We need to move from talking about store closures to talking about a shopping magic that makes all visitors to the city center happy and excited about what they see and experience in the street's shops, cafés and restaurants. The city center is the 'pulse' of the city and this is where visitors experience the city. The survival of the city center requires quality shops that give customers extraordinary happy experiences. 

The prerequisite, however, is that the city's architects and urban planners see the entire city center as an area that needs to be staged in the same way that the entertainment industry's great masters of staging, Walt Disney and Andre Rieu, would do it. Shops, cafés and restaurants should aim to drive customers crazy with joy and excitement.

2025 promises to be a more unpredictable and probably wilder year than we've ever seen before.

As citizens, we will all be affected by the factors that make 2025 a turbulent and unpredictable year. Our behavior as consumers will continue to be polarized
between recycling and renting as opposed to buying new and owning.

Even in 2025, Danish retailers will find that sales will not automatically grow by 5-10% or more; on the contrary, they will be fighting for every single consumer dollar just to maintain last year's turnover.

As consumers, we don't want to settle for limited product selection and poor service in order to get low prices. We also want good experiences, a wide range of products and to meet engaged and knowledgeable salespeople. As consumers, we expect city center stores to have employees who are interested in and able to build relationships. We want to go home with carrier bags and smiles on our faces.

In recent years, Danish retailers have unilaterally moved towards lower prices and fewer employees. As a result, they are not in good shape to meet consumer demands for better service and more competent salespeople.

For many of the clothing stores in the city center, the product range is the same, and the majority of store employees are not trained to build positive relationships with customers. Not to mention spreading joy, smiles and enthusiasm.

Local politicians look with despair at the empty retail spaces in the city center, which is why we see investments in new tiles in the pedestrian zone, a new fountain in the square or new benches for the pedestrian zone. Despite all the good initiatives, the magic is missing.

I want to start by understanding the culture of the city's retailers. If there is no drive and belief in the future, it will be a difficult task. The first step will therefore be to create a winning mentality among a majority of retailers in the city center. Next, I would encourage local politicians to create a vision for the city center. A vision that supports the desire to make the city center the area's preferred shopping destination.

If we are to develop a city center that provides magical experiences, we must have an overall vision that everyone knows, understands and accepts. Without a vision for the city, it is difficult - if not impossible - to create unity around the experiences that are magical.

Both masters of staging - Walt Disney and Andre Rieu - wanted to think in terms of the 'total experience', and therefore wanted to consider the city center as a product that in its design and layout should leave positive and happy impressions for all visitors.

The municipality will be challenged to ensure easy access and sufficient parking spaces as close to the shops as possible. The total 'staging' requires a dialog between the city's property landlords and the municipality's architects and urban planners to renovate and beautify the facades, so that the basis for the positive impression of the city center is present.

In addition to the diversity of the product range, it is important for the city center's specialty stores to continuously present new products as a decisive factor for visiting the city center for shopping experiences. Entering the stores should be like entering a completely different universe, where the atmosphere is created by a combination of interior design, fixtures, product displays, new products, lighting and music.

Most important of all, however, are the store employees, who all have to act as salespeople and are committed to giving every visitor a good 'show'. The magic happens when store, café and restaurant staff strive to exceed expectations and make customers happy and excited. Every visitor to the city center should go home with a smile on their face and feel that their visit was a great experience.