Retail as a space for encounters and experiences: Three Düsseldorf stores in profile

Brick-and-mortar retail has been under pressure for years – not least due to digitalisation, e-commerce and rising costs. At the same time, consumers’ longing for extraordinary places, for encounters and a sense of community, is growing. A store tour of three very different locations in Düsseldorf city centre – the Weleda Spa & Store, Another Cotton Lab and Zurheide Feine Kost – shows how retail is being reimagined today and why physical spaces are regaining relevance.

In times of digitalisation and AI, people are longing for encounters, closeness, haptics and physical contact, reported Rita Wirtz, Head of Brand Experience at Weleda Services GmbH, at the start of the store tour. The Weleda Spa & Store on Kasernenstr. 1 in central Düsseldorf is designed to meet these needs. Digital elements are largely avoided; instead, natural materials, muted colours and subtle lighting create a relaxing atmosphere, especially in the treatment rooms. The Weleda Spa and its adjoining store deliberately position themselves as a counterpoint to the hectic pace of the city centre. Visitors are meant to experience deceleration, calm and human closeness here.

Streetwear brand Another Cotton Lab pursues a similar hybrid approach that goes beyond pure product sales with its first physical location, the flagship store at Bastionstr. 10 in Düsseldorf. The heart of the store is the strikingly designed counter, where visitors are served high-quality coffee drinks. This makes one thing immediately clear: community takes centre stage here, along with the time people spend not only shopping, but also enjoying other pleasant moments.

This is perfectly in line with the store’s location in Düsseldorf’s Carlstadt district, embedded in a neighbourhood of antique shops and jewellers, restaurants and cultural institutions. Another Cotton Lab positions itself here with a clear attitude: quality, enjoyment, lifestyle, community.

In the heart of Düsseldorf, in the Crown on Berliner Allee near the Kö, food products take centre stage. On around 10,000 square metres of grocery retail space, the family-owned company Zurheide Feine Kost demonstrates how shopping, gastronomy and food manufacturing can merge into an experience. Open production areas for the in-house pasta manufactory, coffee roastery and patisserie showcase a passionate approach to food. Products have their big moment in Zurheide’s gastronomy offerings – from the fine Italian restaurant and the meat atelier to the Michelin-starred restaurant Setzkasten, culinary culture is celebrated in all its forms.