We are a consultancy for brands that live in the real world. Shops, restaurants, hotels, counters, floors. The places where a customer decides in seconds whether they trust you.
For years we have worked alongside operators and founders across hospitality and retail, from single sites to international rollouts. We know what looks good on a moodboard and what actually holds up on a busy Saturday. Our job is to close the gap between the two.
WHAT WE DO
Brand
We analyse, refine and package brand expressions and identities to ensure a consistent identity and messaging across all communication and touchpoints. Positioning, identity and story that mean something to the people you serve and hold together across every point of enegagement, from signage to the way your team says hello.
Retail
Space that sells and systems that scale. We plan stores and floors around how people actually move, buy and return, then build the operations to keep it running long after opening day.
Hospitality
Great service is designed, not hoped for. We shape the guest experience end to end, from first impression to the reason they book again.
People
A brand is only as good as the person on the floor. We recruit, train and build teams who carry your standards without being told to, and a culture that keeps them.
HOW WE WORK
No off the shelf answers. We start by understanding your business, your market and your margins, then build a plan you can actually run. We stay in it through delivery, not just the deck. When we leave, you are sharper, faster and easier to run than when we arrived.
We have worked with brands across hospitality and retail, at home and internationally, through launches, turnarounds and growth. Different sectors, same discipline: get the brand right, get the space right, get the people right.
OUR STORY
Retail Solutions International began in the United Kingdom in the early 1990s, where our team partnered with a respected bespoke jeweller to build a volume catalogue sales division.
In South Africa, we grew the Aca Joe apparel brand from a regional retailer into one of the country's dominant casual clothing names of the decade, setting a new benchmark for store design along the way. During the same period we played a central role in establishing and expanding Mr Price Sport, forging strategic partnerships with teams and athletes.
At the turn of the millennium, we launched the High Performance Centre, South Africa's first elite training facility, bringing together accommodation, food and beverage, and world class training under one roof.
In the early 2000s, we reconfigured the restaurant and produce store operations at the Irene Dairy Farm, then turned our focus to bespoke hospitality brands for a range of lifestyle clients.
Through the 2010s, we worked alongside the founders of VickyCristina's to package the Spanish restaurant brand for national franchising, opening stores in Durban, Johannesburg and Cape Town.
We also developed the design, hospitality and retail experience for a hotel in Mauritius, presenting it to the Sentido portfolio of the Thomas Cook Group. Following review, the property was upgraded to their five star Casa Cook brand.
In Plettenberg Bay, we created Studio 15, an online store with a bespoke showroom, securing exclusive South African rights to the French apparel brand Serge Blanco.
Today, our most recent work includes the Old Marine online and physical retail strategy, spanning a product range that runs from homeware and craft spirits to apparel and delicatessen.
