Last week I walked, drove, and rode a horse through London visiting some of the best retail in the world. Department stores, guitar shops, a dry cleaner, a coffee roaster, a piano store, an art gallery, a bath shop, and a theater. You might not see your type of business in these photos.
But with 100,000+ of you reading this across every retail category, the point isn't the product. It's the design choices these retailers made to not look like everybody else. Here are five things I took away.
Lesson 1
Smart retailers aren't listing words on their windows. They're using full sentences that say "if this is what you're looking for, you're in the right place."
The Bar, London
The tagline is what grabbed me. So many stores come up with a creative name and you have no idea what they sell. If this had just been called "The Bar" you'd think it's a place to get a drink. But the line underneath says it all: "Everything you need to create the bar at home." It's invitational. Perfect for that person who's always wondered what it would take. They can now see it in a store built just for them.
Shackleton, London
Outdoor apparel is having a moment right now, and this store puts exactly who their customer is right on the glass. No guessing. Named after polar explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton, they describe themselves as explorers, product engineers, climate advocates, and record-breakers. Their tagline: Live Courageously. The window display with skis, expedition gear, and glacier footage on the screen backs it up. They know who they're for and they're not shy about it.
Redemption Roasters, London
At first glance the quote on the window seems cheeky. But it's not a gimmick. Redemption Roasters was founded in 2016 after the Ministry of Justice approached the founders, Ted and Max, to set up a roastery inside a prison. Their mission: train people leaving prisons with the skills to get secure employment and reduce reoffending. They lead with their story right on the glass, and it works because it's true.
JD Sports, London
One advertising slogan carried throughout the entire entrance: "We Run This City." On digital screens, on regular signage, on columns. On a busy street you instantly understood what made them different from Nike or anyone else. The red letters against black unified everything. One message, repeated with consistency, and it worked.
Lesson 2
Retailers are holding onto historical buildings and design with pride, not ripping them out. Customers notice.
Harrods Elevator, London
Not all the elevators in Harrods look like this. But this one, with its Art Deco copper, fine wood, and crystal chandelier, redefines what luxury shopping can feel like. Even the ride between floors becomes part of the experience.
Harrods Marketplace, London
The food hall was originally designed in 1902 to house fresh produce. Since then it's been refitted into five luxury restaurants, but the original tile work is breathtaking. They kept what mattered and built around it.
Harrods Foyer, London
I loved how they used space in front of the elevators with this stepped white unit unified by color and glass and anchored by a live tree. So smart!
Fortnum & Mason, London
Founded in 1707 in Piccadilly. Several levels of luxury hampers, teas, and crafted chocolates. Even the exit has a red carpet, gold sunburst clock, and columns. The place was packed. When you're buying a gift for someone, this is what the experience should feel like. Every detail says the purchase matters.
Fortnum & Mason, London
They used a lot of space to provide free flow through the store so shoppers would go deepter using round display unites and angled tables. This was apparently chicken week!
Fortnum & Mason, London
This exit was a showstopper with gold sunburst clock red carpet and columns in London.
Liberty Hotel, London
The flower shop at the entrance softened the whole appearance from the street. More importantly, it created traffic and made the building a destination. That's something so many retailers struggle with. Give people a reason to stop before they even walk through the door.
Lesson 3
The best stores didn't block the view. They used the window to pull you deeper into the space.
The Eye Company, London
You could look straight through the window and immediately get that it's an eyewear shop because of the oversized glasses hung at the top. But they didn't put them at eye level, which is what most people would do. That would block the view. Instead the display cases below had room to breathe and do their job. Too many retailers would have put the big statement piece right in front of everything else, giving you nowhere to go from there.
Rob and Nick Carter Gallery, London
So many galleries struggle with what to put in the window and end up looking cluttered. Here the boldness of the single artwork does all the work. You could see through the store to the other pieces in the back. Even the name on the glass was in color. If that's the kind of look you wanted, you could immediately understand this is for you.
Comme des Garçons at Harrods, London
They always do a good job. The display stands out using the three most reliable colors in retail: red, white, and black. It makes you smile. And notice they didn't jam 15 sweaters or 10 red jackets in there. There's space. You know it's a luxury product and you have room to consider it.
Lesson 4
Whether it's a sink, a rotating guitar display, or a flower shop at the entrance, the thing that draws people in shouldn't be hidden.
Lush, London
The big sink right at the front is what stood out. For bath and soap companies, getting people to try the product is the biggest opportunity. But too often the sinks are in the back, or they're small, or they're an afterthought. Here it's the main feature at the entrance, manned by someone who ideally is inviting people to come try a scent. That's not exactly what I saw happening, but the setup is right. The intent is there.
Gibson Garage, London
A drive-by shot I had to grab. The Gibson name pulled me in, but it was the guitars rotating from the ceiling on the right side that held my attention. This isn't just a store. It's a space for serious musicians, and they also host concerts at what they call the Gibson Garage. Brand marketing, community building, and eye-catching design all in one location. What more could you ask for from a retail space?
Space NK, London
A luxury beauty store, but very different from Sephora. Where Sephora stocks popular brands, Space NK carries many smaller brands. They were packed. The store interior was bright and the wide open entrance pulled people right in off the street.
Jeeves, London
Driving through London, you could have mistaken this for a high-end furniture store. A baby grand piano inside. Fabric chairs. And yet the sign says London's Finest Dry Cleaners, since 1969. No prices on the website. Instead they talk about home delivery, the range of items they handle, and what they call the seven stages of cleaning: detailing, stain removal, cleaning, hand finishing, minor repairs, inspection, and packaging. Multiple locations around London. Now contrast that with your local dry cleaners with "two shirts for $20" taped to the window. How do you feel walking into Jeeves? You know your goods will be cared for. They made dry cleaning feel like a service worth paying for.
Yamaha, London
This poster was in every window of the piano store. As a musician I appreciated the concept: a Nocturne score built from the real mistakes of over 40 pianists. Scan the QR code and you can see the score with all the mistakes, plus watch a video of someone playing it. It's a great way to get people thinking about music without the pressure of perfection. And the line "Can You Play This Nocturne?" is invitational. It draws you in instead of shutting you out.
Lesson 5
A name and a commitment to make someone feel expected can change an entire evening.
With Jonny Weston, Red Coat Butler, Gillian Lynne Theatre, London
I walked up to the Gillian Lynne Theatre to see My Neighbor Tortoro, not even remembering I'd bought the VIP experience. Jonny Weston, a Red Coat butler for LW Theatres, greeted me by name and said, "I know nothing about you except your name, but Lord Webber wants you to be welcomed." Last night in London. He didn't need my purchase history or a customer profile. He had my name and a commitment to make me feel expected.
Talk about surprise and delight! That's the whole game. MasterCard did a great profile of him here.
My AI tour guide for the afternoon
It was 12:40 after a horse ride through Hyde Park and I needed to hit five places before dinner at a highly rated Indian restaurant by 5:30, then get to the theater by 7:00. No backtracking. Avoid London traffic. Instead of trying to map it myself, I opened ChatGPT and within a minute it planned the entire afternoon. It even told me to grab a coffee but don't dawdle. AI as your personal concierge. It worked.
With Benny, Hyde Park Stables, London
I'm at conferences all the time. After the sessions end, I ask people: "What are you doing tonight?" Nine out of ten say they're heading back to the hotel. Grab dinner. Answer emails. Early flight tomorrow.
Here's the thing: a Marriott in London is the same as a Marriott in Dallas. You didn't travel to be in a hotel room.
After my event, I walked around. Found a stable near Hyde Park. Took a horseback ride with Benny here from Hyde Park Stables. Not because it was on some bucket list. Because I was there and I could.
New cities have culture. Great theater. Food. Weird little shops. Great shops. Things you can't do back home. But you have to make the choice to go find them.
These stores got the design right. The windows, the displays, the experience of walking up and looking in. But here's what I noticed inside most of them: the employees were disengaged. Waiting.
The only greeting I got in one store was a woman calling to my back, 'Something special you're looking for?' That's it. All of this effort to get someone through the door, and then nothing.
The conversation never started. That's the biggest missed opportunity in retail right now.
None of these retailers had the same product, the same customer, or the same price point. But they all made the same choice: to care about how it feels to stand outside their store and look in. That's free.
And it's the one thing most retailers still get wrong.
And then there was Jonny. A Red Coat butler who greeted me by name, knew nothing else about me, and made me feel like the most important person in the building. He's been doing this for a decade. That's not a program. That's a commitment.
If your team did that for every customer who walked in, what would change?
The best retail ideas I found on this trip weren't on anyone's guidebook. Benny the horse was a short walk from my hotel. The Gibson Garage was a drive-by I almost missed. You have to make the choice to go look.
Your store doesn't have to be in London to stand out. It just has to stop looking like everyone else in your market.
Know a retailer who needs to see this?
Forward it.