Unique Store Fixtures was awarded gold in the global A’ Design Award, in the 2019–2020 Interior Space and Exhibition Design Category, for KitKat Chocolatory, located in Toronto’s Yorkdale Shopping Centre.

Opening to great fanfare in November 2019, KitKat Chocolatory debuted its first permanent North American location and Canadian flagship store of its globally successful retail concept, celebrating the world-famous KitKat chocolate bar. KitKat Chocolatory is the ultimate KitKat break experience, offering its customers personalized and custom-made products, using well-known premium flavours, in a fun, whimsical chocolate emporium.

Unique Store Fixtures has been honoured and awarded Gold by the International Design Academy’s grand jury panel of the A’ Design Award & Competition. The panel consists of influential press members, established designers, leading academics and prominent entrepreneurs worldwide.

Unique Store Fixtures, creator of custom-crafted retail environments, collaborated with Toronto interior design company model/ctzn by fabricating all custom millwork and ensuring that the overall interior concept presented was fully realized from conception to implementation.

Utilizing the skilled fabrication excellence of Unique Store Fixtures and that of its in-house capabilities, all aspects of the project, including custom stonework, metal fabrication, glass and wood, allowed Unique Store Fixtures to bring the entire front-of-house design to life. Standout features include the architectural millwork of the bulkhead and wood components adorning the entry to the store.

“Unique Store Fixtures was extremely capable of converting our intricate, highly co-ordinated design into a functional built form in a very limited time frame,” says Justin Vinet, senior environmental designer with model/ctzn. “They gave us faith in every step of the process.”

“Model CTZN was the design firm on this project and we enjoyed executing their creative design and bringing it to life through the fabrication of our custom millwork. This is an absolute honour to be recognized for our work and awarded this prestigious global design award,” says Ferro Corrente, COO, Unique Store Fixtures. “We share this award with our entire team, including our incredible team of craftspeople, who worked tirelessly in creating this space within tight timelines.”

Unique Store Fixtures and model/ctzn’s design objective was to represent the new concept and overall brand in an innovative way that best reflects the Canadian market and Yorkdale’s clientele.  Incorporating the brand’s experience of a previous pop-up and taking inspiration from KitKat Chocolatory’s international locations, the team’s memorable approach was to rethink the entire experience by creating an ultra-functional layout that works well in a high-traffic, intricate space.

Technical sheet

Date of completion: November 2019

Design team: model/ctzn

Manufacturers: Unique Store Fixtures

Name of the project: KitKat Chocolatory

About Unique Store Fixtures

Unique Store Fixtures is an award-winning Toronto-based fabrication company guided by the principles of craftsmanship, innovation, and partnerships. Their work encompasses custom furniture, single-family homes, multi-unit residential buildings, restaurants, and extraordinary retail feature locations. Unique’s award-winning creativity, quality craftsmanship, and customized products are hallmarks of some of the leading brands in the world’s most desired retailing destinations, including Tiffany & Co., Gucci, Holt Renfrew, Bergdorf Goodman, and Christian Louboutin.

Unique Store Fixtures is an award-winning company, with recent accomplishments of Gold in Shop! Design Awards, and Gold and Silver A'Design Awards. Unique has also been featured in AZ Awards for Design Excellence, Dezeen Awards, Restaurant and Bar Design Awards, Global Future Design Awards, Canadian Interiors' Best of Canada Design Competition, and International Hotel and Property Design Awards.  

Unique Store Fixtures is proud to have completed the KitKat Chocolatory with model/ctzn, One Method, Ciot, Concord Custom Lighting, Forward Signs, and Oat Foundry. 

About model/ctzn

We’re the brand experience design partner for visionaries. We believe what makes you unique is what makes you powerful. We fuse insights with instinct to create distinctive brand experiences that deliver the most value to your most valuable customer. Be unique. Be good. Be your own model/ctzn.

About A’ Design Award & Competition

The A’ Design Award & Competition is the world’s largest, most prestigious and influential design accolade — the highest achievement in design. A’ Design Award winners are the best designers, artists, architects, and brands from across the globe, advancing humankind and society with exceptional design excellence in products, projects, and services.