Q&A Gekko Creating British Brilliance Q
A &
A1 Retail chat to Peter Catchpole from Gekko Creative Display.
1. We LOVE your company name; what was the inspiration behind launching the company and what made you choose Gekko as the company name?
I'm not a designer but more of an observer who likes to
design.The magnetic shoe concept came about when I was considering teaming up with two colleagues, to sell our own new brand of footwear plus a range of other shoes in our own shop. I spent many months, in between other work, visiting small and large stores both in this country and a few abroad. In London, I sat outside a large,well known store and tried to compare and contrast with other shops around of how they differed from each other.
I walked around dozens of empty shops. The last one I viewed I waited for the agent to return to lock up. While he was away I started tapping the walls of the shop to see what was metal, plastic or wood and then the ring on my finger hit a piece of metal which echoed out. I thought ‐ 'magnets and magnetism' for displaying footwear. These walls now opened up and became a bare canvas to display footwear.
Shortly afterwards I had a holiday in Tobago, West Indies. During the evenings tiny lizards ran up the walls and across the ceilings. They stopped, started and turned around; the side view of them looked like the letter 'K' so the geckos turned into Gekko.
2. Your new magnetic shoe display system (featured recently in A1 Retail magazine) is innovative; how long did it take you from concept to finished product and what was the biggest challenge you faced? The journey from concept to product was very exciting but running parallel
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was sometimes a nightmare of an experience. The time frame would be four years to be granted a Patent in 2009. I was dipping in and out of the concept process from 2002 onwards. I did not have a clue about the retail world and aspects of it appeared as hostile, alien and untouchable. Thankfully, I met some amazingly helpful people who guided me into meeting other people.
3. How did you overcome it? The saving grace for me was listening to other small business owners. Each had their own story to tell and they told it freely. They had encountered the overbearing smiling consultant and the ones who spoke through gritted teeth. The conflict of interest consultants were probably the worst, as they laid it on with a trowel of how much they were going to help you.
In fairness, the biggest challenge is always yourself. In my particular case I suffer with dyslexia quite badly. In fact I have a love hate relationship with it; I love it when it allows me to be creative and is the best feeling in the world. It gives me energy, enthusiasm and a cacophony of thoughts and ideas. The downside is total frustration but the remedy is always to work and bang on as many doors as you can to get the answers for yourself ‐ I believe in blink and think every single day.
4. Has it been specified in any projects recently? If so, where?
At the moment most of the conversations from retailers and other people are out of interest and curiosity. I understand it fully and thank them for their comments and good wishes. There are two shoe shops who are considering a refit and weighing up the
Contact
Gekko Creative Display +44 (0)208 240 0834
www.gekkocreativedisplay.co.uk
www.a1retailmagazine.com
options of our system against the standard display system normally used. I do hope of just some involvement of what they are doing; even if it was just a few of our 'wall shapes' in the shop or in the window space.
5. What can we expect in the future from Gekko?
It is necessary to take one step at a time and build up to convex, concave and abstract shapes. My particular interest is with a combination of materials as a mix'n'match with plastic; metal; timber and every other possibility. Steam bending and twisting timber into sweeping curves and exciting shapes; imagine slithers of polished brass and ceramic inserts with beautiful shoes dotted around the display stands. Driftwood off the beaches and other recycled timber and materials.
On a final note, we do admire all other display systems because it makes the retail environment fluid and flexible and creative. It is often a great experience walking through most of the shopping centres around the country. The splashes of light, shade and colour with the architectural brilliance and in‐store designers offering a staggering selection of near perfection ‐ for us it is an emotional trip.
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