The Windows That Tell All

On March 29, the U.K. premier is set to push the button that will finally get the ball rolling, as far as the country’s exit from the European Union is concerned. Whatever your views on Brexit are, it’s an issue that polarizes, and it is almost certain to usher in a period of even greater uncertainty than has been felt since the U.K. voted for it last June.

For retailers, the impact will probably be heavy, and a quick walk along Oxford Street, the continent’s busiest shopping thoroughfare, is enough to confirm the view that much is already changing.

Specifically, the store windows on this mile-long stretch of largely mid-market retail used to be a pretty major part of any shopping trip to the U.K. capital. Yet walking its full length recently, it was apparent that, with the exception of department store Selfridges and value-driven fashion operator Uniqlo, most retailers are pulling in their horns as far as displays are concerned.

Windows featuring interactivity and a heavy reliance on digital has been one of the more obvious manifestations of retailers spending big on attracting attention in London’s store windows over the last few years. In 2017, however, this has more or less disappeared. Instead, it’s back to cardboard, and you might be forgiven for thinking that not a great deal of money had been spent on this either.

So where are things headed? Both Selfridges and Uniqlo have majored on windows that emphasize the materials used in the garments they sell, and the effect is arresting. For the rest, it does look like everyone’s hoping the storm will blow over and consumer confidence – currently under fire – will return.

It will, at some point, but only those who have invested in the interim will be around to benefit when it does.

John Ryan is a journalist covering the retail sector, a role he has fulfilled for more than a decade. As well as being the European Editor of VMSD magazine, he writes for a broad range of publications in the U.K., the U.S. and Germany with a focus on in-store marketing, display and layout, as well as the business of store architecture and design. In a previous life, he was a buyer for C&A, based in London and then Düsseldorf, Germany. He lives and works in London.