Unadorned and quiet but still with a greater variety of choices. This is what the store of the future will look like if you ask interior designer Maria Östensson.

- A lot of it is about being able to use the retail space in new ways. That's why there's a dinner table and a workstation in this store, for example," says Maria Östensson.

During this weekend's Umeå Fashion & Design, her Future Shop will be open for visits on the ground floor of the Utopia gallery. The colours are dominated by warm pink tones and the interior features metals and light wood.

- Here I have taken Umeå as my starting point, where it is dark and cold and therefore colour and form should give the visitor warmth. I hope this will inspire both customers and shop owners," says Maria Östensson.

She believes that the design of environments affects people both psychologically and physically. A retail environment should therefore be designed to put visitors at ease and make them want to stay.

- In today's shops, it usually looks different. There are white-painted walls and lots of gadgets, an environment that makes us tired and stressed," says Maria Östensson.

In addition to a dining table, seating area and workspace, the Future Shop also houses a small café.

- We need to think of more ways to use the space. Perhaps a shopkeeper could rent out a workplace, organise conferences and have a café? Keeping the premises alive even when the shop is closed and accommodating other activities is one way to work sustainably, says Maria Östensson.

She also stresses that for today's shopkeepers, it is possible to take several steps towards this with little means; that it does not have to be complicated.

- It's in the little things that the difference lies, says Maria Östensson who, after working for 20 years as an interior designer in London and Barcelona, has now moved back to Umeå where she now runs Östensson Design Studio.

The article is taken from UK
Written by Niclas Holmlund, niclas.holmlund@vk.se
Photo taken by AnnaKarin Drugge