This month, I would like to open with a great article by David Zietsma of Jackman Reinvents. I want to highlight it because it sounds very much like an article I would’ve written myself. Core point: don’t try to win shoppers with just initial curiosity to get them into stores. That does work in the […]
I first encountered the Harry Potter books a few years after they were published. I’ve read them myself, read them to my children, and taken my family to see all of the movies. Yes, I know the difference between “alohamora” and “reparo.” You could call me a Harry Potter nerd and I would wear the […]
Every year in the fall, Aptos kicks off a series of events called Thinking Retail Forums. These events are held in regions around the world, with a focus on taking global trends and bringing them into a local perspective. This year, one of our stops was “Ten Blocks in Brooklyn,” which offered a look at […]
This month’s look at store innovation will explore a spectrum of examples, from the most “permanent” thing that a retailer can do to the most ephemeral. Store innovation always requires a commitment, because you’re putting your brand out there in front of consumers even if you have only one store. But some commitments are bigger […]
My plan for this month’s Store Innovation Watch was to visit a whole list of stores in the London area, as I just spent a week there. However, while London is a very vibrant store innovation market, things move fast there – so fast, many of the concepts I wanted to see were already closed. […]
Editor’s Note: This month we’re celebrating the one-year anniversary of Store Innovation Watch. Click here for a look back at the biggest trends in store innovation that were highlighted over the last 12 months. While there has been a lot of activity across many different types of store innovation, I’m going to take a deeper […]
This month, Store Innovation Watch takes a look at retailers who are still very much focused on “flagship” experiences. My colleague Dave Bruno and I debate this one all the time: can flagship experiences make it to Main Street? Or can they only survive in the rarified air of high-rent, high-traffic destinations? With three new […]
Last month I focused on characteristics that seem to define store innovation in 2019: stores that focus more on deepening the relationship, rather than selling stuff; an emphasis on in-store services; connecting fulfillment to the store, to the point of possibly not having inventory; gathering rich behavioral data in stores; and using the store to […]
Six Themes Expected from Store Innovation in 2019 Pop-ups are still wildly popular, and retailers are still investing a lot into testing new store concepts and even launching new – and sometimes enormous – flagship stores in a bid to remain relevant to consumers, and in some cases, to get ahead. Between December 2018 […]
I will preface this list by saying that while I wish I had the opportunity to visit each one of these to personally ensure that I am recommending something that is truly innovative, alas I have not had that chance. If you’ve been to any of these, and have a perspective to share, please let […]