A Local Retail Revolution Coming Your Way

Recently, some people here in Düsseldorf laid flowers in front of a store. Not, as we see too often, because people have been shot or murdered there. No, the flowers were for the store itself. It was an institution, once. But it went out of business. And people were sad about that. Not sad enough, to avoid the bankruptcy in the past few years by spending a few euros here, but sad enough to spend a few euros at a nearby florist on this day. What happened? Well, this was once a big book store. But people stopped buying books here. Probably they bought them online instead. Or at another, more interesting, book store. It’s something we see more often. Recently in The Netherlands, several retail chains have gone under, unable to compete with online shops. In those cases, not very surprising, as it was clear to many that they had lost the connection with their customers. They competed on price and convenience, and that’s a competition online stores win every single time.

Now, I’m not one to sound the alarm for disappearing brick-and-mortar retail. Nor am I the one heralding the total victory of online shopping. I don’t believe that will happen any time soon. I think physical retail certainly has a place in our world, and a future. As long as the retailers choose to bring an experience that adds value for their consumers, they will be able to thrive. There are many small, local retailers who do. For them, an online presence, and even the opportunity for their customers to additionally shop online, would certainly not be a threat to their shop, but an enrichment. But getting online can be hard for retailers like that. Fortunately, out of Düsseldorf, there’s a revolution coming. A retail revolution, that combines the strengths of local and physical, with digital and online. This revolution has a name: Hierbeidir.com.

For the StartInDUS podcast, I spoke to Philip Jurecz, one of five founders of Hierbeidir.com. About the future of retail, choosing a location for your startup, and the hard work that leads to luck. Listen to episode 6 of the StartInDUS podcast, embedded above.