RETAIL therapy

Situated inside a newly refurbished and expanded Sainsbury’s store in the busy town of Redhill in Surrey, So Me offers a range of results-driven beauty services to time-poor shoppers. The salon, which opened in March 2019, is the latest in a chain of six “urban spas”in prime locations in and around London, such as Clapham, Colliers Wood, Bloomsbury and Boxpark in Croydon.

Though the new Redhill venture differs in concept to the rest of the cluster, with a beauty bar concept and pareddown treatment menu, including threading, express lashes, nail and waxing services, and a foot spa area, it aims to provide the same tranquil environment and service level experienced in all So Me branches.

In the early stages of the project Vijay Treohan, founder of So Me, realised that, given its supermarket home, the salon’s design would be critical to its success in attracting potential clients. Treohan approached spa and salon furniture brand REM to help him achieve his goal of creating a tranquil atmosphere amidst the buzz.

“When we were given an opportunity to create a small beauty services salon within Sainsbury’s at Redhill, we knew that we wanted to create an ‘oasis of calm’, which is not easy to do in a busy supermarket,”says Treohan.

“Our design remit was to keep the look and feel aligned with the rest of the brand within the smaller space available. We wanted to create different areas for the each of the services offered and a reception area that would feel welcoming to clients.”

Colour coordination

Treohan worked directly with REM on the project, having first met the team at Professional Beauty London in 2012. “We’ve turned to them for all of our salon furniture needs ever since,”says Treohan.

Complementing the teal colour palette used in the So Me chain, Michigan Elm laminate was selected alongside plush Galaxy fabric from REM’s Premier range, in the rich Truffle shade. The earthy tones in the darker laminate and fabric were chosen to evoke a sense of the natural world as well as for their practicality in terms of keeping the interiors clean and fresh. “We chose this combination because it worked well together, and we felt that it would be easy to maintain as well as endure the test of time,”explains Treohan.

Bespoke So Me Pedibooths were created for the salon and REM’s Concorde nail bars, Lunar make-up units and a Lunar reception area were installed, providing workspaces with a high-end finish. REM’s Magnum chairs and Dune washunits completed the look.