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Berlin – will it take your breath away?
September is a great time for anyone working in retail. It's when stores are finally cleared of the old season's merchandise and a big effort is made to start the key autumn / winter selling period with strong promotional impact. So, we sent our VM expert Karl McKeever of retail consultancy Visual Thinking to Berlin to see what the German capital has to offer shoppers.
Much more than just the end of the summer and holiday period, September is now a seminal point in the retail launch calendar. It's when Vogue magazine trebles in size, as global fashion brands splash out on multiple page spreads with their lavish conceptual advertising campaigns. But it's no longer just the preserve of fashion brands keen to tempt us into a seasonal 'wardrobe' change - like it or not, September marks the unofficial start to Christmas, as it starts to loom both consciously and subconsciously in consumers' minds.
Now is the time when retail brands as diverse as grocers and beauty houses through to boot makers and toy stores ramp up their instore marketing activities to create a psychological 'seasonal changeover'. This encourages shoppers to stock up, and indulge themselves with everything needed for the cold days, dark nights and various feasts and festivals of the coming months.
This month, I decided to visit Berlin as it has a comprehensive range of leading retailers and brands. It's also quick and easy to get around and offers great diversity in its various retail areas. It's therefore a great place to see the best of what the new season has to offer and get up-to-speed with all the latest product innovations and instore marketing trends in a convenient visit.
Anyone that's unfamiliar with Berlin will at first be daunted by the complex plan that sees the city effectively cut in half by the park known as the Tier Garden. However, efficient public transport and inexpensive taxis make getting around the city easy, once you're familiar with the main districts.
In West Berlin and close to the major rail interchange known as Zoo Station, the street called Kurfurstendamm is one of the city's major shopping areas. The street spans two miles through the Charlottenberg-Willmersdorf borough and is often referred to as the Champs Elysees of Berlin, due to its wide and elegant layout.
A notable feature is the four lines of plane trees planted on either side of the street. These screen the pavements in a cool, leafy shade and suggest a refined, up-market ambience. Whilst attractive, retailers complain about the obscuring effects and reduced visibility to their stores. Branded display cases are used on the pavements to overcome this, which extend a brand presence across the footpaths, offering tasters of products and branded POS messages.
The Ku'damm as it is locally known, is like London's Oxford Street, Regent Street, Bond Street and Knightsbridge combined. If you only have a short time in Berlin and want the best choice of stores, this is the place to visit as it offers every type of shopping experience from high, to low to mid range retailers at all ends of the product, price and style spectrum.
At the Henriettenplatz end, you'll find wall-to-wall luxury brands. Here, fashion labels like Hermes, Valentino, Gucci and Louis Vuitton rub shoulders with the best in fine jewellery and watch brands. Smart cafes and restaurants, art galleries and day spas are located in the side streets close by, making for a totally luxurious and wallet busting experience.
As you walk up the Ku'damm, chain stores and European lifestyle brands proliferate. Here all the main players have major stores; C&A, Zara, Esprit, Diesel, adidas, Nike and Desigual et al. It's also where home grown brands such as Monsoon and Accessorize have opened their latest store concepts. There are places to eat here too with new openings of The Hard Rock Café and Starbucks etc., being interspersed alongside like-minded retailers.
At the halfway point, the Europa centre is notable for its massive Saturn store. Over five floors, all the leading entertainment, home appliances and electronics brands have impressive branded retail areas instore. Even with no intention of buying, it's worth a visit to see the all latest trends in branded design and marketing for these categories, so succinctly summarised in one vast store.
At the far end of Ku'damm near Tauentzienstrasse is the department store Kaufhaus Des Westins, or as it is informally known, KaDeWe. This 60,000 square metre store is one of the most outstanding department stores in Europe and is part of the Karstadt Premiere group. As Europe's second largest department store (to Harrods), it stocks a stellar line up of leading international brands presented in a luxurious environment with high standards of store design, visual merchandising and customer service.
Leaving this area and for an entirely different retail experience, I recommend you visit an up-coming district in the east of the city. Once part of the divided Communist Berlin, the area known as Kreuzberg is the place for independent retail and lifestyle stores.
In the 21 years since the Berlin wall came down, the city has undergone rapid and dramatic transformation into a vibrant, modern and cosmopolitan metropolis. Here though, a genuine sense of the former Communist era is what remains.
The streets have rough stone cobbles and a traditional architectural style with a faded patina. Graffiti and fly posters make a colourful if controversial urban backdrop, promoting indie bands, underground websites and protest with angry complaint about the Government, capitalism and German reunification.
Shops here are specialised and offer an eclectic, bohemian retail experience. Here you'll find stores that are dedicated to items as diverse as personalised enamelware, retro furniture at bargain prices, old record shops and spirited designer clothing. Vintage stores sell all kinds of Communist era lifestyle products including; clothing and accessories, homewares and furniture. Here, you'll find authentic vintage treasures at less than thrifty, second-hand prices.
In Kreuzberg you'll also find the popular Alexanderplatz and Hermannplatz. Only a few years ago, the streets around Alexanderplatz were shadowy and dismal places with dilapidated buildings being the only other notable feature sitting below the modernist Berlin TV tower - an icon of gigantic scale from Berlin's Soviet past.
Then some early 'retail pioneers' opened up shop in the area, when brands such Adidas Originals and Secret Nike moved in. Less than ten years later a radical transformation of the area has been achieved. Around Alexanderplatz it now resembles something like Covent Garden, with lifestyle brands and cafes lining the narrow streets and creating an oasis of cool. Camper, Fred Perry, Cos, Ben Sherman, Stephanel, Kookai etc., vie for attention alongside bohemian jewellers and retro clothing stores. This is mid market lifestyle shopping at its best, with stores of a 'certain size and style' nestled together as only found in a retail planner's dream.
In Hermannplatz the famous open squares or 'military parade grounds' of the Communist era have been retained. However, today, this vast open space has been redeveloped as an urban showground and regularly features city events with a 'popular' rather than 'political' agenda. It's also where department store Galeria Kaufhof has been built alongside the Alexa Shopping Mall.
This colourful building stands out, not because of the mediocre stores inside, but due to its dramatic red colour and 1930's Soviet architectural style. In my view it's artificial and unattractive but somehow seems relevant in the context of the area and its history.
The quality of Berlin stores speak for themselves, but it's the cultural diversity and unique character of each shopping area that sets them apart. Venture only a few streets and it feels as if you're entering an entirely different world. It is this, and the amazing history, that makes Berlin such an exciting shopping destination that should be visited by retailers for inspiration at this crucial time of year.
It demonstrates how great retail districts can be formed with such distinct personalities in the most unlikely areas. The former East Berlin area in particular shows town planners everywhere, how they can perhaps lay the foundations for new life to be given to some of the presently downtrodden areas of their own conurbations. I recommend a visit, even if it's just for some short term fixes to inspire shoppers this autumn and to get ideas for plans for the longer term.