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Samaritaine transforms into amusement park for summer

Paris Magic City, France

France – For summer 2023 Parisian department store Samaritaine is paying tribute to its brand history by transforming into a lively and contemporary amusement park. From 17 May until 30 August, Samaritaine’s Paris Magic City pop-up will recreate the spirit of the original Magic City amusement park established by the store’s founder in 1900.

Food, family-friendly activities and an abundance of whimsy will be on offer across the store’s numerous floors. Visitors can enjoy a ball pool, arcade games, distorting mirrors, hoop tonic (hula hoop) lessons, and exhibitions in collaboration with renowned museums including the Musée des Arts Forains and the Musée du Jeu de Paume. A special claw machine will give customers the opportunity to win a range of gifts from the store.

Samaritaine’s amusement park pop-up transforms the legacy shopping space into a Hyperphysical Store, allowing it to connect with consumers by offering them an unexpected yet immersive experience.

Strategic opportunity

Bricks-and-mortar spaces can create one-of-a-kind shopper-tainment moments that surprise and delight –focus on amplifying distinctive brand qualities

Bambox unveils sustainable alternative to old loo roll design

Bambox, Tel Aviv

Tel Aviv – Bambox, a company specialising in sustainable packaging for the tissue paper industry, has developed a revolutionary toilet paper pack that is more sustainable without sacrificing convenience. Moving away from the 130-year-old toilet roll design, Bambox came up with paper folded like an accordion and stored in a box rather than on a roll. ‘It’s stored in a square, and the paper is square and compressed to the maximum,’ the company’s founder Roy Shihor told Fast Company.

The final product contains the equivalent of four or five toilet rolls, while the solid square design facilitates transport, with shipments able to carry twice as many boxes as conventional rolls. Users can still expect optimum comfort and softness as the compressed paper will fluff up with air when the box is opened.

Made with bamboo, this alternative loo roll could help cut the high costs of wood and fuel necessary to produce toilet paper and transport it worldwide. Bambox claims its innovation can reduce logistics and shipment costs by up to 50%. Retailers could also benefit from a 150% increase in profitability thanks to fewer storage issues, better shipping rates and high quality.

While attending Milan Design Week 2023, we uncovered similar innovators attempting to merge sustainability with tangible solutions to benefit consumers, businesses and the planet.

Strategic opportunity

Consider how alternative materials or design processes could help build more resilient and long-lasting products that serve a practical purpose while supporting consumers’ lifestyles

New eco-service station recharges e-vehicles and drivers

The Mini Concept Aceman, Germany

UK – A six-acre eco-service station boasting 120 electric vehicle (EV) chargers will open off the A3 near Buriton, Hampshire, in 2024.

Located in the South Downs National Park, the development is expected to cost £10–12m ($12.4m–15m, €11.6–14m). It will include an e-bike rental service, a cycling track, a farm shop selling local wines and fresh produce, and a showroom for electric cars. Sustainable accommodation will also be available in the form of 60 carbon-neutral lodges powered by solar energy and green fuel from nearby farms. Each lodge will cost up to £200 ($248, €232) for a night’s stay.

The UK’s EV charging network is set to reach 300,000 points by 2030 when the ban on new petrol and diesel cars comes into effect. But according to Zapmap’s EV charging statistics 2023, as of May 2023 there are 43,626 EV charging points across 25,413 locations. James McKemey, EV charging company Pod Point’s head of policy and public affairs, told The Independent: 'The idea that we need to have loads of petrol-style charging isn’t quite right.’

Explore our mobility series to see how brands and businesses can creatively respond to the increasing consumer and planetary demand for sustainable mobility.

Strategic opportunity

Consumers aspire to eco-friendliness without compromise, and new retail – and leisure – opportunities arising from the next generation of charging infrastructure points are growing

Stat: Knight Frank reveals how the richest 1% vary in different countries

Gucci Summer Stories, Italy

Global – How much does it take to become part of the wealthiest 1% of the population? The answer varies sharply depending on the country, according to UK-based real estate company Knight Frank's latest report examining ultra-high-net-worth (UHNW) demographics.

The Knight Frank wealth report reveals how much the wealthiest 1% are worth in selected countries and territories in 2023. The findings reveal steep contrasts, suggesting that countries with developing affluent groups and luxury markets still have a long way to go to match long-established wealth hotspots. According to the data, it only takes £141,000 ($175,000, €164,000) to join India’s richest 1%, compared to a whopping £10m ($12.4m, €11.6m) in Monaco, which tops the rankings.

So while the 1% might be associated with guilded lifestyles, the actual levels of wealth needed to access the club don’t follow a one-size-fits-all definition of UHNW individuals. This contrast should be top of mind for luxury brands entering markets like India or Thailand, where affluents have different notions of value and status with regard to wealth.

Strategic opportunity

When targeting luxury consumers in quickly growing markets like India, brands need to keep in mind the gap between relative and absolute wealth by offering options and premium products better tailored to local purchasing power