This feature first appeared in Inside Retailing Magazine. Click here to subscribe.


Berlin department store KaDeWe (full German name Kaufhaus des Westens or ‘Department store of the West’ in English) has become a retail legend.

It’s not the fact it is the largest department store in continental Europe. It’s not just its superb merchandising that makes this store stand out, its comprehensive range of luxury and middle-market goods (380,000 stock items), or the fact it attracts up to 50,000 shoppers a day, second only to Harrods in the EU. It’s most famous feature in retail circles is its two storey - yes two floors! - of foodcourt and delicatessen on the upper levels.

Think Harrods, only better (sorry Britons). Ask yourself how many ways there are of selling tea, or how many types - then be staggered by how much KaDeWe exceeds your wildest imagination.

The 7000sqm food hall offers an estimated 34,000 gastronomic luxuries. More than 100 chefs serve from 34 preparation stations, each with counters or tables - enough to seat 1000.

Barely an hour after its opening and the customers have already swamped this gourmands’ dreamscape: there’s sampling of exotic chocolates and teas, cheeses and wines. Whether you’re in the mood for Champagne or fresh coffee, oysters or a brunch of exotic cold cuts, there is somewhere to sit and enjoy, a shelter from the cold wintry German weather outside.

There is the equivalent of two football fields of food for sale here. And if that’s not enough, there’s a full scale restaurant on the roof encased in glass and offering spectacular views over old Berlin.

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