2010 has been characterised by more retail refurbs than usual - in spite of prevailing uncertainty

In a small room at Retail Week Towers in Mornington Crescent last week, a panel of eight judges sat down to draw up the shortlist for this year’s Retail Week Interiors awards. The results of their deliberations will be published in this Friday’s issue, of interest doubtless to those who entered and as a snapshot of good retail design in the UK and beyond.

What was particularly obvious however was the sheer number of entries that the judges had to go through: more than ever before. This could be taken as an indication of two things: either retailers everywhere this year have been busier than ever creating new stores, or design consultants and retailers alike are more attention-seeking than normal (or, of course, the Retail Week marketing team has pulled out all the stops).

Whichever is indeed the case, it’s always cheering to see new things and the competition was awash with novel projects, some excellent, others much less so. And the plain fact is that there has been a lot of store design work so far this year, in spite of the many attempts by doomsayers to put a lid on things.

This week, for instance, Disney Stores will reveal a new format in Madrid (a report on the store will appear in the July 16 issue of Retail Week) in spite of having slipped once more into the red for the year to October 3. It is not atypical in behaving like this - clearly taking the view that if things aren’t quite as might be wished, then doing something about the way a store appears is a positive way of attracting new shoppers.

Indeed, look back over the last six months and whether it’s Anthropologie on the Kings Road, Top Shop in Knightsbridge or perhaps Bhs in Uxbridge, it is apparent that retailers still regard store revamps as one of the more effective ways of keeping the tills ringing.

What is also clear is that while revamps matter, their progress is monitored more closely today than ever and failing formats have a habit of disappearing almost as quickly as they appear. Much work therefore for the judges separating wheat from chaff and the winners of the various categories will not be made known until September 28 when the awards evening takes place.

The die for this year’s winners has already been cast, but it seems a racing certainty that good-looking stores will continue to appear during the rest of 2010, economic uncertainty notwithstanding.