Concept Stores
A smarter way to shop
Concept Stores
- TEXT EMILY BARTELS
Colette, Paris
Colette is the most famous concept store of all: a hive of temptation, a self-indulgence trap. There are just so many things you never knew you really wanted!
Coffee-table books that weigh a ton, the latest ingenious silly gadgets and highly covetable items from limited-edition collections.
colette.fr
Bikini, Berlin
Bikini Berlin can justifiably style itself “Germany’s first concept mall.” Breaking out of the familiar mall mold, it has wooden boxes on the ground floor for designers and manufacturers to rent as pop-up stores. The shops on the upper floors stock a carefully curated mix of lifestyle, fashion and design products.
bikiniberlin.de
Friday Next, Amsterdam
Friday Next has a café and its own interior design team, Friday Next Studio. The store sells everything from charcoal grills to soap on a stick and a range of selected articles from big designers …
... small Dutch manufacturers and everything in between. Favorite label: About Monday with its Scandinavian-inspired, pastel-colored furniture.
fridaynext.com
YME, Oslo
The store offers customers three floors of art, fashion, literature and more besides. The decor is unusual even for a concept store: On the ground floor, the architects have installed a 25-meter-long pinewood frieze.
YME took its name from a mythological Norwegian giant.
ymeuniverse.com
Story, New York
New York is where stories are sold – a new one every couple of weeks. They may be about technology, or love, or him or her. And with every new theme, the concept store changes its entire range of goods, its event program and its interior design.
Story was established in 2011 as a start-up store by the inventive Rachel Shechtman, who has been coming up with surprising new concepts ever since.
thisisstory.com
Nina, Panama-Stadt
Panama is simple and cleaned-up – which is exactly what the curators were looking for. Some food, a little jewelry, too, but the main focus is on home decor. Nothing eccentric, but plenty of spirit.
If you are looking for bright paintings or leathergoods, this is the place. The lifestyle this store promotes blends a modern approach with a powerful love of nature.
ninaconceptstore.com
The Row, Los Angeles
The Row is the fashion label of former child stars Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen. They sell their collections here, as well as the bold mix of antique and modern design pieces that make up the decor.
therow.com
Bombay Electric, Mumbai
Bombay Electric, right across from the Taj Mahal Hotel, is arguably India’s smartest store. Dedicated to Indian design, artisan crafts and the sensory experience of textures, it has been called the “Barney’s of Mumbai” ...
… but the merchandise is more colorful, more tropical, and more lovingly chosen. The store sells vintage saris, but also designer gear, books and music.
© bombayelectric.in
Restir, Tokio
This company comprises two boutiques, a surf shop, a fashion label and a café. Most of its rooms are done out entirely in black, and the displays are borderline over the top.
Smart technical accessories are amply represented here: ultraflat loudspeakers, futuristic watches, skull-shaped lamps. The concept: modern, luxurious and radically international.
restir.com
Shang Xia, Shanghai
The brand shows a strong Chinese influence although the brand belongs to the French group Hermès. The merchandise: traditional Chinese handicrafts, including fine porcelain ...
... and hand-woven bamboo handbags. So far, there are three Shang Xia boutiques for Asia fans: in Shanghai, Beijing and Paris.
shang-xia.com
Après Shopping
Airy stroll
New York: The High Line park runs through Manhattan’s Chelsea neighborhood.
Sample the best
New York: Chelsea Market is a fine food market in the Meatpacking District.
Top treats
Los Angeles: Tuna tartare and a panoramic view on the Perch restaurant’s roof terrace.
These city tips are on Foursquare, too