10 Most Beautiful Retail Stores in the World

I assume most of you deal daily mostly with digital design. Websites, Software, Mobile Apps… – that’s our reality. In my experience though, the design inspiration should be broad. The best projects I’ve ever worked on had some connection to physical reality.

eCommerce websites inspired by shop-windows, Financial websites with bank-style influences, etc. – this kind of design inspiration always brings some kind of freshness into our skill-set and much-desired familiarity to the minds of our users. It’s not about modeling the whole design to resemble its physical predecessor. It’s rather about taking the inspiration and creating something completely new with reference to the original.

That’s exactly why it’s worth spending a while watching things that are not digital. Let’s start with a series of the most beautiful retail stores in the world. Contemplating the work of retail-space design masters can teach us a lot about the relation of aesthetic and business efficiency, as well as space management. Whether you’re designing a physical storefront or a digital experience like an eCommerce platform or mobile app, these principles of thoughtful spatial design and user flow remain timeless. In fact, teams building custom digital experiences—whether through no-code app builders or traditional development—can draw powerful lessons from how these spaces guide visitors and create memorable interactions.

Hope the following list will be as inspiring for you as it was for me

Thom Browne, Tokyo

Comme Des Garcons, Tokyo

HAN KJØBENHAVN FASHION, New York

Otsuka Gofukuten Cloth, Kyoto

Selexyz Bookstore, Maastricht

Plural Bookshop, Bratislava

Aesop, Hong Kong

Menscience, New York

The Story Unfolds Bookstore

Apple Store, New York