ReStor is a conceptual department store that promotes a stylish life, while building a community around sustainability and responsible consumption. At ReStor, departments are organized by the items’ provenance. Present, the ground floor, offers sustainably manufactured goods. Past, the sub-level, presents a wide range of curetted vintage products. Future, the second floor, employs the latest technology to produce bespoke items to suit customer needs, from 3D printed objects to the premium service of customized refurbishing tailoring.

To enhance the shopping experience, or if you’re just looking to enjoy some time immersed in nature without leaving the city, ReStor includes an outdoor café serving fair trade, free range and locally sourced meals. Many of the ingredients are grown in the ReStor community garden. Customers can earn in-store credit for volunteering their time toward taking care of the garden.

The inspiration behind ReStor was driven by brand and business performance analysis. Through our brand performance audit and ACCID test we determined that department stores are doing a very good job of pedaling others’ goods, but they are lacking in their own identity. From a brand perspective department stores are generally homogenous. There are tiers within the sector ranging from luxury to affordability, but within those tiers there is very little differentiation. For instance, what is the difference between Nordstrom, Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus? From the consumer point of view, they all seem the same.

The business performance audit identified three main gaps in the quality of service provision within the department store sector. These gaps include the service quality gap, service delivery gap, and a knowledge gap. What department store management needs to understand is that consumers are not simply looking for goods, but they want a partner in their shopping experience. Friends are not always available to shop with one another in today’s fast paced world, so it is the responsibility of the department store to become not only a partner in shopping, but an authority on individuals’ style. Doing so helps meet customers’ needs and increase service value.

These insights lead to the development of ReStor and many of its innovative facilitating and enhancing services. To name a few, these are mobile self-checkout, information and history of items beyond-the-tag, and personalized styling and curation. Detailed customer profiles allow ReStor stylists to inform customers of not just deals and sales, but about items they will cherish.

At the core of the ReStor philosophy is sustainability. Items in the Present section of the store are new to the world, but sustainably produced with locally sourced materials by local manufacturers. Items produced in the Future section are repurposed from customers’ existing worn out clothes, as well as 3D printed using recycled and recyclable plastic. Items of the Past include quality luxury clothes and housewares that might be found in a consignment shop on the Upper East Side. By using customer profiles, ReStor stylists are able to find these items new appropriate homes where the items will be used rather than collecting dust in a warehouse. Through these methods, ReStor constantly strives to achieve triple bottom line productivity and provide Good Shopping Karma.