A place inspired by and made for people

Sustainable commerce, urban renewal, and a modern market were the keywords to this project. A retail space designed for people and built around people on the basis of their local identity. Visit Coop.fi Novoli in Firenze (IT).

The Street Store, a homeless bazaar

The Street Store offers homeless people the chance to browse for clothes. They group donations of clothing from the public, hung up the garments, and then allow homeless people to browse through the offerings to select what they want. Visit The Street Store in Cape Town (ZA).

Local sourcing is the mission of d'ici

The idea is to promote local sourcing and to mend ties between small producers and customers. Visit d'ici in Naninne (BE).

Beauty with Heart

The movement places emphasis on putting a human stamp on beauty, something The Body Shop has been championing from its inception. Discover The Body Shop in London (UK).

Creating a magical experience

Shopping for glasses should be like browsing at a library: quick, easy, and especially fun to do with a friend in town. When you walk into this flagship store you'll find rolling library ladders, a photo booth, reading materials from Warby-approved independent presses, and mirrors upon mirrors, so you'll never have to travel far to peep a glance at your bespectacled self. Explore Warby Parker in New York (US).

Useful creativity for Camper

Virtually all of the elements used to design the store were recycled: pieces of wood collected on the street for making the table legs, old Camper signs for covering and repainting the walls and laces from discontinued shoe models for fashioning the curtain or the lampshades. Explore Camper in Barcelona (SP).

Maison POS - daily deliveries of fresh, seasonal organic food

Maison POS in Paris buys directly from the producers and chooses to buy in small amounts to get a quick turnaround of their products, thus ensuring their freshness. Maison POS makes a big pot of soup every day and it is sold to go with some organic bread. Discover Maison POS in Paris.

Causses, inspired by the values of the slow food philosophy

Causses works with producers who have a renowned expertise and adhere to its charter that imposes a certain level of quality in their production and manufacturing process. Discover Causses in Paris.

A old-fashioned corner store with a modern twist

The small format stores, Stockbox's Grocers (Seattle, US) are placed throughout urban areas, to offer fresh produce, meal solutions, and grocery staples. Explore this convenience store

TOMS One for One’s

Charitable footwear brand TOMS has launched a pop-up store in Covent Garden, London (UK). Explore this shop...

Merci grants part of its profits to charity

Merci is a Parisian concept store that focuses on sharing and giving back. Merci actively pays-it-forward by giving 100% of Merci's profits of high-end products, designer collaborations, and cafe sales to a charity for underprivileged women and children in Madagascar. Explore this store in Paris.

Ami-e-toi label van Mode Met een Missie

Ami-e-toi is the label of Fashion with a Mission, sold as of June 2009 in their store with the same brand name (Arnhem, The Netherlands). This store offers also a variety of other labels, carefully chosen as a complement for their own collection. The outfits range from couture to casual and are all of high quality and handmade.

The profits from sales supports the work of the Foundation Fashion with a Mission. By purchasing this garment you contribute to a sustainable product development and contribute indirectly to a better society. Fashion with a Mission was founded in 2005 to help women with problems caused by addiction, homelessness or psychiatric issues. In “teach-them-to-fish” spirit, the women are taught to make the Ami-e-toi label’s clothing and so gain a profession, and self respect.

In Mentjens’s luxurious store design, Art Deco meets boudoir and is juxtaposed with red-velvet sofas, oak parquet flooring, marble, busts on mirror-top tables, and cameos on the wall. Two massive mirrored walls ensure that the fashions and the fashionistas are visible in endless repetition. The idea “Nothing is quite as it seems” is part of the design concept, echoing the contrast between have-it-all fashionistas and the women who make the fashions.

Source: Ami-e-toi

Feel Good Business

Sjakies (The Netherlands, Haarlem) is a feel good business with two ventures under one roof. The lunchroom offers slow food, the shop specializes in fair trade, and both are renown for great taste. We use biological products for our cakes and salads, we press the freshness smoothies. Even our coffees are okay. The same goes for the lifestyle and interior items in our shop: Organic beauty is combined with smart design. Nothing's wasted at Sjakies. And we only sell what we like: stuff with a little touch of retro and a big sense of humour.

Source: Sjakies

'One-for-One' Model

The business model for Toms Shoes (US)—giving away one pair of footwear to the needy for every one sold—seems risky in a recession where small companies are loathe to add extra costs, but several start-ups are none-the-less following suit.

Small companies have long been charitable, but few incorporate any form of philanthropy into their business models from inception since it can take several years for a start-up to become profitable, experts say.

Source: Wall Street Journal, Toms' Shoes

How to create a social responsability store concept?

CAMELEON (Brussels, Belgium), in its origin a passioned private sales fashion outlet, tries to realise this in the Brussels area.

Aware of the need to minimise the environmental burden by using ecological materials and equipment, CAMELEON has put its faith in renewable energies to make the Woluwe outlet the first ecologically-constructed store in Europe.

The beehives located on the rooftop of its new building reflect the wish of CAMELEON to establish a link with a symbol of biodiversity and ecology.

CAMELEON is a venue where all the family can enjoy, regardless of age. A child care facility welcomes our members' children in a specially designed area, so that parents can make the most of their visit to CAMELEON.

Source: Cameleon

Shoes and women's rights

Sandrine François started in 2008 Belles Chaussures (Brussels, Belgium), her glamorous boutique boudoir. The artisan and bespoke Italian women shoes are displayed in a vintage backdrop with pink quilted sofas. They are sold with accessories from the American Betty Boop atmosphere. The universe that the designer created here, is entirely consistent with her pin-up style. The lacquered Peep Toe, the Low Boots, all shoes are unique models, and are exhibited on a wall, framed by a team that has designed stage sets, including the Opera de la Monnaie. The wall, the carpet and curtains are in satin pink-beige tones. The shop window displays the shoes on glass cloches or legs of mannequins. Amnesty International choose Belles Chaussures for the 2009 edition of their calender (month of April)... an elegant way for Sandrine François to link her name and image of her boutique to women's rights and the fight against violence.

Source: Belles Chaussures