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Home / Projects / Kenyan fashion store, 3,200mm display runs
FASHION RETAIL, KENYA - DELIVERED 2025
A fashion store built at 3,200mm.
A clothing store fitted out as joinery rather than shop-fitting: display runs taken to 3,200mm, lit shelves and a brushed metal rail system, low counters at 900mm, plus the wall panels, flooring and lighting bought on the same order.
Commercial · Kenya · 2025 · Commercial & hospitality
The brief
Retail joinery is measured in sightlines, not in millimetres.
A shop is not a room with cabinets in it. Every run in a store is read from the door, in perspective, at walking speed - so the important dimension is not the width of a cabinet but where its top line lands in the view from the entrance. This store was drawn as one continuous display wall plus a low counter island, which is why the tall runs are all at the same height and the low units all sit below eye level.
What made it hard
3,200mm is taller than most shop-fitting systems go.
Standard retail systems top out around 2,400mm because that is what fits a standard shop unit and a standard ladder. This store has the volume for more, so the display runs were taken to 3,200mm - which means a taller carcass than a stock system, more shelf positions, and a rail that has to carry a full season of garments without the run deflecting. The rails are brushed metal on a fixed bracket rather than a slot-in system, because a slot-in rail starts to sag once the load varies along it.
One tall wall, one low island, one floor.
The tall wall is a timber-fronted run at 3,200mm with lit shelves and open rails; the island is a pair of 900mm counters facing each other so the staff have a work surface and the customer has somewhere to put a bag down. The floor is SPC in a marble pattern, which is a practical choice for a shop: it takes a trolley, it does not need sealing, and it reads as stone from standing height.
- Display runs H 3,200mm, 18mm E0 particleboard carcass, melamine faced
- Counters H 900mm, two units facing each other
- Detail unit lacquered MDF, matched to the display fronts
- Rails brushed metal on fixed brackets, not a slot-in system
- Wall flexible stone panels, 600 x 1,200 x 3mm
- Floor SPC in a marble pattern
The build
Display, counter, seating.
3,200MM DISPLAY RUN
900MM COUNTERS
2COUNTER UNITS
2025DELIVERED
Spec
What was built.
| Location | Kenya |
| Year | 2025 |
| Sector | Commercial - fashion retail |
| Scope | Display runs, counters, detail unit, wall panels, flooring, lighting |
| Board | 18mm E0 particleboard, melamine faced |
| Wall | flexible stone, 600 x 1,200 x 3mm |
| Floor | SPC, marble pattern |
| Height | 3,200mm display runs, 900mm counters |
The brief was one fit-out rather than one cabinet order: wall panels, flooring, lighting, AV and curtains were quoted alongside the joinery so the store opened on one delivery.
Factory to site
How the project ran.
Week 0 - Site survey
Shop measured to the entrance sightline, not just to the wall, because the display height is read from the door.
Weeks 1-2 - Shop drawings
Display wall, counters and detail unit drawn as one set so the front faces share a line.
Weeks 2-4 - Production
Carcasses cut and edged, rails bracketed, lighting detailed into the shelf run.
Weeks 4-6 - Packing
Flat-packed and marked by zone - wall, counter, fitting area - for a quick fit-out.
Weeks 6-10 - Shipping and install
Shipped and installed on site, with the flooring and wall panels on the same order.
Production & export
Quoted as a fit-out, so the store opens once.
The most expensive part of a retail fit-out is the trading days lost, not the joinery. Everything visible in this store - the display wall, the counters, the wall panels, the floor, the lighting - was quoted as one package so it arrived together and the shop closed once instead of three times. It is the same sequencing logic as the supermarket and restaurant programme, applied to a single store.
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FAQ
This project, in plain answers.
Why build display runs at 3,200mm rather than 2,400mm?
Because the store has the volume and the sightline to carry it. A taller run gives more shelf positions and a taller rail, but it also needs a taller carcass and a rail that does not deflect - which is why it is built rather than bought from a slot-in system.
Why use fixed brackets instead of a slotted rail system?
A slot-in rail starts to sag once the load varies along its length, and in a clothing store the load varies constantly. Fixed brackets hold the rail on a known centre, so a heavy end does not pull the run out of line.
How is retail lighting handled?
Detailed into the shelf run rather than added after installation - the light sits at the front edge of the shelf so it washes the product and not the wall behind it.
Can the wall panels and flooring come on the same order?
Yes, and on a retail fit-out they should. Wall panels, SPC flooring, lighting and curtains were quoted with the joinery so the store closed once for one delivery instead of three times for three.
Is flexible stone a practical wall finish in a shop?
It is a 3mm stone-powder panel, so it is light, cuts with a knife and takes a knock without chipping like a rigid slab. It reads as stone at standing height, which is what matters in a retail interior.
What is the advantage of 900mm counters?
It is the height where a customer can put a bag down and a member of staff can write on a pad without stooping. In a store the counter is a work surface first and a display second.
Build something like this.
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