What: Founded by Mexican designer, pharmacist and alchemist Tatiana Torrealba, cosmetics brand The New Sanctuaries is the result of two decades of extensive exploration and experimentation.

Why it is important: Taking ample cues from ancestral knowledge, clean beauty principles, transparency, nature and technology, it's a brand that appeals to a like-minded and forward demographic of consumers.

Taking its operations to the next level, Torrealba has opened a retail space at Laguna, a redeveloped, former thread and textile factory from the 1920s in the historic downtown Cuauhtémoc neighborhood of Mexico City.

Designed by architect Francisco Pardo and Studio Fierro Architecture, a practice based in New York City, the store occupies a 28 sqm. (301 sq.ft.) ground floor unit alongside an inner courtyard, and sees a setting that alludes to The New Sanctuaries' ongoing transformation and development.

The chosen aesthetic is sophisticated, albeit rough around the edges and oozing a modern artisanal vibe.

New Sanctuaries in Mexico city

What: Founded in the late 19th century, Retterspitz is one of Germany's oldest pharmacy brands, offering a wide range of cosmetics and medical cosmetics that combine traditional healing expertise with modern standards and the latest scientific research.

Why it is important: The Retterspitz store not only offers an immersive brand experience and personal customer service, but also serves as a marketing tool to sniff out the clientele's preferences and shopping patterns.

The interior design, created by Nuremburg-based interior designer Katja Reiter, aims to offer shoppers a tranquil refuge, and primarily does so with a palette of natural materials. An abundance of marble from a quarry in nearby Eichstätt has been used to create a terraced display wall while a separate large block takes centre stage serving as a counter and which embeds a circular water basin as well.

Situated in a recessed section in the back, and crafted from contrasting dark timber, sits the so-called pharmacy room which boldly signals Retterspitz's historic legacy. However, the setting also incorporates a screen featuring promotional footage as a firm nod to the company's modern day operations.

Retterspitz in Nuremberg

What: Founded in 2018 by Spanish influencer and stylist Blanca Miró Scrimieri and entrepreneur Rafa Blanc Cumellas, Vasquiat's members-only shopping concept is as ingenious as it is disruptive.

Why it is important: Called Vasquiat Room, it's concepted as a members-only store, a three-dimensional extension of its online market place, providing customers the opportunity to explore emerging designers, and additionally, try on in the fitting room.

The store occupies a ground floor unit of a late 19th-century building, featuring an interior design that's a collaborative effort of local architecture practice GCA Architects, marketing consultancy firm This is Odd and designer Cristian Herrera Dalmau.

Vasquiat stocks a wide range of coveted women's fashion brand's and lifestyle products from Spain and abroad, including Hereu, PSC, augusta, Ganni, The Label Edition, and Walter de Silva.

Vasquiat room in Barcelona

What: Adidas opens a new "brand centre" coming on top of 2 existing ones and 76 other DOS, featuring a series of sustainable initiatives.

Why it is important: Brands are accelerating on the display of their CSR initiatives, all aiming to show, rather than simply tell, that they are active on this topic. This creates a mounting pressure on department stores which have to follow suit. The issue is that now it is not anymore only about brand offering, but building structures themselves.

Adidas launches "Adidas Brand Center Harajuku", the first sustainable concept for the brand in Japan. The store will include a sneaker cleaning and water station, LED lighting, separation management of waste, recycling construction waste during store building.

The store, which spans over 708 sqm on 3 floors, aims at being a window of Adidas capabilities and efforts when it comes to sustainability. It will also feature a 43sqm outdoor corner, which will be offering a limited range of FutureCraft Footprint, the line developed in collaboration with Allbirds.

Adidas launches a new sustainable boutique concept in Japan

What: The first collaboration between Starbucks and Amazon provides a new kind of service, addressing customers with a different temporality.

Why it is important: Starbucks has opened a pickup location in Manhattan with Amazon Go, serving both fast and slow customers missions.

Customers can order on the Starbucks app and pick up their coffee at the bar (as usual with the Pickup service from Starbucks). What is new is provided by the Amazon Go systems, with a convenience check-out free area where customers can pay with their palm or their phone. They can even just walk out, with Amazon charging them seamlessly. The goal is to remove as much friction as possible for the busiest customers so that they can be served in seconds. However, the store also caters for slower customers' needs, with a seating area and a working space with semi-private booths.

Inside the new Starbucks Amazon store

What: IADS partner Nelly Rodi exclusive selection of hot spots in LA.

Why it is important: IADS has teamed up with Nelly Rodi for their expertise on creativity and trends. This City Guide is made available in exclusivity to IADS members for free.

Los Angeles retail guide

What: Co-created by the Celio teams and the agencies Ateliers AUAV and AD Consulting, the 600 sqm store located in Paris suburbs (Carré Sénart mall) is a more transparent concept, where the entire space is dedicated to the product.

Why it is important: There is no stock room in the store with the total area and teams dedicated to the customers. Celio will have replenishment and logistics tasks done in front of the customers.

The aisles are large, while big sideboards and cabinets allow you to have stock inside the store. To better manage customers and limit the wait, self-service payment terminals have been installed. Traditional cash desks remain but 70% of the customers are favouring self-service payment. A space is also dedicated to omnichannel solutions, including click & collect (in two hours). To date, a dozen projects are in preparation for next year (openings and moves) where the new concept will be duplicated.

Celio unveils a new store concept

What: Designed by Peter Marino, the two-floor, 7,600-square foot store is a white cube.

Why it is important: Opening stores in the Miami Design District has become a competition among brands which are trying to outdo the others with more 'playful' and elaborate forms of expression. Chanel building stands out with its simplicity.

The boutique showcases the house's ready-to-wear, handbags, shoes, eyewear, fine jewellery and watches.

As with all his projects, Marino chose specific artwork for the boutique in order to reflect Gabrielle Chanel's legacy as a patron of the arts. Vera Lutter's monumental camera obscura photograph "LACMA with Yang-Na 2011-Present, 1: March 8, 2017" lines one wall of the atrium. Above the staircase leading to the second level are three works by artist Gregor Hildebrandt. Inside the boutique's elevator is a second commission by artist Chris Succo, who spray-painted black lacquer and oil on white linen in abstract squiggles.

Chanel new boutique in Miami Design District

What: IADS partner Nelly Rodi exclusive selection of hot spots in NY.

Why it is important: IADS has teamed up with Nelly Rodi for their expertise on creativity and trends. This City Guide is made available in exclusivity to IADS members for free.

New York retail guide

What: Following a similar space opened in Milan before the pandemic, Brunello Cucinelli opened an invitation-only store in New York in December 2021 to emphasize private shopping for its most loyal customers.

Why it is important: Located on 689 Fifth Avenue, the space at street level is not occupied by Cucinelli's store (it's a Canada Goose). Actually, one will find it hidden on the 9th floor of the building. The Casa Cucinelli apartment space is designed so that top customers feel like they are at the designer's home. Guests are first invited into the lounge, immediately leading to the kitchen. The rest of the apartment includes a living room, a study room and a dressing room where everything can be acquired.

Casa Cucinelli in NYC

Casa Cucinelli in NYC ARTICLE

What: Bang & Olufsen goes experience at its best with their new popup concept.

Why it is important: After having let rival brand Deviallet take all the best spots in department stores, the Danish brand has new arguments for department stores willing to increase their audio offering as well as customer experience.

Danish sound brand Bang & Olufsen has opened a pop-up in Shoreditch area (London) that explores various approaches to experiential product trial.

In a low lighting demonstration room akin to the fitting rooms of fashion retailers, visitors can take a seat in a semi-private booth and try on a pair of the brand's headphones with as few distractions as possible. On certain dates, this area will go one step further by becoming the Pitchback Playback Experience, removing all distractions including light so that visitors have nothing to experience but the sound of music played through its products.

While multi-sensory experiences have become popular in retail, Bang & Olufsen has taken the opposite approach with a single-sensory one.

The store will also host several events which pair music to adjacent lifestyle activities. The brand has partnered with both Johnnie Walker and London Fields Brewery on sound and tasting experiences combining curated playlists with the brands' respective whiskies and beers.

Bang & Olufsen opens an experiential popup in London

What: A new concept opened by a Chinese brand, Qpokee, in Beijing.

Why it is important: It is crucial to look at what is happening in China, both in terms of new brands and store concept. The pace of growth has significantly accelerated in the past year, as shown by the short period of time needed by Shein to become a giant, and other new disruptors might very well come from China in the coming years.

Inside Retail reviews the new Qpokee store in Sanlitun (Beijing). Qpokee, founded in 2019, is a collection store chain brand targeting Gen Z customers, with beauty, personal care, clothing, home appliances, creative toys, food, potted plants… offering a complete lifestyle which is designed to be equally immersive online and offline.

The 500-sqm-large store is open on 2 floors and uses its own foundations and structures as part of the décor, to provide customers with an "industrial" feeling. Products are organised by categories and price range, following a navigation flow that has reached, according to Qpokee, an historical peak within an hour after opening.

Inside the new Qpokee store in Beijing

What: The basketball brand, Jordan, has opened a new retail experience in Milan.

Why it is important: The brand strengthens and expands its relationships with local sports and fashion fans by using local-focused interventions. Its market entry also signals the potential for basketball-targeted brands to find success with Italian brands.

Jordan has opened a new retail concept, Jordan World of Flight, in Milan. The shop is 363 square meters and is located at Via Torino. With basketball becoming increasingly popular in Italy, the brand seeks to build a deeper connection with its community by spotlighting the history of basketball and Jordan's relationship with the sport.

The design of the store is inspired by the area's connection to basketball culture, featuring work from local artists and creators such as Stefano Summo who created murals that tell the story of local basketball courts and teams.

The space offers access to the latest products and customization, a digital pickup experience, Nike Member-only events, and a members' lounge showcasing historical basketball content. Additionally, the store will have exclusive and archival Jordan brand footwear and apparel for men, women, and children.

Jordan World of Flight store in Milan

Jordan World of Flight store in Milan Article

What: As for Changsha's outpost, All Design Studio was in charge of the store design.

Why it is important: The use of transparent, pure white and lightweight modern materials builds an immersive future scientific scene in the store.

Luxemporium in Hangzhou

What: In partnership with Zurich airport, Gatezero has launched a concept store that radically reimagines the potential of airport retail.

Why it's important: Having absolutely no resemblance to the duty free stores we are used to seeing, Gatezero's store offers a curated selection of products and exclusive releases from over 15 brands to travelers as they pass through Switzerland's gateway to the world.

Every two months, an invited brand will take over the central space with a bespoke retail experience and exclusive product. The first is Swiss sneaker brand On (running shoes).

Launched by the Highsnobiety platform, this concept store is to be found on the ground floor of the Zurich airport and will be open until May 15.

Innovative travel retail in Zurich airport

What: Situ Live, which bills itself as "a discovery playhouse to inspire your everyday", is an immersive consumer electronics experience store featuring 75 brands that is built for product trial rather than instant purchase.

Why it is important: Like Showfields, the new Situ Live store in London's Westfield White City merges a disruptive retail model with an experiential omnichannel approach.

Situ Live doesn't make money from selling products. Instead, brands pay Situ to feature in the space and to have independent, Situ-employed staff walk customers through them. Nothing in the store is actually available to buy. When customers discover something they're interested in at Situ Live, they scan a QR code that adds it to their wishlist on the Situ Live website. One more click from there will redirect them to the respective brand's ecommerce site, where the customer can buy directly through the brand, leaving Situ out of the transaction altogether. Through a partnership with AI and machine learning experts The Data Analysis Bureau, Situ also offers partner brands analytics and insights from the digital and physical channels.

But the big unknown at this time is whether this approach will deliver enough actual sales for participating brands, or whether they'll ultimately view Situ as more of a media space for advertising, engagement and gaining consumer insights, than as a pure selling platform.

The staff – who are either referred to as storytellers or demonstrators – aren't there to sell you anything, they're there to get you excited about the possibilities of the products and make sure you're having a good time.

Customers are invited to head to the "Nutrition Kitchen" to get a complementary cup of coffee to drink while browsing the store. A trained barista makes coffee on one of the featured coffee machines while talking customers through all of the other kitchen devices from well-known brands like Philips, Bosch and Sage.

The "On the move" Mobility section hosts a Maserati alongside e-bikes and scooters. The "Sleep and Wellbeing" bedroom space encourages customers to lay down on a connected Opera bed to experience the weightlessness of its zero-gravity feature.

The Lutron Connected living room space includes every Internet of Things-based product you could image, from speakers and lights to connected blinds.

The store also includes fitness, gaming and working from home zones, as well as a big "Central Park" relaxation space in the middle.

Situ Live, the most chilled out store in the world

What: The new Arc'Teryx concept, all about circular fashion, provides a wide array of possibilities and customization for customers eager to "re-build" their products.

Why it is important: The notion of workshop is important as it allows Arc'Teryx to create a local community.

Arc'Teryx, the apparel and equipment brand, has opened a new concept, ReBird, in New York, where it already has 5 points of sales. This boutique is a service center, including complimentary on-site product assessment, care and education; technical wash service, DWR fabric renewal and simple repairs on-site.

Exclusive items will be proposed in this location, including upcycled and crafted with second-hand materials products, or used gear re-sold.

The repair section also provides customers with the possibility to choose the color of the spare parts, and with this point of sales, Arc'teryx expects to create and consolidate a community acknowledging its efforts in sustainability.

Arc'teryx opens a circular Fashion space in NY

What: Since being snapped up by online retailer Snipes in 2013, Berlin-based sneaker store Solebox has expanded to a number of leading shopping destinations across Europe, and it's latest outpost has opened its doors in Barcelona's historic El Raval neighbourhood.

Why it is important: Streetwear products are still booming, showing no sign of slow down.

Similar to all other Solebox stores, the interior design takes cues from its surroundings, and here, it's the city's lively outdoor markets. The new Solebox store carries the retailer's full range of sneakers, apparel and accessories.

Solebox in Barcelona

What: The Chinese streetwear brand is expanding again, following the inauguration of stores in Shanghai, Beijing and Hangzhou.

Why it is important: Considered as the capital of Hunan, Changsha is a new Tier 1 city with an accelerated economic growth, allowing the brand to open its biggest store to date, using a different store concept comparing its other locations.

Occupying a three-storey space in a newly built structure in the heart of the city, the interior design has been done entirely in-house although the second floor has been created with Zhang Quan, an artist and entrepreneur who has collaborated on Randomevent's other stores. The façade's red bricks extend inside on the ground floor, covering the expansive floor and plinths below the windows and staircase, and also blurring the divide between outside and inside.

Metal and glass display tables and cabinets, and matching clothing racks tie in with the sales counter crafted from shimmering stainless steel. A simple wooden staircase lead to the upper floors and hints the aesthetic that's to be found on the top floor. The second floor is similarly understated, featuring floor of stone tiles, paired with pristine white walls, and a ceiling covered in linear light fixtures. The top floor is awash with timber.

Randomevent store in Changsha

What: The store has been revamped to be in line with the launch of the second LV² men's collection.

Why it is important: The luxury store saw a bold transformation, adopting a streetwear-oriented aesthetic. It's not a surprise as the band menswear artistic director is a streetwear advocate.

The dragon head in the window bears the initials 'A' and 'N', referencing men's creative director Virgil Abloh and Nigo, guest collaborator and cult icon and founder of streetwear brand Human Made.

Louis Vuitton's Tokyo store renewal

What: Soldout is a recently-established limited-edition sneakers brand.

Why it is important: Musinsa, the largest multi-brand online fashion store in South Korea, is the company behind Soldout. The store opening, complementing the shopping app, shows how physical retail and experience are key for valuable limited-edition sneakers market.

Inspired by a winery containing boutique and rare bottles of wine, the entire space consists of specialized spaces, including an examination room to check the sneaker's authenticity, a packaging room, and a showcase to store and exhibit the premium sneakers to the visitors.

Soldout store in Seoul

What: Designed as a creative hub as for Chicago and London locations, the store will serve as a skatepark, music venue, theatre and will offer culinary experiences.

Why it is important: From just selling sneakers, Vans is now developing an entire streetwear experience evolving around the skateboard culture.

"It's a space where the 'Off The Wall' spirit lives, which will enable action sports, music, art, and street culture communities to embrace and develop their expressive creativity to keep making history within Mexico City's rich creative landscape", said Iñigo Perezcano, Vans Senior Marketing Manager.

House of Vans Mexico City officially opens on December 9, 2021. Artists like Japanese Breakfast, Molotov, and the UK electronic pop band Hot Chip are already slated to perform at the venue throughout December.

House of Vans Mexico City

What: Situated in Yorkville, the city's leading upscale shopping ground, the company has secured a listed historical building erected in 1884 to open its new 6,500 sq.ft. (604 sqm.) which is set across three floors.

Why it is important: Since its first inception in Miami's South Beach in 2009, this is the first opening outside of the US for the luxury fashion retailer.

The store features an interior design by The Webster's creative director Stéphane Parmentier who also runs a design practice of his own in Paris. The interior design harks back to the retailer's roots and this imminently shows in the brick façade's bold pink façade and a flamingo wind vane at the top peak.

Shoppers are greeted by a pink feathered bear by Italian multimedia artist Paola Pivi as a nod to Canada's most emblematic animal.

The Webster opens in Toronto

What: The store interior design, favouring experience, is the result of a collaboration between Virgil Abloh and AMO, research and design studio affiliated to acclaimed Dutch architecture practice OMA.

What is important: Besides the brand's collections (men's, women's, kid's and homeware), the flagship offers a dedicated space for collaborations and special projects, a gallery to highlight partnerships, an exhibition space and a coffee shop.

The ground floor presents the most exclusive and experimental men's and women's pieces, while also functioning as a hub for collaborations and special projects. The gallery area presents Off-White's various brand partnerships, including a dedicated space featuring select Nike products.

The second floor and mezzanine level present a curation of objects from exclusive capsules to Off-White's homeware collection, the kids collection, but also sees an exhibition space. On the third floor, the brand's most iconic and beloved items, ranging from denim pieces to sneakers.

Shoppers will also enjoy a café managed in partnership with % Arabica, a coffee company based in Kyoto which only recently entered the French market.

Off-White Paris flagship store