Wedgwood opens tea-room experience in China

Vintage ceramics firm Wedgwood has opened a new pilot store at The MixC Luohu mall in Chinese Shenzhen. The Tea Room Experience, which invites customers to try out products according to their own style, represents the first move in Wedgwood’s reimagined brand aesthetic, with the new designs expected to be rolled out globally following the Shenzhen launch. Shoppers in the luxury mall will experience a modern interpretation of a fundamentally British mode in the 2nd-floor tea room.

“China is our key growth market and we are aiming for double-digit growth over the next three years, so we will be looking closely at the new stores to learn along the way,” said Wedgwood VP Paivi Svens. “We hope that our new stores and tea rooms will encourage conversations and inspire people to focus more on their own homes and become confident in expressing their own personal style.”

The experience was created in partnership with British design firm Checkland Kindleysides based on the brand’s new proposition “celebrating eclectic originals”. The store presents three zones – a Garden Room, a Pantry and a Tea Emporium – that “balance minimalism with maximalism with strong visual articulations of Wedgwood’s horticultural connections”, according to the firm.

Customers are invited to immerse themselves in the brand history and collections via interactive displays, while more than half of the available floor space is given over to service and experience over shopping – an unusual balance in a small format store. “In-store stylists” remain on hand to encourage shoppers to recombine product groups from the various zones to discover their own style.

Further executions of this concept store will be built across China later this year, with flagships in key global cities following next year