{"id":26848,"date":"2026-05-19T14:08:08","date_gmt":"2026-05-19T12:08:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vmm.eu\/?p=26848"},"modified":"2026-05-20T14:15:31","modified_gmt":"2026-05-20T12:15:31","slug":"optimistic-despite-crises-shopfitting-focuses-on-the-future-and-collaboration","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vmm.eu\/en\/optimistic-despite-crises-shopfitting-focuses-on-the-future-and-collaboration\/","title":{"rendered":"Optimistic Despite Crises: Shopfitting Focuses on the Future and Collaboration\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Around 160 participants gathered in Hamburg on May 7 and 8, 2026, for the annual conference of the German Shopfitting Association (dLv). The focus was on the future of brick-and-mortar retail, the challenges facing the industry, and the role of shopfitting in creating vibrant city centers.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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CHALLENGING TIMES FOR THE INDUSTRY<\/strong><\/h4>\n

The current business year is proving difficult. The momentum from 2025 has weakened. The conflict in the Middle East is having noticeable effects: high transport costs, emerging supply bottlenecks, postponed projects, stagnant investments, and uncertain consumers. At the same time, customers are acting more short-term and demanding greater flexibility and speed.<\/p>\n

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THE INDUSTRY FOCUSES ON INVESTMENT AND NETWORKING<\/strong><\/h4>\n

The shopfitting sector is responding. \u201cWaiting is not an option \u2014 the future is now,\u201d emphasized dLv President Carsten Schemberg. Norbert Schmees (Norbert Schmees Ladenbau, Lathen) identified digitalization, automation, and deep industry expertise as key success factors. Dr. Adrian Loinger (Egger Holzwerkstoffe, Brilon) added: \u201cYou invest in difficult times and reap the rewards in good times.\u201d Claus Saumweber (Bohnacker Ladeneinrichtungen, Blaubeuren) highlighted the importance of strong partner networks. Michael H\u00fcni (Rolf H\u00fcni, D\u00fcbendorf, Switzerland), board member of the Swiss Shopfitting Association, reported that the situation in Switzerland is also tense.<\/p>\n

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A NEW BEGINNING FOR BRICK-AND-MORTAR RETAIL<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Optimism shaped the expert presentations. Jakob Ledermann (Philoneos) made it clear that artificial intelligence will increasingly permeate all areas of life and business \u2014 and drew a surprising conclusion: \u201cAll the more reason why nostalgia will become an emotional basic need.\u201d Wutao Wen from the Rheingold Institute used the Chinese market as an example to show that purely digitally driven retail has reached a turning point there: people are once again seeking analog experiences, physical stores, and local communities. Professor Sabine Krieg (D\u00fcsseldorf University of Applied Sciences) passionately appealed to stop the \u201ccannibalization of city centers.\u201d Shopfitting, she argued, could play a key role in this effort.<\/p>\n

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DIVERSITY AS A SUCCESS FACTOR<\/strong><\/p>\n

An emotional highlight was the closing keynote by Yared Dibaba. In perfect Low German, he transitioned to his central message: \u201cCreate a culture of diversity within your company, prevent discrimination, and enable everyone to realize their full potential. That could be the key to success.\u201d<\/p>\n

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PROFESSIONAL EXCHANGE AND OUTLOOK<\/strong><\/h4>\n

The event concluded with an excursion through the \u00dcberseequartier, including the Westfield Center in Hamburg\u2019s HafenCity, and a visit to Steinway & Sons. Participants once again took the opportunity for intensive professional exchange. The message from Hamburg was clear: despite headwinds, the industry is looking ahead. Internal investments, strong partnerships, and confidence in brick-and-mortar retail are especially important in these times. The next dLv Shopfitting Conference will take place on April 29 and 30, 2027, in Freiburg. A visit to member company Kramer GmbH in Umkirch is planned.<\/p>\n

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Statistical Data
\n<\/strong>The latest dLv survey is available on the website:
\nwww.ladenbauverband.de\/52\/verband\/branchendaten\/<\/a><\/p>\n

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Images | Download
\n<\/strong>The images are part of the press release and may be used with the following photo credit: dLv\/Tobias Trapp<\/p>\n

Download: www.<\/a><\/span>ladenbauverband.owncloud.online\/s
\nPW: dLv_LBTagung_2026<\/p>\n

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About the German Shopfitting Association
\n<\/strong>The dLv is the industry association for shopfitters and their partners. Its members include companies that design and manufacture retail interiors or contribute to the creation of stores through a wide range of products and services. Inspiring and innovative stores are created because skilled shopfitters build them and reliable partners support the process.<\/p>\n

Press Contact
\n<\/strong>Angela Krause
\nDeutscher Ladenbau Verband (dLv) e.V.
\nKoellikerstr. 13, 97070 W\u00fcrzburg, Germany<\/p>\n

Tel.: 0931 35292-0
\ninfo@ladenbauverband.de
\nwww.ladenbauverband.de<\/p>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Despite economic uncertainty and mounting challenges, the shopfitting industry is sending a clear message: the future will be shaped by courage, innovation and strong partnerships. The dLv Shopfitting Conference 2026 in Hamburg made it impressively clear why brick-and-mortar retail is opening up new opportunities right now \u2013 and what role shopfitting plays in this development.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":106,"featured_media":26843,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[64],"tags":[972,975,976,977],"class_list":["post-26848","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-project","tag-deutscherladenbauverband","tag-deutscherladenbauverband-en","tag-hamburg-en","tag-zukunft-und-zusammenarbeit-en"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-28 03:40:05","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category"},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vmm.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26848","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vmm.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vmm.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vmm.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/106"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vmm.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26848"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.vmm.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26848\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26855,"href":"https:\/\/www.vmm.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26848\/revisions\/26855"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vmm.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26843"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vmm.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26848"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vmm.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26848"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vmm.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26848"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}