With infection rates going down in the US and Covid restrictions with them, simple pleasures like meandering in stores are returning. So, we recently talked to a bunch of designers (with home offices that put ours to shame) about how they’re helping stores prepare for whatever public-health catastrophe—or technological triumph—might happen next.

We shared what’s in store last week, but in case you missed it because you were busy bingeing The Dropout (how does William H. Macy’s forehead steal every scene?), check out the takeaways below.

Connect e-commerce with in-store shopping: In Poland, the retailer Eobuwie has a shoe store…but it doesn’t have any shoes in it. The shoes are all in the back, and shoppers select them from tablets in a comfy showroom, then a store associate brings their choices to them within a minute, thanks to a high-tech stocking and racking system. It’s just one example of how e-comm behaviors are being adapted in brick-and-mortar stores.

Be agile: Periodic is a permanent pop-up space in Seattle, where brands can set up shop with swiftness and ease thanks to fixtures and shelving that are as flexible as a Lego set. And that level of flexibility is increasingly being built into permanent stores, which need to accommodate special displays like collaborations and limited editions, and—depending on variabilities like the season—adjust how much space they dedicate to pick-up orders and fulfillment.

Engage over a cause: Parts of the Timberland flagship store on Carnaby Street in London seem more like a science-museum exhibit about environmental issues than a place that sells work boots and anoraks. What brands care about is something that consumers care about more than ever, so retailers like Timberland are wearing their values on their (water-resistant) sleeves.

Make it an experience: McDonald’s Sky Kitchen at Sydney Airport has a surprising and much-Instagrammed design, with the kitchen in a futuristic yellow cube perched on a second story, and an ingenious Rube Goldberg contraption that carries Quarter Pounders and fries like a chairlift from the kitchen to the counter. Whether it’s stopping travelers and their Samsonites in their tracks at an airport, or stores like Dick’s Sporting Goods building climbing walls and batting cages into their spaces, retailers don’t just want to make a sale—they want to make an impression.

Show ’em what you’re made of: Like supermarkets everywhere, Esselunga, the chain in Italy, typically put all its cashiers in the front of the store, meaning the first impression for shoppers upon entering is the mundanity of groceries being rung up and bagged. But for its superstore in Brescia, it decided to move the registers to the side, and now what you see when you enter are huge glass cubes like aquariums in which bakers bake bread and other goodies, and cooks for the in-store restaurant swivel pans and plate fettuccine. All those maestros had been hidden in the back of the supermarket, but now, like more brands everywhere, Esselunga is foregrounding who they are and, in every sense, what they’re made of.

Click here to read our full series on store design.—AAN

Unionization efforts are gaining momentum across the US—just look at Starbucks. Dating back to at least December, workers at 126 of the coffee chain’s stores in 28 states have filed petitions to join Workers United, an affiliate of the Service Employees International Union, spokesperson Dawn Ang told HR Brew.

• Last week, three more Buffalo-area Starbucks voted to unionize, albeit at narrow margins.

The big picture: With all eyes on unions, HR Brew’s Sam Blum looked at the teachable moments these pushes can provide to employers. He spoke to Keith Brodie, a labor and employment lawyer, about what is—and what isn’t—acceptable behavior amid efforts to unionize.

“Employers aren’t able to engage in activities or practices that would in any way inhibit the employee from exercising their free choice to either join a union or not join a union,” Brodie said.

• He elaborated that employers are not permitted to “engage in threats” or “question employees about their union sympathies or their views of the union.”

What else? Click here to read the full piece on HR Brew.—KM

Today’s top retail reads.

On the platform: Sellers dish on Walmart’s third-party marketplace. “I literally think we made like, four sales on Walmart,” said Calloway Cook, president of Illuminate Labs. (Modern Retail)

Middle ground: Why luxury e-comm platform Ounass is one to watch in the Middle East. (Vogue Business)

Hungry for more: Brazil’s iFood, already dominant in deliveries, is expanding beyond food. And with Uber exiting the country’s restaurant-delivery biz, competition isn’t so fierce. (Financial Times)

When the cart does its part: You can help curb cart abandonment and drive conversion rates + customer loyalty with a frictionless e-commerce experience. PayPal’s got your trusty roadmap for just that. Read 10 ways to reimagine the customer experience.*

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At the mall, it’s where band tees are the only tees. In Retail Brew, it’s where we invite readers to weigh in on a trending retail topic.

So many companies are suspending their operations in Russia over its invasion of Ukraine that the story is becoming not so much which ones left, but which remain. As noted in a timeline being updated by our eagle-eyed colleague Katishi Maake, some of the first brands to pause operations were Apple, H&M, Nike, Ikea, and Under Armour—all announcing to do so in the first few days of March.

• Brands that were slower to say goodbye to all those rubles, and that left after widespread criticism, include McDonald’s (March 8), Nestlé (March 9), and Burger King (March 10).
• The parent company of Uniqlo at first said it would remain in Russia, then reversed its decision on March 10, announcing it would suspend its operations.

You tell us: If one of your favorite retailers keeps doing business in Russia, how will you react? Cast your vote here.

Circling back: Amazon announced recently that it would close 68 brick-and-mortar stores in the US and UK, including all of its 4-Star and Amazon Books locations. Retail Brew readers don’t seem likely to form support groups to cope with the loss, with only 27.6% saying they’d shopped at an Amazon IRL store and “loved it,” while the exact same percentage said they’d done so and it “was just OK.”

Another 17.2% did the Amazon brick-and-mortar thing and “didn’t like it.” Asked their impression of the stores, non-fans gave the kind of unvarnished feedback that led to us swearing off dating apps (again):

• “It was dark and felt like a low-class Brookstone store or an As Seen on TV store in the mall.”
• “Looked and felt like a garage sale.”
• “The store made absolutely no sense...no reason for existence, a totally confusing shopping experience.”—AAN

Catch up on the Retail Brew stories you may have missed.

• Why Momofuku chose to be transparent with consumers about price hikes
• Younger consumers lead the way in shopping for international brands: survey
• The food innovations and trends from Expo West