12_things’ London Perfume Store Loses a Piece of Its Interior With Every Sale

12_things, 198 Hackney Road. Image courtesy of 12_things. 12_things, 198 Hackney Road. Image courtesy of 12_things. The fragrance brand describes a store intended to dismantle itself through purchases. Its current opening hours are Thursday to Sunday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The drawers act as both the shop’s architecture and the packaging carried away at checkout. The fixture becomes packaging Rows of weathered metal drawers line the space, with handles and keyholes repeated across the walls. Open compartments interrupt that grid.

The arrangement gives the product display an industrial character while making the removal of an individual drawer visible within the larger installation. That changes the relationship between merchandising and inventory.

A conventional fixture stays in place as products leave its shelves; here, the display leaves with the product. Each transaction alters what the next visitor encounters, making the customer a participant in the store’s changing appearance…