What is a shop? It is what those behind the counter share with their customers, it is that common experience, a series of more or less successful attempts at communicating ideas, needs, interests, passions, obsessions, dreams.
We think that there is something extremely rich and dynamic in the notion that people, all kinds of people, from all kinds of backgrounds, are walking through our doors on a daily basis, looking for something, not always sure as to what they are looking for. More often than not, these people are more knowledgeable with regards to their areas of interest than we are, or could ever hope to be. And this keeps us going. A shop feeds on feedback. It thrives on people's responses, on their enthusiasm and their frustration, on their ideas of what is good or bad, on what they buy and what they don't buy. A shop is unthinkable without that highly stimulating flow, individuals walking in with their ideas, with their more or less intense curiosity, their various personal concerns, their quirks, their calm or manic energy, their unique point of view.
Imagine a shop as a vial in which more or less volatile substances mix to release energy. Ultimately, walking into Magma should be like walking into a thermometer, an instrument indicating ‘where things are at' at a certain point in time and space. Not because we think so, but as a result of that process, of that retail alchemy: the power of people walking through the door, making suggestions, connecting, rejecting, reacting, interacting, over-reacting. This is the essence of what we do: to try and capture some of that influx and crystallize it into a retail environment.
Can't this thing we call ‘shopping' be changed into a rich and inspiring activity? Isn't that why we go out wandering through the streets in the first place, for a breath of fresh air? To use that dreaded term, can't retail be more creative ? We believe the answer is yes. Though we're not quite there. In fact, we're not even sure as to whether we will make it at all. But, with your help, we will certainly give it a go.
Watch this space.