Havaianas and Work & Co Launch New Retail Concept

Havaianas has begun the rollout of a new store concept—one that serves as a testing ground for new digital retail products.

Wrote Ad Age: “Called a Havaianas Lab, a new 900-square-foot store recently debuted in São Paulo, Brazil. A similar store, a redesign of an existing outpost for the brand, will open in London next month.”

The new stores include smart changing rooms, mobile checkout, digital inventory systems and more. Work & Co, which started working with Havaianas earlier this year, oversaw digital strategy, as well as the design and development of digital products in the store—including interactive screens that make it easier to explore and sort through hundreds of shoe styles and even dive into the history of the Havaianas brand.

According to Fernanda Romano, global CMO at Alpargatas, Havaianas’ parent company, this is the first in a new wave of experimental retail concepts for the brand. “We are focused on investing not just on marketing, but on building products and experiences that our customers can come back to again and again.”

She added: “Work & Co was an obvious choice to partner with as we unveil the future of Havaianas retail, given their experience creating the Today at Apple retail program for Apple, plus category experience with shoe brands like ALDO and Nike. And of course, the fact that the agency has a strong understanding of the Brazilian market is a major benefit. We’re looking forward to working with them on several projects.”

“Working with Havaianas has been a longtime company goal for many of us—particularly in our offices in Brazil—because they’re such a fixture of life there,” noted Work & Co Design Partner Diego Zambrano: It’s an iconic brand that we’ve all grown up with. “As Havaianas says, it’s a staple akin to rice and beans. So, the ability to take a company that’s built deep connections with millions of people and then help export that success around the globe is an incredibly exciting prospect for our team.”

For more head to Ad Age and Creativity.