1. Breathing Room, Not Just Changing Rooms - According to Hutchison, too many stores have "crammed" too much merchandise in to too small a space. They should "provide more space for people to congregate and relax."
2. Trendy is a Dirty Word - Hutchison says that trends don't last and that they "send a wasteful and frivolous message to the new consumer." "Instead of constantly reinventing surroundings, the shelf life of these environments will necessarily be longer due to increasingly scarce capital. It is doubly important to make sure that store's design is timeless, eschewing trends that have no durability."
3. Reject Rigidity - "…flexible design is critical to the ability of the store to adapt and adjust to the shifting marketplace. For example, fixtures that allow merchandise categories to move from one part of the store to another will be essential to making the environment feel like a living, breathing organism," he writes.
4. Consumer, Serve Thyself - Decreased staffing means that a store's design should allow for and promote more "self-shopping," he says. As a result, "designers will have to be creative with graphics, technology and visual display to allow the customer to clearly see and understand the product."
5. So Green, So What? - "We will move beyond environmentalism-chic, by which brands promote a green agenda as a way to connect with consumers. Going forward, going 'green' will be the ante just to get in the game," he writes.
6. Locally Grown - "Stores can nurture and communicate a culture by connecting to their local community," he states.
