Matthew Brown, Retail Futurist, gives you an overview of six international stores worth visiting.
Article by Matthew Brown
The push for posh returns…
Physical retail continues to evolve at a remarkable pace, and the past year has seen a host of innovative and immer-sive store openings.
From flagships redefining brand storytelling to cutting-edge sustainable concepts, quirky pop ups and new brands with a passionate sense of purpose, the physical store remains the ultimate tool to inspire and delight customers.
What is particularly striking is that long-established global brands are leading the way in retail innovation, with a massive investment in unique spaces that celebrate heritage, craft and creativity, as well as a move into hospitality.
Zara, M&S, Banana Republic, Crate & Barrel and IKEA are doing their best and most creative work right now and it is reigniting the trend we call the ‘push for posh’, where the mass market drives the creation of new premium experiences.
Let us take you with us on a journey to six of our favourite retail spaces around the world that set new benchmarks for design, creativity and customer experience.
Maison Diptyque is a fabulous new flagship format which brings brand storytelling to life in the most gorgeous and creative way. With a sister store in Paris, the new London store is located in the art district of Bond Street, surrounded by galleries. The 400 sqm, three-storey London store is designed as both a retail and cultural hub, blending the brand’s iconic products with artistic and cultural experiences that celebrate the brand’s art heritage.
Diptyque was founded in 1961 by three artists: Christiane Montadre-Gautrot, Desmond Knox-Leet and Yves Couselant. It started as an artist’s studio meets gallery in the fifth Arrondissement of Paris, where they displayed curated antiques and curiosities collected on their travels.
Designed to evoke a grand London townhouse with Parisian apartment influences, the store features a Heritage Gallery showcasing Diptyque’s evolution, original artwork by its founders and a dedicated ‘salon of curiosities’ for home fragrance. Unique experiences include personalised luxury candle customisation, fragrance consultations and exclusive candlelit workshops. A highlight of the store is the ‘ephemeral space’ on the first floor, a small pop-up area that hosts exhibitions, collaborations and even a café when it first opened. Wonderful creativity.
Crate & Barrel’s new flagship in New York’s Flatiron District is its most premium store to date, re-establishing it as the creative force and best in class retailer it once was. Located in a historic 1868 department store known as New York’s Palace of Trade, the 23,000 sq ft space preserves the original neoclassical architecture while integrating modern design.
Services include a Design Desk, staffed by 30 experts, offering in-home and virtual consultations. Highlights include exclusive collaborations, an artisanal kitchenware selection, a botanical shop and an expanded Crate & Kids section.
Designed by Crate & Barrels’ inhouse team, the interiors balance historic grandeur with contemporary warmth, featuring bespoke furniture displays and curated home styling zones. There are also product collaborations with local artists and designers. The store also has a dedicated and unique virtual store, mapping the physical space in a 3D interactive digital environment.
The Brewing Beauty Company in Berlin’s Mitte redefines sustainable beauty retail with a ‘transparent’ manufacturing concept where small batches of 100 percent natural cosmetics are handcrafted on-site. The 160 sqm store, located in the vibrant Hackescher Markt district, allows customers to watch the production process through the glass wall that runs the length of the store.
The brand, founded by Serap and Cenk Ikiz, offers personalisation, with free skin analysis consultations and a unique ‘Made to Order’ service, enabling customers to create custom skincare formulations in a five-step process.
Packaging is entirely plastic-free and can be returned for sterilisation and reuse. The brand also collaborates with local artists to design limited-edition packaging, further emphasising its community-driven ethos. The Beauty Kitchen serves as both a retail and experiential space, demonstrating real-time formulation of fresh, preservative-free cosmetics. With a mission rooted in sustainability and personalisation, Brewing Beauty Company is a game-changer in ethical skincare.
Zara has built a new unique and high-end Zara Man concept store in Madrid’s stylish Salamanca district, on Calle de Hermosilla, with a seamless fusion of fashion, art and hospitality. Spanning 700 sqm across two floors, the store design uses reclaimed wood, abujardado concrete, handcrafted ironwork and specially made clay bricks, creating an environment that feels both sophisticated and artisanal. The standout feature is Zacaffè, Zara’s first-ever café concept, designed by Art Recherche et Industrie under the artistic direction of Ramdane Touhami. With a separate entrance, it offers a cultural hub that extends the shopping experience beyond fashion.
The store also houses boutique-style spaces dedicated to Zara’s premium Origins collection and Athleticz sports line, as well as an exhibition by photographer Juan Baraja. This new concept is the epitome of the ‘push for posh’ and raises the bar for luxury within mass-market fashion retail.
Banana Republic has transformed its SoHo flagship into a richly decorated art space that is a radical move upmarket. The 17,000 sq ft store, designed by Noa Santos of Nainoa, integrates fashion, home, and art in a way that redefines mass-market fashion retail.
The women’s floor features exclusive vintage Banana Republic pieces and a BR Classics Cashmere section focused on sustainability, alongside a curated selection of global artisan products. The men’s floor includes an on-site tailoring service and New York’s first BR Home showroom. Art is a major element, with pieces by Angela Damman, Chuck Manion, Jinsik Yoo and Nobuyoshi Araki.
VIP services, personal styling and monogramming further elevate the experience, making this one of the best examples of the ‘push for posh’ out there.
Zara Home’s flagship at 117 Rue du Bac in Paris is a 1,600 sqm pop up concept store, open for one year only, that combines home, fashion and hospitality into one of the world’s most stunning retail spaces. Spanning three levels within the old Conran Store behind Le Bon Marche, Zara Home has a unique concept called L’Appartement 117: an immaculately designed, furnished and merchandised apartment with kitchen, dining, seating and sleeping areas. It also features curated women’s fashion displayed as though inside an elegant Parisian apartment.
The lobby is a Japanese style space with curated displays and there is a bookshop and branded 117 Bac giftshop too.
A café, operated by Dose, brings hospitality instore, and is combined with a personalisation Atelier. The interiors, crafted by architecture firm Elsa Urquijo, combine natural materials such as travertine, oak and linen, with the unique heritage architecture of the building. This really is one of the most beautiful stores in the world.