Last month, we visited iMakr store in London to attend one training session on MakerBot Replicator 2. The store is located in London’s Farringdon area, a historic area of London known for its numerous architecture and jewelry firms. The tagline of the store reads “The World’s largest 3D Printing Store”. After visiting the store, one can vouch for that tagline.
The total store is a 2000 sft two storied complex. From the outside, the store looks like one of those mysterious London shops except for the long glass façade facing the road. Various 3D printed objects are displayed at the glass façade. And we see lot of passers-by stopping at the store and browsing through all the interesting 3D objects displayed there. In that sense, the store is definitely a strong crowd puller. The interiors of the store has a cool apartment vibe. There is a lot of space inside the store and there is perfect blend of 3D machines, materials and objects put up for sale. In the ground floor, all materials and 3D objects packed in iMakr branded boxes are displayed. One can purchase the items directly at the store. Also, we find some people creating 3D designs on computers. We believe these are customers creating their own custom designs to get them printed at the store.
Basement is where the whole printing activity takes place. At one corner, there are various printers constantly churning out interesting 3D models. There is a team of in-house designers at the other corner creating nice 3D models of various renowned people. There is also a dedicated space for training and workshops in the basement. We saw a wide range of 3D printers and materials in the store. The entire store is manned by 3D printing experts who patiently address all the questions customers have on 3D printing.
The most attractive feature of the store is the Mini-You product booth. One can get a 3D scanned image of oneself there and get it printed directly at the store. Around 12 pictures are taken of the person (or model) in various angles. Then a team works on joining these pictures into 3D model. This 3D model is then printed using Pro-X 300 printers. We found various interesting models that are printed and waiting to be dispatched to the customers.
After having a quick tour of the store, we finally sat down for the training session. In total 4 people attended this 2 hour training session. 3 of us are newbies looking to purchase the printer. The fourth one already purchased the printer from iMakr and wanted to clarify some doubts. The training session presentation was projected to a wall and a live demo of the MakerBot Replicator 2 was conducted. The session went on for 2 hours and the training instructor seems to have thorough knowledge of the printers and 3D printing industry.
All in all, opening of the iMakr store in London, the first retail store in UK and also the world’s largest 3D printing store will be remembered as a landmark event in the history of 3D printing. It’s a great place to visit for all the 3D print geeks, designers, engineers and also the inquisitive people who have a quest for something new. We applaud the efforts and the brave step taken by iMakr team to launch such big retail store for 3D printing when the whole industry is in a nascent stage.
Below is a short introductory video about iMakr
How to reach there: Take any train heading south from King’s Cross & St. Pancras and get down at Farringdon (Just one stop from King’s Cross). Exit the tube and walk for about 5-10 min on the lane parallel to Farringdon station lane and you find a big iMakr store to your left. Click here to know more about directions to store.
About iMakr: iMakr operates the world largest 3D Printing store over 2 floors. Located at 79 Clerkenwell Road, EC1R 5AR, in Central London, the store sells best-in-class 3D Printers, 3D Scanners, Filaments, Finishing solutions and 3D Printed objects by renowned designers. The iMakr Store also operates a 3D scan yourself service, as well as training, classes, workshops and demonstrations. iMakr also operates iMakr.com online store and iMakr.vc, a dedicated fund for investments in 3D space. iMakr, iMakr.vc and iMakr.com are trading names of Instant Makr Limited, 88-94 Wentworth Street, London, England, E1 7SA, registered in England No. 08342137. Instant Makr Ltd. was founded in 2012 by Sylvain Preumont, a Technology entrepreneur with over 20 years of experience in new technology start-ups. Click here to know more about iMakr
