This is a site where you can see one of the most interesting directions in retail brick stores. You can also read the page on my secondary Marketing blog here.
I’ve seen the earlier model of this idea in the Tokyo Daikanyama bookstore. It is based on beautiful architecture by a brilliant young architectural group that I have been following for many years: Klein Dytham.
The Japanese idea developed to compete with the digital retail world is called ‘curation’. Sales people become curators of retail subject areas. A section of the store might be for railroad enthusiasts. That section will have model trains, train books, train posters, appropriate videos, train related clothing and a salesperson who knows the subject and curates that section.
This makes sense to me and is important to watch. However, commerce is not about good ideas or even brilliant ideas. It is 100% empirical. We will have watch and see how customers react and whether they buy.