Entry deadline extended: Friday 13 June 2008
Food and supermarket design of the year
The judges will be looking for a supermarket design that is fit for purpose, exhibits all-round design and layout excellence and meets the approval of its most severe critics - its customers. The store that is nominated must sell food, as well as the many other categories that we now accept as typical of the sector.
Health and beauty design of the year
Increasingly, shoppers are looking for an experience when they enter a health and beauty store and at any but the most basic level, there's more to this form of retailing than the mere provision of merchandise. To win this category you will need to demonstrate a store format that looks glamorous, takes money and which shoppers come back to.
Fashion retail interior of the year
Fashion merchandise demands a fashionable environment and this award will go to a shop that best interprets the requirements and aspirations of those in search of cutting-edge style. The judges will look to see how the store environment supports the fashion brand.
Department store interior of the year
This award recognises one of the UK's most vibrant sectors and the contribution made by its players to the retail landscape. Entries can be either from a department within a store or for an entire store, but must show retail theatre in the best sense of the term.
Best VM solution
The best-designed store and the most appealing product ranges can all come to nothing if the visual merchandising is not up to scratch. The winner of this award will have to show that the way in which products are displayed and laid out has led to improved sales. The category also includes show-stopping windows that pull shoppers in from the street.
Best small shop
To qualify for entry, a store must be under 200 sq m and should be both innovative and demonstrably successful. This is an award that has consistently garnered some of the most interesting UK store designs and has always attracted the greatest number of entries.
Best edge-of-town/out-of-town store
An award for the most outstanding interior in a retail 'shed' environment. Making the most of an essentially sterile shell is challenge for any retailer. Entries should aim to demonstrate that the store design gives shoppers reasons for visiting rather than merely being environments to be endured.
Best international retail interior
This is the only award for international entries, irrespective of whether a store design originated in the UK or elsewhere, and can be from any retail sector. As in all other categories, the judges will be looking for an outstanding design coupled with commercial success.
Shopfitting excellence award
The best shopfitting makes a good store supreme. In this category the judges will be looking for shopfitters that demonstrate excellence in terms of fabrication, finish and translation of design ideas.
NEW - Green store of the year
A green retail interior needn't wear its heart on its sleeve - being environmentally-friendly does not have to mean a windmill at every turn. The judges will be looking for evidence of a proactive approach to new material use, sustainability and a tangible reduction in emissions when deciding which retailer will scoop this award.
NEW - Retail destination of the year
New shopping centres and retail developments continue to spring almost fully-formed out of the ground every year. But to win this award, developers or centre owners will have to prove that the scheme they have worked on is not only different but has managed to attract customers. Refurbished centres are also eligible to apply.
NEW - Best in-store catering and hospitality
For many retailers, a restaurant or cafe is as much a part of the retail mix as the stock that is on sale. Retailers continue to find new ways of keeping shoppers in their stores and the best restaurants are those that combine a fine-looking interior with a pragmatic approach to the shop environment of which they are part. The winner will be a retailer with a restaurant that manages to do both.
Retail interiors'store-fit company of the year
An award that recognises consistent excellence, both in terms of bottom line progress and good reports from retailers. This will be given to the shopfitter that in the opinion of the judges meets both of these criteria.
Best UK retail interior
Awarded by the judges as the 'best of the best', this is the premier accolade at the Retail Interior awards. To stand a chance of winning you simply need to enter a store interior for one of the other award categories and it will automatically become a contender for this award. The winner will be a store that has raised profits as well as profile.
