Retail sanctuary

By Kris Herbert, October 2, 2007 @ 3:20 pm

Tauranga-based bed manufacturer Design Mobel wants to turn bed retailing on its sleepy head. In partnership with Saatchi & Saatchi, the company has created Okooko, an international concept store that focuses on the bedroom as a sanctuary of rest and replenishment.

Okooko gives Design Mobel a chance to tell its story of sustainable, New Zealand-based manufacturing and cutting-edge design. The first stores opened in Wellington on July 13 and Hong Kong on July 31. Two more will open this year in Philadelphia and New York.

“The value of a great idea is its ability to inspire people to think about things differently,” says Saatchi creative director Blake Enting. “If you can shift people’s thinking from ‘I’m going to buy a bed’ to ‘I’m going to create a sanctuary in my home’—to own that space is a really powerful thing.”

Building on the idea that New Zealand is itself a sanctuary, the store design relies heavily on New Zealand iconography. The logo features a koru, symbolising life and growth, and the dark pillars, soft light and hanging lamps create a forest-like atmosphere. When customers flop back on a bed to test its firmness, they’ll discover the multi-layered ceiling, embossed with more New Zealand forest motifs.

“I don’t think that carrying on in the markets the way we have been that we would survive,” says Dave Macfarlane, who started Design Mobel 20 years ago. “It just gets harder and harder. People now compare your products with Chinese imports and can’t see the value. Hopefully, [through Okooko] we can export to markets where we can obtain more value.”

Having its own retail outlet also allows the company to be more experimental with design. “In the past, we’ve had to design for the distribution channel, not the customer. Now that we’re doing our own thing, we can push the boundaries of design,” Macfarlane says. “Now we have control from the forest floor to the bedroom floor.”