Brick-and-mortar stores are back – but in a different way: many digital brands and direct-to-consumer brands are opening their own stores. Our Talking Heads columnist Timo Schönauer, Co-CEO of Liganova, is convinced that this is not a coincidence but a clever strategy. Here he explains how square metres create brand proximity, why space beats feed and why the physical shop is more about showcasing than selling out.

Have you seen the pictures of the crowds of people pushing their way through the new Westfield shopping centre in Hamburg’s Überseequartier on April 8? Welcome to the new “real life” of the retail revolution! Over 200,000 visitors on the opening weekend – no algorithm can do that. No matter how personal, individualised and optimised digital campaigns are: We humans want more than clicks. We want experiences. We want to be touched. At best, not just emotionally.
The fact that many online pure players are looking for square metres is no coincidence, but a consequence. Brands that were born purely digitally want to be visible today – in the cityscape, in our memories, in real life. And for good reason: we win customers on the web. We win hearts in the physical space.

Westwing, for example – Europe’s number 1 in beautiful living e-commerce – wants to grow in 2025 with the help of bricks-and-mortar shops. Apparently, the first Westwing shop on Hamburg’s elegant Jungfernstieg, which opened in 2022, has whetted the appetite for more presence; the passionate online retailer now also has a space in Breuninger in Stuttgart, a store in Specks Hof in Leipzig and a store-in-store in the venerable Printemps Haussmann department stores’ in Paris. Why does the direct-to-consumer retailer opt for ‘real’ spaces? Because proximity to customers, inspiration, personalised advice and a multi-sensory shopping experience make brands more tangible. This works best in a space. Not in the feed.

Of course, emotions can also be generated in digital spaces. In analogue spaces, however, it is still more immediate, more tangible and above all: in community. The community aspect should not be underestimated. A prime example of how retail, emotion and community can be combined is the Asphaltgold store that opened in Frankfurt’s city centre in mid-April. Founded in 2008 as a small shop in Darmstadt ‘to supply the sneaker scene in the Rhine-Main region’, Asphaltgold has been operating an online shop since 2009 and has more than one million followers worldwide on various social media. The new store in Frankfurt aims to be a space for the community, with a café bar and ‘a space to connect’. Consequently, the sales team is not made up of salespeople, but of event managers, community managers and content creators who are closely networked with the Frankfurt scene. This is not just a place to sell products, but a ‘creative hub’.

Asphaltgold has realised: Customers don’t just come to shop. They come for the atmosphere, to socialise and simply to have fun. The physical space becomes a meeting place, a stage for shared experiences. Whether orchestrated sports experiences, immersive installations and events or gamification on the sales floor with augmented reality – the analogue world offers brands every opportunity to present themselves in a multi-sensory, community-oriented and instagrammable way and provide real, tangible entertainment. Something that digital channels cannot offer.

Online is the basis. The space is the upgrade. It doesn’t always have to be your own shop: The trendy Spanish DtoC brand Scuffers, for example, has just had a pop-up space in Berlin Mitte for four weeks to test the local market. More and more digital brands are entering into co-retailing partnerships and presenting themselves in areas in shopping centres. If you want to be present here, you pay – for location, frequency, brand environment. But for many online brands, the investment makes strategic sense. They not only buy square metres, but also visibility, trust and access to new target groups.

What’s more, the physical space is becoming a content machine. Every store opening, every curated presentation, every interaction becomes raw material for social media, newsletters, PR or influencer collaborations. Smart planners think of the store as an experience lab from the outset – for brand loyalty, brand impact and brand message.
Brick-and-mortar retail is being reinterpreted. The smartest brands have recognised this and are using stores not as storage space, but as a stage. Not for selling out, but for presenting themselves. What counts is storytelling that breathes. Spaces that speak. Technologies that inspire.

And that is also a development: the physical store is becoming a creative laboratory. This is where design and data, feeling and function, real-time analysis and experience architecture meet. Retail provides important data for future sales strategies; it allows brands to get to know their customers and align online channels with specific target groups and, above all, with a seamless interface to the physical experience. Those who build retail now are not just building space, they are building a brand.

Hamburg’s new Überseequartier is expected to attract 16.2 million visitors a year. With its hotels, residential buildings, medical centre, leisure facilities, around 170 stores and 40 restaurants, it is intended to be a meeting point for people, a vibrant place. Right in the centre: strong brands.
Whether it’s a gigantic new shopping centre, creative pop-ups or new shops from DtoC brands in exclusive locations – the development shows: We are at the beginning of a new age of brand experience. Anyone who believes that online is the end of the story is missing out on the best. The retail of the future is not an either-or. It is an AND: digital and physical. Measurable and human. Fast and sustainable. Real-time and experiential. Brands that understand this create spaces that stay – in people’s minds and hearts.