A quickie with TOMS in London

This is just a quickie, we visited the new flagship store for TOMS today in London and we liked it so much we wanted to share it with the world.

 

Pretend for a moment you don’t know anything about TOMS . . . walking into their new flagship store, the interior is welcoming and considered in all respects.  Grab an (amazing) coffee, browse the product and it’s just now you will begin to notice an underlying sense of honesty and dedication to their cause.  It’s up to you how much you want to know about how TOMS works,  the humble and thoughtful approach definitely is refreshing.  Once you do a lap of the store and admire the amazing yet informative illustration, you will be blown away by this brand and what they stand for.  

 

TOMS // The TOMS Story from Giant Ant on Vimeo.

Just one (of many) amazing facts we learnt: Each bag of TOMS Roasting Co. Coffee sold provides 140 litres of safe water, a week's supply, to a person in need.

Whether or not you support what TOMS stands for, this store is unique and the products are great (did we mention the coffee?).   The fact they also have incorporated helping those in need so seamlessly into the retail model, makes us wonder why are there not more brands like TOMS.

Could this be the beginning of changing the perception to non-profit retail in the UK???

Turning Charity on its head

We all do it! We go to a shopping mall empty handed and leave with bags of shiny new things, some of us wondering what just happened and how did I afford all this!?

Brazilian advertising agency Loducca is radically encouraging a change in this habit. 'A Loja Vazia' or 'The Empty Shop' first popped up in a mall in Sao Paulo last year with the simple instruction – 'bring clothes to the shop instead of taking them from the shop'.

The reason? To collect clothes to help those in need.  An innovative new way of approaching charity and the collection of clothing donations, 'A Loja Vazia' is a sleek pop-up store that starts as literally an empty shop in the middle of a mall acting as a drop-off for donated clothing.

Stylists man the shop each day and create fashionable displays of the donated clothes as if the store were a typical high-street fashion store. The store is emptied each night ready for the next days donations and the process begins again. The result? Well, VillaLobos mall managed to collect 3.2 tons of clothes and help thousands of people in need!

Amazingly, the project has been designed as an open-source platform meaning any individual or company can access the plans, communications campaign and all other details for free!

'A Loja Vazia' has already hit the UK, with the first popping up in Manchester's Arndale in  earlier this year.

Who would of it thought, charity becoming premium!