Felna’s supermarket that feels like a market, Sawatari

It’s quite hard to make a supermarket feel different without going over the top and looking contrived. It is possible, however, and for a sense of what is possible it is worth considering the new format Felna store in Sawatari, close to Yokohama, Japan.

Here, Sydney-based design consultancy Landini has created a store that relies to a large extent on warm lighting, wood and tiles to foster the feel of a market, rather than a supermarket. In many parts of the store, icons representing food categories are used in place of words and these are stencilled onto perimeter walls with wood arranged in a manner to look like louvres.

In the mid-shop, this is a store that is actually quite traditional in many ways, but the materials palette ensures that this does not embody the idea of ‘trawling the aisles’. Instead, shoppers can actually enjoy the process of shopping and market browsing. Surprising what a well-chosen materials and colour selection is capable of doing.

Pics: Landini