If you open a store, you want to offer something special. The large chain stores also want to stand out from other chain stores. They look for their own store concepts and open flagship stores with new ideas. Yet you can most attract attention with outstanding architecture, since the building is more than a casing to sell things in. Building with wood is something special – at least in Germany. Alpine countries are a lot more advanced when it comes to this. We take a look at Austria.

The Hans Löbbert GmbH & Co. KG in Wuppertal has four grocery stores sized between 2,000 and 3,000 square meters. Thanks to its akzenta name, it barely registers that the company belongs to the Rewe Group. Rewe even holds the majority, but many articles actually do not come from Rewe. With 60,000 items and an unusually high turnover rate, a distinct store concept is needed: the store should look great, yet the shelves, freezers and sales counters also have to be quickly refillable. Freshness is important, only five percent of the merchandise is non-food items.

In April, E-Plus opened its new “BASE_camp” in Central Berlin in den Kaiserhöfen Unter den Linden 26. It is a phone store, café and an event space all at the same time. Politicians are meant to meet here, but also just regular people like you and me. Marcus Epple says it is not a prototype for new shops, but some things will be adopted. E-Plus uses the Belgian brand BASE in Germany; both are part of the KPN Group.