colour-ways that we have applied. With some good luck this technique really paid off. We painted the walls in a classic vintage white.
Next we used Dieter Rams’ shelving design from the 60s for versatility and maximizing merchandise quantity. To break this used black shelving in the front section and white in the back. Other fixtures we designed and had built using iron and brass detail screws. The seating needed to be low and versatile and durable. We discovered vintage French gym benches—covered in original leather—which just did the trick. Fixtures are original antique factory carts and Toronto Library of Congress cast iron shelving units. Reclaimed antique factory lighting and antique schoolhouse lighting work as the ambient mood lighting. Upper-level LED spot lights are used to as task lighting. Ambient red lights are used at the back storage entrance to create a warm mysterious opening. We designed and custom built a front counter using old school green granite for cladding. All counters are carefully laid out in the work area to house retail supplies and transaction equipment.
Art was of a Western theme using Native American paintings and antlers.
