VIVOTEK Offers Discreet Protection for the Most Treasured Asset of Hamleys’ Toy Shop, Mexico City

When we think about implementing video surveillance solutions, we tend to imagine an array of visible elements including cameras and monitors. However, while clearly displayed surveillance equipment can be an effective dissuasive tactic to reduce crime, there are also occasions in which surveillance discretion is required and technology must successfully merge with the environment while still providing the highest levels of security.

Hamleys is the perfect example. With over 250 years’ experience in bringing the very best toys in the world to the playrooms of the most discerning consumers, this highly customer-oriented toy store targets a selected group of customers: our children. Located in the Antara Mall in the south-west of Mexico City, Hamleys’ security infrastructure had to blend in with the store’s impeccable design – protecting, but never disturbing, its young and potentially sensitive buyers.

Referring to this challenge of balancing function with design, Guillermo Martinez, Head of SIIDE Ingeniería, said, “it meant a challenge in every sense of the word. At a security level, there must be no blind spots left uncovered. At the same time, as it is critical to maintain the store’s children focused design-environment, the cameras should be discrete but fully functional.” This was a challenge that SIIDE Ingeniería, and VIVOTEK, with their depth of experience, was excited to take.

In order to meet these demands, VIVOTEK cameras were literally placed among the clouds. Yes, the store’s decoration, which spares no expense in every detail, includes giant clouds mounted on the ceiling. Working to harmonize with this environment, the natural solution was to adopt VIVOTEK‘s fisheye FE8181 camera. Thanks to its streamlined design, the FE8181 easily goes unnoticed as it merges with surrounding decorations – its giant field of view hidden behind a tiny and discreet camera body. So the little customers can go on with their playful activities, unaware that they are being protected from above by Haley’s, SIIDE Ingeniería, and VIVOTEK.

“This is an excellence-driven client and we needed to rise to the challenge. When we were elaborating our proposal and visualizing how to blend in with all the elements of the store, we came up with specially designed equipment. The 360° cameras are strategically located between the display shelves, the bullet type IB8369 cameras are placed at the sales point to overview the area, and a third type of cameras capture the specific details at the sales points alone”, added Guillermo Martinez, from SIIDE Ingenieria.

This high level of coverage might imply a large number of cameras. However, only 16 cameras cover the entirety of the facilities (800 square meters). This case is interesting for the specifics of the execution, as the contractors of Grupo Sordo Madaleno, together with the integrator SIIDE, had to make a four-meter-deep hole in the mall underpass, right in the middle of the parking lot.

“The team worked against the clock for three months to have an elegant arrangement ready for the opening of the store. This is the 50th store of Retail Fashion Group and the first in Mexico”, pointed out Pablo Heriberto de la Torre Vargas, responsible for the group’s operations in the region.

According to the security integrator, this project provided them the knowledge and hands-on experience with the very latest technology. Thanks to this project, they are now better prepared to respond to any client’s particular requirements when implementing video surveillance solutions, such as aesthetics and the need to blend in harmoniously with existing design. In addition, they can now implement cameras, cables, NVRs and other elements under any construction constraints, and in such a way that they go unnoticed by customers.