nt store of tomorrow”. The team behind it have already had an offer to bring it to Australia. Situated above the iconic Selfridges department store, the Old Selfridges Hotel is a cavernous 25,000 square foot site that is occasionally used for art installations and one-off events. Selfridges approached Dixon and in just eight weeks from sign off to opening night, the temporary retail space took shape. It’s been dubbed a place where, “powerful experiences, bespoke services and unique products come together”. Visitors can explore departments dedicated to technology, home, fashion, beauty, and jewellery, as well as a food hall. It’s an exercise in cross-category promotion, products have been grouped by theme or lifestyle, rather than category. This kind of layout creates unexpected encounters, Dixon said. “What is quite nice here is you get the overlap,” he explained. “And when you get that overlap between art and food and technology, you get new ideas.” New ideas might just be what retailers are after. Geraldine James, Selfridges’ homewares buyer, said the venture has been inspiring so far. “Working alongside Tom and his team to support this venture has been both exciting and truly inspiring, it is a perfect synergy between our two brands, pushing the boundaries, creating drama and retail energy,” she said. Dixon said department stores need to radically rethink how they use space to stay relevant. “The high streets are fighting a losing battle against the shift to online shopping, while eye-watering rents for prime locations squeeze traditional stores even further. It is time to radically rethink how these spaces can become relevant again in a digitally-defined future,” he said. Prototyping the future Multiplex is no mere exhibition. Everything on show is for sale, except the Aston Martin concept car in the old hotel lobby. “The Multiplex is a prototype shop for the future, a multiple stage for new ideas. Just as in the modern world, the artificial distinctions between designers, artists, manufacturers, wholesalers and retailers, communicators, entertainers and customers blur, merge and get redefined. “The space becomes a resource for working, playing and entertaining, for inspiration and for business, a platform for superior broadcasting of brands and ideas and a temporary central London entertainment space for new commerce,” Dixon said. Visitors can get a pair of Cubitts glasses handmade and explore their experimental range of frames made from eccentric materials such as coal, cement and even rust. Live fashion and portrait shoots are scheduled in an open plan photo studio. Lectures and talks will also take place during the month and there are whisky and champagne bars and a DJ booth ready for after hours events. Online businesses have gotten involved too. The food hall is “the takeaway, take-in restaurant”, where orders can be placed from 50 surrounding restaurants and the food is delivered to the space, powered by delivery service Deliveroo. There is a zone for the general public to pitch their ideas for new products sponsored by Mindblower, a new generation funding platform. Mindblower.com is an ‘idea to product’ funding platform where potential inventors upload their ideas and a panel of experts choose which ideas can make it through the entire product design process, from R&D to prototyping, manufacturing, marketing and sales. Moo.com, an online print and design company, is responsible for a life-size canvas and handing out paint guns to visitors.   On the opening night, interested parties from Canada and Australia approached Dixon to bring the concept to fellow Commonwealth nations. While no official announcement has been made about the show going on tour to our shores, Inside Retail understands the offer is being considered.