D e v e lo pi n g p eo p l e
WHAT’S THE STORY
IN THE THICK OF THINGS A new generation of employees makes different demands on their employers - benefits and codetermination are more important than wages and titles. The fashion trade offers exactly this opportunity. style in progress asked retailers to share their recipes for success. Text: Martina Müllner-Seybold, Kay Alexander Plonka, Nicoletta Schaper, Joachim Schirrmacher. Photos: Interviewees and stores
Lars Holzbrecher is Operations Man ager. He works for, at, and with Soto Store in Berlin.
SOTO STORE/BERLIN
DO IT YOURSELF
“A
ll employees actively supported the craftsmen during the conversion. It felt a bit like a shared flat was being turned into a new home,” laughs Lars Holzbrecher, Operations Manager at Soto Store. Together with Dutch designer Johannes Offerhaus, he created a completely new shopping experience. Offerhaus designed all elements such as furniture, product carriers, and lighting system, which were then manufactured by befriended boat builders and neighbouring exhibition stand builders. On a sales area of around 100 square metres, the customers’ senses are stimulated by slow colour changes in the lighting and by movement in the presentation. Among the highlights is a rotating shoe wall that offers space for 240 models and affords customers the opportunity to view the shoes of various brands while they move past them vertically. Conical furniture, various shelves, and custom-made displays present labels like Acne Studios, Marni, OAMC, Our Legacy, Undercover, and many more. Works by several Berlin artists, such as currently those of Annabell Häfner and Johannes Bosisio, round off the staging of the new store’s differentiated customer approach. “With one click, we can switch the store from day to night mode and thus to a completely different customer experience. The transformative lighting system of our lighting designer Stefan Damnig offers different colour themes and moods to accompany the individual items of different brands, events, or product presentations in terms of lighting technology,” explains Lars Holzbrecher.
Retail as an experience: Soto Store was not cre ated by retail designers, but by its staff. It’s no surprise that everyone chipped in during the 14-day conversion.
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