sure both our kid and adult customers were catered to, and that the space felt true to our brand and Aussie roots,” Nicky Moulder, Cotton On Kids brand director, told Inside Retail.  “Our brand has nearly 20 years of kids’ retail experience and 162 standalone stores across the world; this gives us unique insight into our customer that was invaluable in the design process,” she continued. Cotton On Kids set out to create a new concept store that touches on nostalgia for its grown-up customer and sparks imagination for its kids customers. It drew inspiration from old Australian milk bars for an immersive and engaging shopping experience that is tailored to both its customer demographics.  “For us, it always comes back to our customer – how can we continue to deliver an incredible experience for both grown-ups and kids,” Moulder explained. “The global retail environment is ever changing, and as a brand, we’re always staying ahead of the market in terms of delivering a global-leading kids fashion retail experience,” she added. Taking store design to new heights  Children’s wear stores, like Cotton On Kids, face the unique challenge of trying to appeal to two entirely different demographics: grown-ups and children. “We were conscious of shopping heights and eye level,” Rob Hede, general manager of Cotton On brand operations, told Inside Retail. “It sounds simple but where could we engage our little customer, with colour, interest, fun, activities and elevate the experience for our parent or adult customer, with textures and finishes that deliver an authentic milk-bar and lean into the heritage of Cotton On Australia,” he continued.  This included the Cotton On store experience team internally creating a story hotline, for kids to sit down and listen to stories from an old school ‘kidified’ pay-phone – the team records new stories each month, leaning into what’s relevant for its community.  However, according to Hede, the Highpoint Cotton On Kids will not remain stagnant; the brand has plans to continue elevating the concept store with a continuing range of in-store theatre across the season, ranging from Geelong-inspired milk-bar goods to a shopfront filled with lolly-coloured plush toys. Cotton On Kids is ready to roll out the concept across Australian and International store locations. It already opened a second new concept store in Airport West, Melbourne and Mall of Africa in Johannesburg, South Africa and has plans to refurbish three more stores in the coming months. “We are committed to elevating our stores across the country, and know how hard (and fun) shopping with kids can be,” Hede stated. “We want a space that delivers a great experience for all our customers, making it easy on the parent or gift-giver to find what they need with ease, inspire with great outfitting and do it all in a space that pulls on the nostalgia and heritage of Aussie milk-bar.” The launch of the Milkbar concept store coincided with the launch of Cotton On Kids’ new platform, Fun Day Club. “We wanted to deepen our brand connection beyond the product with our customer and we know parenting is a team sport, so we are creating a community that supports parents to connect with their kids and share the reality of raising children, from the fun moments to the sometimes messy ones,” Moulder explained. “We also wanted to support the Fun Day Club platform with a dedicated product range that will be recognisable in all playgrounds around the world,” she added. However, the launch of Cotton On Kids’ new concept store and brand platform to cement itself as a retail destination hasn’t taken the brand’s focus off product innovation. “We’re focused on delivering quality, on-trend product and creating immersive, multi-channel brand moments that build customer loyalty to drive long-term growth,” Moulder concluded “From a product perspective, we inspire the imagination of our young customers with cool, confident fits, and for parents, giving them what they know their kids will love at great quality.”