REWE now one step ahead in store design

The latest design of a 1,500 sqm supermarket has just been opened by Germany’s No. 2 food retailer REWE in Wiesbaden-Erbenheim, 30 km west of Frankfurt. Its architecture is meant to inspire with fresh fish tanks, herb gardens on the roof and more chilled food than normal. Great use is made of wood, high ceilings and daylight.

This style, which took 4 years to develop, will be a future model with REWE planning to open 25-30 new stores per year on fully owned sites.  The preceding design model was the REWE Green Building of which there are now 200.

REWE estimates store turnover of € 8,000 per sqm, i.e. annually about € 12m. This is calculated on the basis of a 10 km catchment area and about 10,000 customers per week, each spending about € 23. The store employs 65 people.

REWE collaborated on this project with the London-based architects ACME.