A Wren Says

There was excitement in the air. Maybe it was just my own. I had put Illum and Magasin du Nord on my Copenhagen itinerary early in my trip planning. Once I was in country, I was giddy, like a 90s teenager who had been dropped off at the mall. Truthfully, Magasin du Nord is a storied landmark with a museum to tell its story. And Illum is equally historic with fun pop-up events as well

Truthfully, the concept was not all that different from department stores in the U.S. There were beauty floors, luxury brand sections, house brands. I will admit that while there are often restaurants in department stores here in the U.S., there is usually just one and certainly not a full-on grocery store. But even with the similarities it just felt different. It was more than just the excitement of trying new things, it was also because there were people.

When I have been shopping in the U.S. on a weekday, I have been able to enjoy the relative solitude of being one of the few shoppers in the store. Truthfully, there has been a lot of talk over the past few years about the decline of the American department store. It is clear from my experience that it is not that department stores no longer work as concept.

Illum and Magasin du Nord are tied into the culture of the city. There locations make it easy for shoppers, local and foreign, to pop in quickly to explore. The concept works there because it fits the local landscape. The American department store, stuck in malls, fighting for its life against boutiques and online shops, just no longer fits with American culture. After my experience in Copenhagen, I wonder what it will take for the department stores in the U.S. to woven in to our shopping lives once again.