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Retailer’s ‘No Noise’ effort strips logos, creates silent room

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Suffering from brand fatigue? Too many product labels screaming for your attention? One major department store is going hush-hush, stripping famous items of their logos and implementing a silence room and meditation spaces for shoppers.

British department store Selfridges — think of it as London’s version of Bloomingdales in New York — is rolling out its “No Noise” campaign, which it calls “an initiative that goes beyond retail.”

“As we become increasingly bombarded with information and stimulation, the world is becoming a noisier place,” Selfridges’ website states. The company asked consumers to “celebrate the power of quiet, see the beauty in function and find calm among the crowds.”

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Selfridges put in a so-called silence room in its Oxford Street store in London. The space, a reincarnation of the room included by founder Harry Gordon Selfridge when the retailer launched in 1909, offers shoppers an “insulated inner sanctum, shielded from the noise and human traffic of the store.”

The haven is covered in monochrome gray and features benches and soothing lights. Elsewhere in the store, customers can retreat into Headspace meditation pods, equipped with headphones to block out the surrounding bustle.

Selfridges also sought to “pay homage to minimalist design” by stripping some uber-popular products of their logos. Brands including Levi’s, Heinz, Marmite and Beats by Dre agreed to sell “exclusive collector’s items” produced sans labels in Selfridge’s “Quiet Shop.”

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