The co-retailing space will offer off-the-shelf amplification packages to its temporary tenants, including built-in social media strategies, event activation, product staging, as well as customer engagement technology and visitor analysis.

BERLIN, Germany - Over its near 100-year history, Berlin's Alhambra building - an architectural landmark located in the city's luxury shopping mile Kurfürstendamm - has hosted a hotel, ball room, cinema and offices. Now, opening in Spring 2021, it has evolved into a multi-purpose co-retailing space spanning 1,100 sqm across two floors.

Removing the time-consuming and money-intensive exercise of finding the right location and tailored local PR support for a pop-up activation in an unfamiliar market, the creators behind Alhambra Berlin offer a full-service amplification package including a built-in social media strategy, tailored promotion mechanisms, impactful staging, as well as trained sales and event staff.

Brands have the opportunity to experiment with a retail space without the ties of a long-term lease, while also optimising on growing consumer interest in experiential shopping and supporting local businesses. McKinsey's Covid-19 German Consumer Pulse Survey in June revealed 54 percent of German consumers have tried a new shopping behaviour, with 21 percent citing the support of local businesses a key reason behind the change. A further 20 percent cited supporting local players as a key reason for why they tried a new brand.

The organisers do not take commission on the shop floor and provide promotion and visibility for brands and products in its omnichannel presence, enabling for the customers' journey to continue beyond the physical space. Alhambra Berlin also offers real-time feedback on consumer behaviour and interaction with products and store fronts, facilitated by state-of-the-art technology and high frequency cameras.

How would you define the concept of co-retailing space at the Alhambra complex?

With Alhambra Berlin, we created a multi-purpose interactive space, where leading and evolving brands, artists and bespoke designers can stage their products and creations. It's a crossover of shopping and experience, which we aim to achieve by constantly changing our brand range and categories, as well as emphasising the narrative and brand story of each partner. The architectural concept divides the space into different, smaller areas and enables individual staging of the presented brands. Through this, the combination of established names with emerging talents keeps the presentation timely and attractive for a larger community.

In contrast to a classic pop-up store, the risk it carries in finding the right location to attract consumers is minimised through the constant space in a landmark that is known to the local community. An additional benefit is trained staff who will transmit the brand stories and enhance the experience with the products. We also offer an in-house consultancy to adapt the product range to the local audience so brands can trim their portfolios accordingly.