Transforming Retail Spaces: Decathlon’s Project Featuring Led Track Grille Lights & Human-Centric Design
By Vincent
Project Overview
Products Used: LED track spotlights, LED track grille linear lights (including single-strip and adjustable double-strip versions)，Square Special-shaped Linear Light
Client: Decathlon
Application: Large sporting goods retail stores / Aisle areas of shelves
Core Concept: Human-Centric Lighting, Low UGR, Modular and flexible light distribution
Evolution of Retail Spaces: When Human-Centric Lighting Meets Large Retail Stores
In the modern physical retail industry, lighting is no longer merely for illuminating products. It also affects the visual presentation of goods, spatial atmosphere and customers’ shopping experience. As retail spaces evolve from traditional venues for commodity transactions into experience-focused consumption spaces, how to meet functional lighting requirements while taking into account visual comfort, spatial flexibility and energy efficiency has become an important subject in commercial lighting design.
Human-Centric Lighting (HCL) is a key concept amid this development trend. It emphasizes a human-oriented approach, comprehensively considering light distribution, visual comfort, ways of space utilization and the impacts of the light environment on daily activities. For large retail stores, this means lighting design should not only make products clearly visible, but also pay attention to the visual experience of customers and staff within the space.
In the Decathlon store project, Powerstar supplied two types of products: LED track spotlights and LED track linear grille lights. Through the combination of accent lighting and linear lighting, the project demonstrates how different lighting solutions can be applied within a single retail space. With more targeted luminaire design, it balances product display, visual comfort and layout flexibility.
Lighting Challenges in Large Retail Stores: How to Balance Illuminance, Visual Comfort and Flexibility?
Large sporting goods stores usually feature a wide range of product categories, diverse display zones, and shelves of varying heights and styles. The lighting system must meet the general ambient lighting requirements while adapting to changes in merchandise displays and spatial layouts. Three aspects deserve particular attention in practical design.
1. Balancing adequate illumination and glare control
Retail spaces require sufficient light for customers to clearly identify the color, material, details and labels of products. Nevertheless, high illuminance does not necessarily guarantee superior lighting quality. Poor light shielding of luminaires or direct exposure of light sources to the human field of view may cause uncomfortable glare and impair visual comfort.
Accordingly, modern retail lighting should not focus solely on luminous flux or illuminance. It also needs to comprehensively take into account the optical structure, mounting position, viewing angle of luminaires, as well as the light and dark contrast within the space. Proper glare control helps create a more comfortable visual environment.
2. Balancing horizontal and vertical lighting for merchandise display
In retail environments with densely arranged shelves, illuminating the floor does not mean products are fully lit for display. Goods on shelves are placed at different heights, and the front faces of shelves also need appropriate light to help customers recognize products and examine details.
With accent lighting and proper light distribution of luminaires, light can be directed more precisely onto product display surfaces to reduce unwanted shadows and improve visual hierarchy across different areas. For double-sided shelving, consideration should also be given to the lighting requirements of products on both sides, as well as the relationship between luminaire mounting positions and light projection directions.
3. Flexible lighting design for dynamic displays
Merchandise layouts in retail stores keep changing with seasons, promotional campaigns and business needs. If the light output direction of luminaires cannot be flexibly adjusted, the lighting layout may need to be redesigned once shelf positions or display priorities change.
Therefore, luminaires with adjustable directions that can adapt to different spatial conditions bring greater convenience for subsequent display modifications. The lighting system should satisfy current operational demands and reserve flexibility for future changes in the retail space.
Solution: Combination of LED Track Spotlights, LED Track Grille Linear Lights and Special-shaped Square Linear Lights
In this Decathlon retail lighting project, Powerstar adopted LED track spotlights, LED track grille linear lights and special-shaped square linear lights by combining the light distribution characteristics of different luminaires and spatial requirements, creating a lighting solution that balances key display, linear lighting and spatial visual effects.
1. LED Track Spotlights: Highlight key products and strengthen visual hierarchy
Track spotlights are mainly used for key product display and local lighting. By adjusting the irradiation direction of the luminaires, light can be concentrated on sportswear, footwear and other key display areas to enhance the visual recognizability of products and form a clearer visual hierarchy within the overall ambient lighting.
2. LED Track Grille Linear Lights: Balance linear lighting and visual comfort
The LED Track Grille Light controls light output through a grille structure to deliver orderly linear lighting for retail spaces. Compared with lighting solutions that simply pursue brightness, this type of luminaire pays more attention to light distribution and visual comfort. It can complement track spotlights to meet the diverse demands of large retail spaces for basic lighting and product display.
For different display layouts, single-row or double-row light-emitting structures can be applied in the project. For the double-row version, the two light sources can adjust their irradiation directions separately, offering greater flexibility for lighting arrangements on both sides of double-sided shelves.
3. Special-shaped Square Linear Lights: Enrich spatial forms and improve the recognizability of lighting design
Apart from traditional linear luminaires, special-shaped square linear lights are deployed in this project to add geometric lighting elements to the retail space. Unlike simple straight-line lighting, the square luminaire can bring a distinct visual rhythm to ceiling lighting layouts through its complete geometric outline.
This design not only performs the lighting function but also serves as part of spatial design. When matched with track spotlights and grille linear lights, the lighting solution creates layers among key product display, linear light environment and geometric forms, endowing the whole space with stronger design aesthetics while maintaining the practicality required by commercial retail environments.
The three types of luminaires have respective focuses: track spotlights deliver accent lighting, LED track grille linear lights provide controlled linear lighting, and special-shaped square linear lights further enrich the geometric visual effect of the space. Through the combination of different luminaires, the project achieves collaborative design of lighting functions and spatial expression.
Product Highlights: How Does the LED Track Grille Light Balance Visual Comfort and Flexibility?
A noteworthy product in this project is Powerstar’s LED Track Grille Light. It integrates track mounting, linear light emission and a grille anti-glare structure, and is available in single-strip and dual-strip versions to meet diverse lighting layout requirements.
1. Grille Anti-glare Design: Integrating Visual Comfort into Lighting Design
Conventional linear luminaires usually focus on luminous area and overall brightness, while grille-type products further emphasize light shielding and outgoing beam direction control.
With a well-designed grille structure, the luminaire reduces high-angle light directly entering human eyes, helping mitigate glare risks. This design improves visual comfort in retail environments where customers and staff stay for extended periods.
It should be noted that the actual anti-glare performance depends on factors including the luminaire’s optical structure, mounting height, viewing angle and site conditions. If the project has specific requirements for metrics such as UGR, evaluation shall be carried out based on relevant test data or lighting simulation results.
2. Single-strip and Dual-strip Versions: Adaptation to Various Spatial Layouts
To satisfy lighting demands of different commercial spaces, Powerstar’s LED Track Grille Light comes in two configurations: single-strip and dual-strip.
The single-strip version suits scenarios requiring simple linear lighting. It can be combined with other track lights to create a clean, orderly ceiling lighting layout.
The dual-strip version integrates two light strips within one luminaire. Compared with two separate linear lights, this structure delivers a more integrated solution for bidirectional lighting and offers designers greater flexibility when planning track positions and light projection directions.
3. Independently Adjustable Dual Light Strips: One Luminaire Serving Two Directions
The most distinctive feature of the dual-strip model is that its two light strips can be adjusted to point in separate directions.
With a proper installation setup, the luminaire can be mounted on a single track above double-sided shelves. By adjusting the angles of the two light strips, they can illuminate product display surfaces on the left and right sides respectively. In this way, one luminaire fulfills lighting requirements for two directions.
For double-sided shelves, adjacent display zones and other retail spaces requiring multi-directional light projection, this design enhances the flexibility of lighting layouts and provides designers an alternative to traditional dual-track or dual-luminaire arrangements.
In practical applications, the final lighting coverage and uniformity still depend on the luminaire’s light distribution, mounting height, shelf dimensions and fixture spacing. Design should be customized according to project conditions.
From Visual Comfort to Human-Centric Lighting: What Is Retail Lighting Focusing On?
Human-centric lighting is more than just a product selling point; it is a lighting design concept rooted in users’ needs. For retail spaces, it requires comprehensive consideration of visual comfort, product recognizability, light distribution, spatial activity requirements and energy efficiency.
First, proper glare control helps reduce unnecessary visual distractions. Second, appropriate accent lighting can highlight merchandise, while balanced ambient lighting maintains a clear and comfortable visual environment within the space. In addition, the adjustability of light fixtures enables the lighting system to adapt to changes in display layouts.
In the Decathlon project, track spotlights and track linear grille lights perform distinct lighting functions. Spotlights are used for key product display, whereas linear grille lights, combining linear lighting and light-shielding structures, supplement the overall illumination. This combination embodies a design approach based on the actual spatial needs, which takes merchandise, environment and human visual experience into account comprehensively.
It should be emphasized that human-centric lighting covers a broader scope than anti-glare solutions, and may also involve temporal characteristics of light, circadian rhythms, intelligent control and other aspects. Using a single type of luminaire does not mean that the entire space has achieved complete human-centric lighting. Nevertheless, proper selection of light fixtures and system design can lay the foundation for a more comfortable light environment that better meets usage needs.
Commercial Value: How can lighting design balance customer experience and space operation?
For large sports retail spaces, lighting design must not only meet daily usage requirements but also take into account merchandise display, spatial image, and flexibility for layout adjustments. The combination of multiple types of luminaires in this project delivers the following values:
- Clearer product display: Track spotlights can highlight key products and help create visual hierarchy across different display areas.
- Greater focus on visual comfort: LED track grille linear lights control light output through the grille structure, delivering targeted linear lighting for retail spaces.
- More flexible bidirectional lighting design: The two light sources of the double-row track grille linear light can be oriented separately, offering more configuration options for illuminating both sides of double-sided shelves.
- Diversified spatial visual effects: Square special-shaped linear lights integrate geometric forms into ceiling lighting designs, enhancing the visual recognition of spaces and enabling functional lighting to coordinate with interior design.
- Highly adaptable lighting combinations: Different types of luminaires can be matched according to display priorities, spatial layouts and design requirements, instead of relying on a single luminaire to meet all lighting needs.
For modern retail spaces, a superior lighting solution is not merely about brightening the environment; it also needs to balance product display, visual comfort, spatial aesthetics and daily operational requirements. With a combination of track spotlights, LED Track Grille Lights and square special-shaped linear lights, Powerstar demonstrates how multiple types of commercial lighting products can work together to serve the overall design of retail spaces.
Powerstar: Delivering Better-suited Lighting Solutions for Modern Retail Spaces
As demonstrated by the Decathlon store project, modern retail lighting demands more than standalone lighting fixtures. It requires a comprehensive understanding of spatial requirements, merchandise display and visual comfort.
Powerstar specializes in the research, development and application of commercial lighting products. With offerings including LED track spotlights and LED track grille linear lights, we provide a diverse range of lighting options for various retail spaces. Based on the spatial layout, illuminance requirements and fixture installation conditions of specific projects, we can further discuss suitable product combinations and lighting schemes.
We believe superior commercial lighting is not merely about brightening a space. It is about enabling light to serve merchandise, spaces and people in a more appropriate manner.
If you are planning a lighting project for a retail store, brand boutique or large commercial venue, please feel free to contact Powerstar to learn about LED track lighting products and commercial lighting solutions tailored to your project needs.
