Deep dive: Curation, destination, imagination – the new department store foundations

How can the retail format be revived to resonate with contemporary and future shoppers?

When Rackhams department store made its debut in Birmingham in 1881, it was a new type of shop that represented retail at its most exciting and engaging – the department store.

Stores such as Rackhams were more than simply shops, they were sources of civic pride and often occupied landmark buildings that symbolised their unique status.

Over the years many others joined Rackhams in its Midlands home. Debenhams was there, Selfridges opened in 2003 and John Lewis followed in 2015.

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