Target has unveiled a redesigned lower level at its Soho store in New York, extending the location’s curated, design-led approach to everyday shopping categories. The project was created by Something Special Studios, less than a year after the retailer reimagined the store’s first floor.
The lower level brings together home, wellness, toys, and food and beverage in distinct shopping areas inspired by familiar New York settings. Rather than recreating places such as bodegas and compact apartments literally, the studio used them as starting points for destinations including Bullseye Loft, which presents home products in domestic vignettes, and The Snack Bar, which evokes corner stores and newsstands.
The layout responds to the existing cast-iron building, whose columns, lightwell and escalators helped shape the design. A row of columns now forms a central avenue that organizes the floor, with wider paths and clear sightlines linking the different areas. Lighting, changes in materials and architectural thresholds set the destinations apart without creating hard boundaries.
Materials include finished aluminum, tinted mirrors, glossy lacquer, fabric awnings and integrated lighting, balanced with wood for warmth. Target’s signature red is joined by Cherry Stain Red, a custom color developed for the Soho store. Target says Cherry Stain Red will also appear across the chain in its new Beauty Studio concept.
The store was conceived as a place to test ideas for the future of retail, according to Target marketing executive Gigi Guerra. The redesigned floor includes Balance Mart for wellness products and Explorers’ Lab for toys and entertainment, spaces intended to feature trending brands, collaborations and seasonal products. The experience is designed to invite exploration while still allowing shoppers to find what they need quickly.
Sources: Design Milk.