EV Maker Rivian Reinvents Stuffy Car Dealerships Into Inviting Lifestyle Stores
Gone are the days when drivers would head over to a car dealership to pick out the vehicle of their choice. Now, automakers are curating specially-designed spaces to showcase the best they have to offer.
In recent months, Aston Martin has unveiled a luxury flagship store that lets customers visualize their dream vehicle on demand, while Tesla showed off its ‘Giga Lab’ concept store that swiftly builds cars in just 45 seconds.
Electric vehicle maker Rivian is no different. The company has just opened the first of several brick-and-mortar showrooms, hoping to allow drivers to “get to know” the brand in real life by offering a unique space “for exploration.”
Situated in New York City’s Meatpacking District, the store is purposefully designed to be “casual and inviting,” so anyone who walks past it will feel comfortable enough to walk through its doors and learn more about the automaker’s offerings.
This is certainly a departure from the typical formal and stuffy aesthetic associated with automotive showrooms and dealerships, taking on the form of a “family-friendly environment” that allows customers to learn more about the cars at their own leisurely pace.
Just like the environmentally-friendly cars it produces, Rivian took special care in creating Spaces to leave behind as little carbon footprint as possible. For the New York store, the company opted for modular components that could be easily moved instead of going with a structural buildout.
Soon, more Rivian Spaces will pop up across the country, including one in a converted movie theater in downtown Laguna Beach, California, and a 10,000-square-foot indoor-outdoor showroom in Austin, Texas, complete with a rooftop patio.
“Our Spaces are an invitation to get up close and personal with our electric adventure vehicles. Come in and kick the tires, pop the Gear Tunnel, touch the seats—maybe even take one for a spin,” the automaker said.
[via Design Milk and Trend Hunter, images via Rivian]
