Located within Honghu Station of Wuhan Metro Rail Transit, the project is located within a business district with the provincial government offices, CBD high-rise offices, schools and other community residents. Having been rooted in the locale for 15 years, WS Super Life Shuiguo Lake Store held many sentimental memories to their regular customers, which made their commercial transformation project much trickier. We aimed to design a top-grade life store with high efficiency and a stunning design, which would improve the quality of life for the residents and play a part in the change in urban lifestyle, increasing customer satisfaction and meet the increasing needs of the elite customers who lived nearby.

To meet the needs of high-end business elites and metro passengers, we designed huge double entrances, to optimize human traffic and increase footfall. By increasing categories and SKU from 5000 to 8000, we managed to drive per ticket sales by more than 40%.

Inspired by Lascaus murals, we created a design using walnut wood, black steel, metal plates, sheet rock and aluminium plates. To mirror the dullness of life, we integrated metal, dark green and the white stone patterns with a dark brown to utilize earth colours, which was contrasted with white as the bridge between heaven and earth that lead the customer to the goods being sold.

To achieve the retro-gentleman feel, we constructed different visual highlights by emphasizing on different characteristics to break up the zones while using a mosaic of the classic black-and-white, leading the customer to feel the different “stories” of the scenes.

On the opening day of the store, WS Super Life Shuiguo Lake Store attracted a bevy of customers with their new image and heavy marketing. According to the latest data, this supermarket with a floorspace of 1380m2 is expected to achieve an annual revenue of RMB 160 million, with an average daily sales growth rate of 18% and a return on investment of 29%.

According to customer feedback, they are highly satisfied with the new design, especially with the traffic flow pattern and the layout of the supermarket. In terms of the visual experience, it stands out from other more traditional hypermarkets, and a place where customers can noticeably experience an improvement in their consumption and quality of life.

After the transformation, WS Super Life Shuiguo Lake Store has become a high-end consumer-friendly store, frequently starring on Internet platforms such as Tik Tok and Xiaohongshu. We also emphasized the need for human-centric design in the project, by allowing customers to interact with supermarket employees which would enhance the connection between consumers and the brand.

Facing the pandemic, the number of stores that continue to open and have high investment quality has shrunk. As a retail enterprise with a history spanning more than four decades, our client must shoulder the responsibility of providing their loyal customers with a safe and healthy shopping environment, creating a place brimming with quality and unique investment, which play an important role in revitalizing the retail market and driving economic development.