We’ve all been there – staring down at a blank piece of paper, hoping inspiration will strike. That, somehow, we’ll get lucky and something approaching design heaven will appear from the blinding white creative void that sits before us. It’s at times like this that we’re faced with what feels like a difficult choice: tough it out and hope that ‘luck be a lady tonight’ or dust off your swag bag and indulge in a little design looting?

Judging from what I’ve seen recently, this a no-brainer, particularly in the world of retail. The light-fingered have been hard at it. This isn’t a bad thing though. In fact, if any of these ideas had been mine I’d be stealing with pride!

Two interesting ideas see traditional bricks and mortar retailers thinking more like magazine publishers. The first was founded back in December 2011 by Rachel Shechtman. Her store in Manhattan’s Chelsea is called STORY. Every four to eight weeks, the store is completely renovated: its walls, decor, and merchandise are all changed to reflect a new theme. When I visited last summer, the theme was New York and was co-curated with Coolhunting. Previous themes have included Color and Love. Currently it’s Create, featuring a host of DIY stations and projects. The boutique has partnered with GE to feature machines like MakerBot, where visitors can make their own designs come to life.

The second comes from industry veterans Anna-Marie Solowij and Millie Kendall who have created BeautyMART. It’s a beauty store designed and merchandised in the same way as fashion magazines. Many people enjoy browsing magazines as they’re laid out so nicely. Need a winter coat? Head to the fashion section. Looking for a new lipstick? Turn to beauty. By creatively ‘borrowing’ from fashion magazines, BeautyMART groups products thematically, making the whole shopping experience much more intuitive and enjoyable.

Finally, continuing with the beauty theme but stealing from a completely different world comes Singapore’s The Beauty Emporium. Located inside a former military barracks, it looks like a supermarket. Inside the 17,000 sq ft space, trolleys are lined up next to grocer-style crates and shelves where you’d expect to find milk and butter but are actually stacked with moisturisers, facial creams and shampoo. Clients can also order custom-blended products or be pampered in one of the treatment rooms. Founder Cynthia Chua says her concept combined the supermarket with the personality of a cult grocer.

So next time you’re in need of some creative gold, why not step stealthily into some other brand worlds and see what ideas you can bag?