D-ASH Design completed the new Godiva flagship boutique on New York's 5th Avenue, the first shop in the U.S. featuring Godiva's new global redesign.
The opening of this flagship store marks the highly anticipated return of the chocolatier to 5th Avenue, as the first Godiva boutique in the U.S. opened on the same avenue in 1972. The 1,024 square foot shop features a stunning street level window that suggests the degree of detail one can expect both in Godiva's decadent Belgian chocolate confections as well as in the decor of the flagship boutique that houses them.
The d-ash design team (led by David Ashen) partnered with Linda Lombardi, Godiva's Vice President of Global Store Design & Visual Merchandising, to create the new concepts, which brings a more luxurious, immersive retail environment to the company's worldwide operations. Together, Lombardi and Ashen have fashioned an eye-catching aesthetic that pays tribute to Godiva's venerable Belgian heritage while presenting a fresh face to the world, with clean, modern interiors where as Ashen puts it "chocolate is the star."
The interiors are characterized by handsome wood accents and bright creams, rendered in an array of rich materials, and an elegantly backlit Lady Godiva emblem overlooks the shop from behind the cashier's wall, an homage to the brand's tradition.
"Our objective was to make the consumer feel totally surrounded, in a sense, not just by chocolate itself but by all the emotions that chocolate conjures-pleasure, indulgence, comfort," said Ashen. "Everywhere you turn there's a different way to enjoy Godiva, a different type of chocolate encounter."