“And the EuroShop Retail Design Award 2017 goes to… Rose Biketown!” – These words by Alison Embrey Medina, editor-in-chief at design:retail Magazine (USA) and member of the award committee, echoed through the K21 exhibition space in Dusseldorf, Germany, and gave the audience a goose-bump moment.
She explained the jury’s decision for Rose Biketown Bocholt, whose interior design was created by Hoffmann Ladenbau, by pointing out the particularly high level of innovation and the seamless integration of walk-in retail and e-commerce by means of digital technology. The prestigious event on the EuroShop trade fair’s opening day exuded international appeal, not least thanks to the other two winners of the EuroShop Retail Design Award, Primark (Madrid) and Saks Fifth Avenue (Toronto). After the award ceremony, people celebrated in style against the impressive backdrop of the art museum – a great start into an exciting trade fair season.
113,000 visitors and 2,368 exhibitors: the EuroShop trade fair, which took place for the 50th time in Dusseldorf this year, reported a new record attendance. The industry’s investments in their walk-in retail stores are currently being kick-started by recent developments in e-commerce. As a result, international interest ran high. Many visitors flocked to the Rhine river to be inspired by a host of new products and discover technological innovations. The accompanying expert forums also proved very popular. In the context of the Architecture & Design forum, for instance, trade visitors were introduced to the three award-winning shop fitting concepts: Rose Bikes, Primark and Saks Fifth Avenue.
Exciting trends were noted in particular in the area of energy management, food technology and lighting. Lighting specialist Zumtobel, for example, introduced their product solutions including their effects by means of a virtual reality demo during a virtual tour through their home-town of Dornbirn, Austria. In the area of floor coverings, objectfloor introduced a freely installable and reversible system whereby designer floors can be mixed with fabric tiles.
