Optiker Jacobsen

When considering the design, format and flow of a shop floor, there are several important factors to take into account. Primarily, you must create a layout that is functional, inviting and attractive, to entice customers through the door to browse and try items on. Next, you need to provide an environment that motivates employees to work hard and perform well. Finally, the square footage should be used wisely to maximise the product offering, show it off in all its glory and, in turn, add fuel to the sales potential.

Choosing the right flooring is vital when it comes to achieving these goals. In equal parts, it must be aesthetically pleasing, durable, easy to clean and maintain, cost efficient and able to withstand high levels of customer footfall.

Optiker Jacobsen provides eye tests to customers and stocks a wide range of premium quality and luxury designer eyewear. Knowing that their patients see buying glasses as a significant and deeply personal purchase, they wanted to create a space where people would feel comfortable taking an eye test and spending time at their leisure selecting the glasses that suit them most.

The company’s premises are located within a building owned by real estate firm Pellerin AS, which  reopened its doors to the public following a comprehensive retrofit. Following the refurbishment, Optiker Jacobsen’s unique shop premises are now filled with design-led touches all specially designed to enhance the consumer experience.

Designed by architect firm Niels Torp AS, the store’s interior is fitted out with white-pigmented wood, complete with beautiful details that are repeated on the counter and in the exhibition stands. The store has large window surfaces which face street level, and boasts carefully selected lighting that brings out the warm glow in the wooden elements and illuminates the room during the darker hours in Tromsø.

In particular, flooring played a major role in the delivery of the Optiker Jacobsen store when it came to matching the overall look and feel. The team chose to install a timeless concrete shade from Polyflor’s Expona Simplay collection, which is designed to add creative flair to commercial areas. Its durability and superior aesthetic, which replicates the natural beauty of stone, make it the ideal choice for a modern shop floor and it comes complete with a wide range of colour choices.

Polyflor supplied 4,000 m2 of Expona Simplay in Dark Grey Concrete throughout the premises. The technical specification of Expona Simplay, with its high performance, slip resistance and ease of maintenance, makes it ideally suited to a bustling retail space.

A representative from Polyflor said: “Flooring design plays an important role in retail and within shop premises. People want to feel comfortable in their surroundings, particularly when they are making important purchasing decisions which might result in a significant spend.

“We worked closely with Niels Torp AS Architects, as well as end users and contractors, to advise on the technical specifications and design qualities of Expona Simplay as this dynamic project unfolded.

“This has resulted in an attractive shop space that draws customers in, while making them feel at ease. It’s also great to know that beyond the aesthetics, the flooring will serve a practical purpose as customers stream in and out.”

Optiker Jacobsen owner Stig Jacobsen added: “We were all really happy with the renovation process and the flooring looks wonderful and complements the overall space beautifully. The design and quality of this flooring is phenomenal, and it was also easy to install. In fact, Pellerin AS were so pleased with the flooring that they decided to also use it across their other projects in the future.”