Years ago, the appeal of outdoor lifestyle apparel was limited to hardcore adventure enthusiasts but now the active wear market is growing and attracting a wider range of consumers. At lifestyle clothing retailer Higher Ground, we wanted to attract a broader range of clientele. To showcase the personality of the store, we gave it a branded, identifiable and memorable look.

In keeping with the store’s outdoor active lifestyle theme, we brought the outside in. We chose many natural finishes: distressed wood floors, natural slate tile, and exposed brick walls. (Existing brick walls were found during the construction process so we kept them exposed.)

Throughout the store, we leveraged the warmth and natural feeling of wood in many ways. Mennonites made the display tables using reclaimed wood from old barns. Barn board and Kirei board – manufactured from renewable or reclaimed agricultural by-products – are used on the shoe wall. The cash desk is faced with wooden logs cut into slices. More cut logs are displayed in the shoe department (reused from a felled city tree). And there is a stacked wood wall treatment in the display window.

Behind the cash desk we hung photographs of mountain ranges with the same profile as the company logo taken during different seasons, which can be switched out depending on the time of year.