rtistic appeal for the local area. “The design brief was to create something that paid homage to the product, and the effort we put into the selection of the products, and to be a lively, energetic, and enjoyable space for customers to be in,” said O’Mara. The highlight of the store is a light display designed by a local artist which features around 1000 recycled wine bottles, nicknamed the ‘wine cloud’. “We wanted a centrepiece artistic installation and Colin Bell, the creative director [at Red Design Group], came up with the idea of a wine cloud, an undulating shape made out of suspended wine bottles that’s like a cloud hovering above the store.” The shopfront itself is decorated with a hand drawn illustration, and behind the service counter is another hand drawn map of the local area. “The area behind the counter is normally prime retail sales space, so if you went by the normal model you would just stack it full of liquor, chips, bottle openers, and all that sort of thing. “Sometimes we stare at it and go ‘wow that’s really expensive real estate’, and what we’ve done is put this cool, hand drawn, funky map, but it shows people that we’re trying to do things a little bit differently.” Floors are a diagonal zig zag pattern of smooth and rough finish tiles. Wine Republic’s focus is on value Australian wine, craft beer, and spirits, and the store design is broken up into sections to reflect each category. Staff are required to have a knowledge of all the products stocked, and regular tasting events are held at the store. “We’re part of the local community and the local scene. We have a lot of really loyal customers and we’ve all become good friends, which is a really big part of what we’re trying to do.” This story first appeared in Inside Retail PREMIUM issue 2033. To subscribe, click here.