Shop Concept
Gerry Weber

With the modern, monochrome store concept, GERRY WEBER is breaking new ground and putting the customer at the centre. “We want to create a place of inspiration. An ambience in which our customers feel comfortable and can discover new things, which invites them to linger and exchange ideas and where they like to come back,” says Anja Hecht-Meinhardt, Managing Director Retail. The aim of the modern, clear format is to offer customers real shopping experiences and to convey the feeling of being “a guest at GERRY”.

The message “a guest at GERRY” allows the association with a strong, self-confident woman who is interested in fashion and likes to be inspired. This message is of course aimed at the brand’s many young and young-at-heart loyal customers as well as at all women who want to discover the brand for themselves. The modern format therefore presents itself as open, young and communicative in equal measure. The store’s calling card, the entrance area with the striking GERRY WEBER lettering, the open façade design and the strong lines of sight into the interior, already provide many insights into the generously designed, bright and friendly ambience of the store. The highlight presentation with selected outfits as well as a digital signage screen in the shop windows attract interested visitors charmingly into the interior of the GERRY WEBER world.

Here, customers are already surprised in the entrance area by well-placed, special signature furniture. The heart of the new store is the large community table, which offers plenty of space for curated merchandise and can also be used multifunctionally for in-store events. A store design is developed around the community table, which convinces with bright, warm colours, natural materials, clear lines and a modern and tidy presentation of goods. The feel of the materials is also based on contrasts such as velvety and rough, smooth and ribbed. The ceiling and walls, for example, have a rough plaster finish that contrasts with the velvety-looking laminate of the community table. The entire store design essentially gets by with one colour and presents itself in a monochrome look. Particularly noteworthy is the material Ice Beech, which develops an interesting patina through a deliberate ageing process and is previously unseen in the context of stores. Bright and friendly at all times of the day and year – the store also ensures this with sophisticated lighting for the merchandise, which is staged on a bar system of ecru-coloured steel stretched between floor and ceiling or on clean, flexible presentation surfaces. The storage of the merchandise is also rethought, integrated in intelligent cabinets directly in the shop, allowing quick access to the appropriate sizes. The fronts of the cabinets are also designed as light boxes displaying the GERRY WEBER claims “So Gerry” and “Gerry & me” as well as current campaigns. At the same time, a staging of the “Look of the Week” provides constant inspiration and invites customers to come back.

Once the customer has found what she is looking for, she can choose between different changing cubicles. On the one hand, there are several free-floating cubicles to choose from directly in the shop. On the other hand, the store has a bright and friendly changing area with large, pleasantly lit changing rooms and a “girlfriends’ room” specially designed for joint shopping adventures. All changing rooms are also equipped with a smartphone holder for successful selfies, so that customers can get direct feedback on their latest shopping find. This also ensures a high feel-good and fun factor during the fitting. For tired shopping queens, there is an upholstered bench from COR, which of course has a tray for coffee cups and which, among many other things, can be used to relax at any time.

is available for relaxing at any time. The changing area also features the “Digital Concierge”, who can be consulted together with a member of staff or alone for further recommendations. Throughout the store, QR codes can be photographed to send further looks directly to the customer’s smartphone. Screens in the shop windows and in the store itself, as well as tablets, make it possible to dive even deeper into the brand and product worlds and also ensure a stronger link between online and offline retail. This convinces customers, as all digital elements are not an end in themselves but provide service and added value. In the new GERRY WEBER store, even the classic checkout counter gives way to a service counter with coffee bar and smartphone charging station, thus becoming a place of communication.

Sustainability also plays an important role in the new store concept: the textile materials used for the changing rooms and the laminates of the merchandise supports are sustainable. In addition, customers walk on organic flooring from WINEO without PVC and the merchandise is staged with energy-saving LED lighting. From an economic point of view, the store concept is convincing as a marketable and roll-out solution that can be implemented cost-effectively at the same time.

The new store concept with the working title “Strong Women” was developed for GERRY WEBER together with the dan pearlman Group under the direction of Creative Director Marius Bell. And true to the motto “Support your locals”, GERRY WEBER also relies on local partners for the implementation. Tatjana Rothermundt, Head of Retail Experience, says: “For such a strategically important project, it is good to know that we have creative, innovative and high-performance partners at our side and in our vicinity who share our understanding of quality.” Stapelbroek, Legden, is responsible for the elaboration and implementation of the shop fitting. The lighting concept was created by Prolicht, Berlin office. The designer furniture comes from COR Sitzmöbel, Rheda-Wiedenbrück, the floor coverings from Windmöller, Augustdorf, and the carpets from Object-Carpet, Krefeld.