The Lobby and FÖMO Store are at the forefront of the changes to the retail landscape. Retail is facing challenging times and these two new concepts that have appeared this year and are offering a new shopping experience. Both are flagship pop-up stores located in Sweden focusing on new ways to engage with the customer. This is a partnership of innovation for two women, Annelie Gullstrom, head of business development at AMF Fastigherer, (AMF is the creator of The Lobby) and Ilona Taillade, CEO and Founder of FÖMO Store in Gothenburg. They are working, creating and changing the face of retail, with the same aim of driving change in the sector at a faster rate.
“The physical store is becoming more and more of an experience that sells the brand and not primarily a sales channel,” said Annelie Gullstr0m.
“We encourage the entrepreneurial spirit in everything we do and see the brands as our partners. We are changing the business model and creating the future of retail along the way,” said Ilona Taillade, Founder, FÖMO Store.
Adoption of new technologies in recent years has changed consumer behaviour and their expectations, leaving people with the desire for a different type of retail experience with bricks and mortar stores having to undergo a crucial game change in order to keep shoppers coming back for more. The boundaries between e-commerce and physical stores are becoming increasingly blurred with the ease of online shopping but what remains intact is the human desire for something tangible coupled with experiential.
“To date, the industry has not evolved fast enough to reflect the ever-changing dynamics of retail. We need to welcome change and understand its value in order to give customers what they want,“ said Ilona Taillade the Founder of the FÖMO store.
“Moving from leasing square meters to become more of a service provider is something we are focused on at The Lobby“, said Annelie Gullstrom.
FÖMO Store and The Lobby are both concentrated on changing the perspective of the typical business model and creating innovation not only with their respective models but also the formats to showroom and showcase brands. They are creating spaces where retailers engage with their consumers through events and brand activations and use it as a test bed. The flexible format or pop-up concept is an easy way for brands to test the market and consider the store as a physical media channel.
The launch of FÖMO and The Lobby highlights that Sweden is leading the change in retail. Sweden provides the right platform for new ways of thinking; it is also ranked among the world's top ten richest countries in terms of average wealth per adult –higher than USA, China and Japan. Stockholm, where The Lobby is based in the fastest growing capital in Europe (currently at a rate of c. 30,000 people a year). It also remains the strongest retail market in the Nordics with the highest presence of international retailers and potential rental growth.
Gothenberg is the birthplace of the FÖMO Store and was voted the most social city in the world last year, therefore creating the perfect place to develop a retail platform, which is centred on community engagement and activation. The city of Gothenburg will celebrate its 400th anniversary in 2021, by which time it will have a substantially expanded infrastructure base and be even more attractive travel destination.
Meet them both at MAPIC at R7.C30.
