Taking one of the worlds finest architects, London's most reputed restaurateur and Milan's finest baker is a path to my kind of retail experience. Princi took this triumvirate and forgot about the customer journey. Result - the most incredibly slick shop, lip smacking food, bread to die for and an awful experience.
I've been to Princi three times now, I'm willing it to work. I want it to succeed. John Pawson is one of my favourite architects, his true minimalist style and use of sexed up materials is a joy. But maybe he was the wrong man. Signage seems to be a criminal act in a minimal world - Princi lays the signs down flat so as not to break the line of a surface; the flies are the only ones who know where to go. The tills are hidden under a wealth of marble beauty. Customers just stand around wondering where to pay.
And the customer journey?
It felt like I was stranded eternally on a P&O ferry, eating for necessity from an 1970's canteen. You pick up your Tepid Cannellini from one place, then queue for a side salad from another, a coffee ? over there, a breaded treat? over there. Then you try and pay and maybe sit down.
If you visit Princi and eat your food while it's still hot and before your headache starts buy a lottery ticket. Today is your lucky day.
I nearly forgot - the Armani clad staff ignore you, chat amognst themselves in Italian, never smile and look fantastic. Reminds me of a trip to Milan I once endured.
