Nike has opened the world’s first ever Nike+ FuelStation, launching at London’s Boxpark – a ‘temporary’ pop-up mall.
For the record, Boxpark strips and refits shipping containers to create “low cost, low risk, ‘box shops’”, and puts them together with a mix of international fashion and lifestyle brands, galleries and cafés. Its basic building blocks are movable, so they can – and will – literally ‘pop-up’ anywhere in the world.
That said, Nike tells us that it has a 5-year lease sorted for its digitally-focused store, so it may not be as short-term as you’d first imagine. So, what’s the store all about? See for yourself here:
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The FuelStation has been built with the technologist-athlete in mind. This means that Nike+ is very much the order of the day – the idea is that you can show up at the store and get kitted out with all the correct running gear and associated products such as the Nike+ FuelBand. But the store itself is a full-on interactive experience.
There’s a motion-sensitive installation that lets visitors see a life-size, digitized reflection of themselves on an LCD wall. This reacts to movement, and the resulting digital art can be shared with your friends across your social networks.
There are also iPads fitted into the walls, letting visitors peruse for information on Nike products and the Nike+ Run Club sessions. Nike will be operating weekly run clubs, which are free and open to all East London runners.
On a more practical level, there’s also an in-store treadmill which gives potential customers the chance to be fitted for the right shoe to suite their running style.
The FuelStation was designed in-house by Nike, and it’s certainly a sensory experience. It blends a futuristic ‘Back to the Future 2-style’ layout with features inspired by the first ever Nike store, which opened in Oregon, USA, in 1973.
Nike has also opened a NIKEiD Studio just above the FuelStation on the first floor at Boxpark, where you can design and customize your own (Nike) footwear.
Meanwhile, read our hands-on review of the new Nike+ FuelBand.
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