EO Exchange was conceived as both a boutique retail shop and a place for the community to gather and share information about healthy living. EO produces a line of high-end natural and organic bath, beauty, and home products. This is their first retail outlet, occupying a 400-square-foot storefront in Mill Valley, California. The store’s interior balances restrained modern design with the visual clarity of the merchandise. A clean, neutral palette lets the colored packaging of EO’s products become a feature within the design.
Existing dark concrete floors were polished to a sheen and reclaimed oak lumber crafted into display shelves framed by recessed aluminum boxes. Anchoring the center of the compact space is a 10-foot-long aluminum community table, designed as a place for transactions and where customers can create their own fragrances, bath salts, and other formulations with the help of EO’s staff. At the front of the store, glass-fronted drawers display bulk bath salts, dried flowers, and herbs. At the rear, customers can pump their favorite lotions, soaps, and shampoos into reusable containers at a custom “refilling station.” Vintage glass labware and apothecary jars above the product pumps add a historic touch.
