Thanks to our Retail Safari® global innovation team, we’ve discovered three inventive flagships that illustrate how retailers can attract spending-cautious shoppers not by selling “stuff,” but by bringing their brands to life through trust and connection. We’re sharing ideas on how these examples can be applied in lower-cost, innovative strategies. Take a free Retail Safari® tour here.

Among Tariff Chaos, Some Brands Found Calm – in Flagships

Our Retail Safari® scouts made an exciting discovery while seeking out how retailers and brands are coping with tariff uncertainty and its effects on the prices they charge – the physical power of retail beyond the sale.

Specifically, we’ve uncovered three new flagship stores that embrace the traditional notion that the corner store can have sense of place, and community. We’ve seen this dynamic among local shops for some time; especially lately as price-minded consumers seek a respite from harsh lights and harsher prices.

Such experiences underscore a lesson that retailers and brands must constantly remind themselves of: Innovation is not about lower prices. Heck, a shopper can find lower prices online.  And just about anywhere else too.

Rather, innovation in times of tariff chaos requires the simple act of reaching out beyond transactions. The retailers and brands our retail innovation team explored are here doing that and embracing the shopper through “soft” experiences that are thoughtful, caring and memorable.

When Prices Go Up Due to Tariffs, These Brands Go Beyond

Let’s be clear: The flagships we explored do transact, but it’s all-but-secondary to their service as destinations. In these stores, the brands come to life emotionally by constructing indulgent experiences and environments that are relevant to their shoppers, with head-turners from raw oysters to a “Pillow Talk Parlour.”

Perhaps most important: These flagships-in-a-time-of-tariffs strive to answer the important shopper questions: “Who do I trust?” and “What’s worth it now?”

Let’s go on a Retail Safari®!

At Printemps in New York City, trust is earned socially.

At this aptly self-described “French apartment” at One Wall Street – the Parisian retailer’s first in the U.S. – the shopping trip is transformed into a tour of exciting and delighting experiences. The “rooms” Printemps invites shoppers to explore include the Boudoir (fine fashion and jewelry for women), the Apothecary, the Garçonniére (men’s fashion), the Sneaker Room, the Playroom (kids), the Salle de Bain (beauty) and a Salon (women’s ready-to wear). Each room is a feast for the eyes. And speaking of feasts, there are “dining rooms” as well to bring family and friends together: the Salon Vert raw bar, the formal Maison Passerelle and the Café Jalu. For guests seeking a social scene, a champagne bar is pouring nearby. There’s good reason Printemps declared its U.S. flagship “not a department store.” It’s more than shopping; it’s a social experience with enough intrigue to lure shoppers back.

Lululemon in London wins trust collectively.

When the Canadian-based performance-wear brand Lululemon recently opened its largest location in all of Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA), it went really big. The two-story location on bustling Regent Street, at nearly twice the size of Lululemon’s previous flagship, doesn’t merely sell Lycra, it amply uses the space to pull community together. Among the authentic connections bringing this brand to life: Group activities – It teamed up with the apparel brand Runna for a special race through London; and a water bottle customization station that produces daily reminders of the brand. For wow factor, this Lululemon flagship sports its largest “pant wall” in all of Europe, as well as its most extensive collection of menswear in the EMEA region, with its own pant wall. All of which makes clear (along with its partnership with designer Saul Nash) that Lululemon is an all-genders-welcome brand.

Charlotte Tilbury Beauty gains trust through empowerment.

Meanwhile, in London’s Covent Garden neighborhood, Charlotte Tilbury Beauty opened its largest flagship with many debut features. This location – by the makeup artist to celebrities and runway models – is both glamorous and empowering in bringing its brand to life. (Charlotte Tilbury describes it as “the beauty store of the future.”) Among Tilbury firsts are a Charlotte Tilbury Skin Spa and two event areas: the Pillow Talk Beauty Bar, which includes the Pillow Talk Parlour for special events; and the Beauty Boudoir, where guests can learn beauty tricks, join masterclasses or book bespoke beauty appointments. The flagship heralds these experiences in a positive voice (“flawless is a feeling!”) and with confidence-building product explainers and the freedom to test products side by side. As the brand puts it, “This is not just a store, it’s an escape to beauty innovation.”

Next up: Walmart wows ‘em in Texas.

Back here in the states, Walmart recently opened its first ground-up supercenter in four years, which it states is its first “Store of the Future.” Here, glamour comes in the form of technology: well-placed QR codes that provide shopper access to digital tools, resources and expanded product assortments; and a “baby tech” display of monitors, soothers and breast pumps. Glamour also comes in the form of care, with a health-services room off the pharmacy, a mother’s room and expanded vision-care services. And lastly, glamour at Walmart today means faster in-and-out trips, with 30-minute express delivery. Being Walmart, this supercenter is more transaction-forward than the community-building flagships above. However, this store exhibits an effort to elevate the Walmart brand experience when it’s needed. See you there soon.

What Tariff-Wary Retailers Can Learn from These Flagships

Opening flagships is pricy, of course, so we’ve parlayed these innovative Retail Safari® finds into more affordable strategies. Among them:

• Concentrate the brand experience into a pop-up. Pop-ups are popular for many reasons, and among the best (especially in 2025) is they can concentrate on one presently relevant aspect of the brand. It can be a product launch, an educational opportunity or aligned with a larger public event. The goal is to use the pop-up to bring the brand to life in a very big way – creating a moment in time that lasts.
• Stage community “flagship” events. Retailers can breathe fresh life into even their oldest brick locations by hosting area-unique community events consumers will find hard to resist. Think of cooking classes in supermarkets and fashion shows in department stores, but amped up to incorporate singularly local traditions, celebrations and celebrities. An event can be like a traveling flagship store, embodying all the excitement in an appointed time, and encouraging shoppers to want more.
• Focus on trust to bring the brand to life. According to our recent How America Shops® report “The Impact of TLC on Retail Sales (Trust. Loyalty. Caring.),” shoppers with high levels of brand trust are more likely than low-trust shoppers to try new brands – by 6 percentage points. In the midst of tariff chaos, retailers and brands can build trust by telling their customers how tariffs will affect different categories, what they are doing in response and offering strategies to help shoppers cope. That’s a flagship-worthy message.

The key to all of these is to keep the brand fresh in mind among price-beleaguered, tariff-wary consumers and replace their concerns with enduring feelings of goodwill and happiness.

Learn More: Book Your Tailored Retail Safari®

Turn your brick stores into brand-reviving flagships. Our retail experts can tailor a Retail Safari® exclusively for your store or brand or share the latest innovations from around the world. Contact us here to learn more.