CASE STUDY
Fortnum & Mason
Founded in 1707, Fortnum & Mason is one of Britain's most treasured institutions. From its home on Piccadilly, it has spent over three centuries setting the standard for quality, craftsmanship, and occasion. Its Christmas shop is perhaps the most celebrated expression of that, drawing visitors from around the world each year to experience what the store does better than anyone: making the festive season feel genuinely magical.
The Relationship
Eaton Square's relationship with Fortnum & Mason stretches back to around 2007, when we were first appointed to supply and install the carpet across the store's ground floor. In the years since, we have returned to carry out further installations, each one a reflection of the trust Fortnum & Mason places in the quality of our work and the consistency of our service. It is a relationship we are proud to have maintained with a client of this standing over such a long period of time.
The Brief
Beyond the ground floor, Eaton Square was also briefed to create bespoke flooring for the festive season, supplying carpet for the staircase leading into the Christmas shop and a rug for the entrance of the shop itself. With the Christmas shop opening as early as August, Fortnum & Mason's preparations begin long before the decorations go up, and the flooring had to be ready to match the theatre of the space from the very first day.
Two distinct spaces required two distinct solutions.
Our Approach
For the staircase leading into the Christmas shop, a custom Axminster carpet was designed and dyed to match Fortnum & Mason's signature red Pantone. Getting the colour right was everything. That particular shade of red is as recognisable as any logo, and anything short of an exact match would have undermined the effect entirely. Axminster's pre-dyed yarn system made this possible, colouring the full length of each strand rather than the surface alone, so the richness of the colour holds from the first step to the last.
Robust & Dependable
Axminster was also the right structural choice for a staircase in a high-profile retail environment. Its woven construction is robust and dependable, performing consistently under the kind of footfall a flagship Piccadilly store generates across an entire festive season.
For the entrance rug within the Christmas shop itself, Eaton Square specified their Maxima Twist carpet. Twist pile construction tightens each individual fibre, creating a surface that is highly resilient under heavy foot traffic while adding a subtle texture that catches the light and gives the floor a richness of its own. In a space already filled with colour, pattern, and detail, the rug needed to hold its own without competing, and the Maxima Twist did exactly that.
The Result
Across nearly two decades, Eaton Square has become part of the fabric of one of London's most iconic stores. The flooring we have supplied and installed over multiple visits has been walked on by countless thousands of customers, many of them returning year after year just as we have.
In retail environments of this calibre, every detail matters. It is a standard Fortnum & Mason has always held, and one we are proud to have met consistently.
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