International outdoor leisure brand Regatta has overhauled the visual merchandising strategy at its Manchester headquarters, with the help of Huddersfield-based display specialist Leach Impact. Regatta’s showroom is a regular destination for corporate customers, keen to be among the first to see what could soon adorn their retail shelves. But with footwear previously housed on a dark, permanent wooden wall, the 180sqft space struggled to do the hero products justice.

The brand has therefore invested in a 6.8m x 2.5m state-of-the-art bespoke display from Leach’s Product Wall Lite range. At only 65mm thick, the streamlined wall-mounted system integrates eye-catching graphics with ultra-bright LED illumination and slick magnetic shelving, for maximum impact as soon as a customer arrives. “Following an initial design consultation, we knew the team was interested in the flexibility of this graphics display alternative,” elaborated Dale Broadhead, Leach’s project lead.

“However, to meet the exact requirements of this brief, our in-house innovation team built a number of prototypes to evaluate how to best showcase Regatta’s footwear range.” The finished solution was then installed only one day, which included full magnetic assemble, graphic installation and 180 shelves added and aligned. Regatta’s marketing director Jo Hawkins expanded: “We were initially drawn to the system because of its brightness and large-format photographic quality.

But the construction of Product Wall Lite now allows us to change the graphics and products as often as we like, without any external input or specialist shop-fitting expertise. “This means we can refresh our showroom campaigns in line with the changing seasons, which should deliver an ongoing wow factor and a lasting impression, much more in-keeping with what we’re trying to achieve as a brand.”

On the back of positive feedback from visitors to the Manchester HQ, Regatta now plans to roll the Product Wall Lite system out into its store environments. Established in 1981 with a 12-strong team, Regatta now has 200 stores and concessions throughout the UK and operates in 55 countries worldwide.

Design: Leach