Phil Schoutrop Leads European Study Tour

The annual Large Format Retail Association Global Touring Program has wrapped up another successful year.

Buchan Principal/Director and retail specialist Phil Schoutrop guided a group of 40 LFRA members as they explored innovative retail developments and precincts across Sweden, Denmark and the United Kingdom.

Starting at the home of IKEA Group – Almhult, Sweden – the group discovered the history and brand values of one of the world’s most sustainable furniture and homewares manufacturers. From there they journeyed to the beautiful city of Copenhagen to meet with Danish furniture, lifestyle, and lighting retailers to get an understanding of the vision and operation of their businesses.

They then travelled across to London to meet with and learn from a number of retail and development giants from John Lewis Partnership, Westfield UK and Landsec.

After a whirlwind 7 days of experiences and knowledge sharing, the group have left with a better understanding of the changing face of retail and how experiential design is fundamental to success in the current retail climate.

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