The STORE BOOK 2020 showcases international stores that have recently opened or been renovated. Among them are designs in which natural stone highlights historical references, symbolizes brand details, or—in a classic way—helps showcase the products. A review
The STORE BOOK, a sort of industry bible for store designers, presents selected store design projects—which opened or reopened in 2019—through large-format photos. Readers learn what is innovative about each store or how it picks up on a trend, and see special details, including floor plans in some cases.
In the introduction, industry experts shed light on the background and broader context of retail and store design. Both sectors are subject to the rapid change brought about by digitalization. However, according to the German Store Design Association (DLV), brick-and-mortar retail—often declared dead—is holding up surprisingly well, at least in cities.
“Customers who go into the city today don’t just want to pick up a few things; they want to have an experience and discover things they didn’t even know they were looking for,” writes Matthias Kreft, a member of the DLV’s executive board, in the book. To attract customers to brick-and-mortar stores, even department stores with hundreds of locations are now relying on individualized store design concepts for their various locations. Kreft observes a gradual shift in store design away from exposed concrete and industrial aesthetics toward “high-quality wood and natural stone surfaces.”
The STORE BOOK provides some evidence of this (though the cement-based industrial look doesn’t seem to be completely out of style yet). Among the 44 projects featured—which come from Brazil, China, Germany, England, Italy, Spain, and the U.S., among other countries—are real eye-catchers in which the designers rely on natural stone and ceramics to create a striking spatial effect. Readers can find out exactly who deserves the credit in the fact boxes, which list all the designers and store details along with contact information.
Take, for example, the flagship store of the Swiss eyewear manufacturer Viu in London, which, at 60 square meters, isn’t exactly huge. The designers therefore employ a clever trick to visually enlarge the space: large mirrored surfaces on the side walls and under the ceiling. The sculptural display walls, featuring protrusions and recesses, are the defining element of the space; they exude quality without being overpowering and are entirely clad in dark-mottled graphite.
The façade of the luxurious flagship store of the Italian sports label Moncler in Singapore is exceptionally original and striking: for the three-story-high storefront, the designers used 132 dark, veined marble elements to create the texture of a down jacket. Inside, white-veined marble—used for the staircase, a glacier-like sawn sales counter, flooring, and wall cladding—combined with reflective mirrored ceilings, evokes images of snow, ice, and frosty temperatures for the affluent clientele—experiences not found naturally in this Asian island nation.
The designers of a 180-square-meter pharmacy in the northern part of the Spanish city of Valencia have focused on the historic structure: The store is located in a building from the 1940s, where the regional architectural tradition serves as a defining design element. On the pillars and wall surfaces stripped of their plaster, light-colored brick, natural stone, and ceiling beams are revealed, exuding rustic charm.
The small, beautiful shop The Pink Closet on Italy’s Amalfi Coast is also deeply rooted in history: it is situated beneath the medieval vaulted ceilings of a 12th-century palazzo. The owner of the concept store highlights the connection to the nearby sea with pastel-colored ceramic seashells on the wall. Italian marble in light gray and sea green serves as a historically appropriate flooring material.
Readers will find inspiration for their own showroom plans in the book’s predominantly opulent projects, even if their own budget for a retail space may be more modest: One trend evident in several projects in the book is the staging of a living environment. This allows customers to better visualize the products and offerings. To achieve this, for example, it makes sense not to display floor sample areas in isolation, but to stage them as a complete bathroom or terrace, complete with furnishings and, if necessary, lighting.
Collaborations with other brands that fit the theme are worth considering—not only to spread the costs of a showroom across multiple partners, but also because this makes it easy to design a complete “living environment.” Furthermore, creativity is key in store design: Some brands incorporate their brand’s color scheme or, if they have a figurative logo, feature a key visual in the store. Other possibilities include drawing inspiration from the surrounding environment or the historical context of a space, or even organizing the entire showroom around a central theme.
Tip for further reading:
Store Book 2020
Cornelia Dörries
Published by dlv –Netzwerk Ladenbau e.V. –German Shop Fitting Association 2020.
240 pages, with over 250 color photos and illustrations, 25 x 28 cm, hardcover
89.00 euros
ISBN: 978-3-7667-2462-5
www.callwey.de/buecher/storebook- 2020/
