Welcome to another esoteric top 5 that no one asked for!

One of the many joys of my strange but very privileged job is that I’ve regularly run tours and projects in iconic global cities like London, New York, Paris, Amsterdam, and Milan.

But along the way, I’ve also been lucky enough to run tours in what I loosely refer to as “second cities”

I think of a second city not only as somewhere other than the capital (i.e. Hamburg rather than Berlin), but also capitals that, in the world of retail inspiration, are sometimes overlooked (i.e. Vienna).

Global centres like London and New York are essential for getting a sense of where retail is heading because these are the cities where new brands make their mark and established brands test something new. This is where we see the newest ideas.

But it’s often second cities where you get a glimpse of something deeper. 

These cities might show you how a brand is really performing beyond its global flagship. They might also show you something closer to real shopping behaviours, away from the innately global, touristy mix of shoppers in capitals. They also tend to offer more coherent identities tied to cultural trends – something vast, globalised capitals tend to struggle with in the modern world.

For these reasons and so many more, they offer so much value for anyone either interested or invested in new retail inspiration.

So here are some of my favourites:

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