The world of workwear seen from a new perspective! In october 2012 the second store of workwear expert engelbert strauss opened in bergkirchen (near munich). the store concept for the 2400 sqm shopping space convinces with a simple and honest design presenting the world of workwear in an unconventional and surprising way. plajer & franz studio found a playful way to apply references to various trade disciplines into the design concept. by doing so, a customer journey has been created and the store offers its visitors a unique and emotional shopping experience. the working environment together with its emotional values forms the basis for the store design created by berlin based plajer & franz studio. the ingenous realisation evokes faith and tangibility for the consumers. at the same time it expresses specialist competence. „craftsmanship“ is real at the engelbert strauss workwear store and not simply a means of decoration as common in lifestyle- and fashion stores. it is a „real“ store for „real“ craftsmen who are looking for high-quality workwear and appreciate a surprising product display and shopping atmosphere.

Emotional focus points are integrated into the store design with the intention to structure the space and create a customer journey. for example: highlight zones (footwear area, the „strauss island“ and the „bird‘s nest“); theme and focus walls displaying tools, construction materials and other products of workmanship origin; theme-focused ceiling design made out of brushes, tension belts or wrecking balls in the look of mirror balls; and lights created from water-levels or shovel s . deco elements such as carts transformed into display tables and mirrors, big car tyres used for the presentation of products as well as changing rooms built out of containers further enhance the emotional character of the working environment. just as a side effect they achieve what is most important – a smile on people’s faces!

The shopping experience is complete only when you visit the strauss café created from materials and elements of craftsmanship origin. a real highlight for the youngest customers is certainly the bird’s nest with an integrated slide! the new store in bergkirchen is the first workwear store of this size and dimension and has the role of a prototype for future engelbert strauss workwear stores.