Tampa, Florida

The Background
In 2004, Liz Claiborne, the owners of the Sigrid Olsen brand, engaged Pompei A.D. to give the store’s Tampa, Florida location a new look and feel. Sigrid Olsen was founded in 1984 in Rockport, Maine, was acquired by Liz Claiborne in 1999, and features 48 locations in the United States, two locations in Canada and is sold in more than 700 specialty stores nationwide.

The project presented a special collaborative opportunity for the creative team at Pompei A.D. An accomplished artist by trade, Sigrid’s distinctive line of women’s wear featuring brilliant colors and depth of detail is familiar to women around the world. Key to her popularity as a brand has been the clear and honest translation of Sigrid’s artistic sensibility and unique viewpoint into clothing. That spirit needed to be conveyed in an equally as expressive and authentic retail environment. The Concept
The inspiration and concept for the store began, of all places, in Sigrid Olsen’s kitchen. Pompei A.D. staff and the Liz Claiborne team visited Olsen’s house outside of Boston for dinner, and were immediately struck by the warmth and vibrancy of her personal space. Says Colin Brice, Director of Architecture and Design at Pompei A.D: “Her studio and her house are beautiful, alive, places that are filled with art but not at all like the beauty of a museum, which can be stale and clean. Sigrid’s was a hub of energy, activity, color, and space.”

Pompei A.D. clearly understood Sigrid as a dynamic and creative artist. On an artist-to-artist level, Pompei A.D. worked to express and celebrate that innate creativity. Pompei A.D.’s goal in designing the Tampa space was to also move a step beyond and share Sigrid’s creativity to the extent that the customer is inspired to recognize and celebrate herself as a creative individual.

To support warmth and connection, Pompei A.D. developed the Tampa store as a residential concept. The space was designed to invite, welcome and embrace visitors with the graciousness and style of Sigrid’s own personal environment and home as a starting point.

The Design
The front of the store resembles a welcoming back porch more than the entrance to a retail outlet, and features blue clapboard siding, large bay windows, and folding glass doors. Front doors lead to a lounge area, or the “living room” with a couch and coffee table to one side. The store’s center, designed to evoke the idea of a welcoming kitchen, serves as the social hub. To reinforce the theme on the most granular level, Pompei A.D. built refrigerators into the cash registers so that staff would be able to serve lemonade or water to customers. In the back, studio-like space, similar to Olsen’s painting studio at home, features an easel and a worktable – but in this case, the surface of which is used not to display paints and art materials, but clothing. The far end of the store features a sitting room, analogous to a more intimate space such as a bedroom, and with softer lighting. Sigrid’s one-of-a kind watercolors, handprints and artistic expressions are found throughout.

Notes Brice: “This really isn’t a store that is about shopping fast and leaving. It’s like your best friend’s home; a comfortable place to relax and experience the environment, shop and expose yourself to a little bit of tranquility, a little art, a break from the day.”

The Result
Based on the success of the Tampa location, Pompei A.D. worked with Sigrid Olsen again on one another store in a 4,000 foot space on West Broadway in the SoHo section of Manhattan, one of New York City’s busiest shopping areas. The store opened to the public in late summer of 2006.