The store concept is characterized by its regional reference and picks up on characteristic elements of the Cologne cityscape, such as the Hohenzollern Bridge with its castles of love or the Rhine cable car. The children’s area with play furniture for climbing and sliding, the marketplace with stalls and trees, as well as the café, create a varied experience space that invites customers to linger. Also, thanks to movable furniture, part of the sales area on the second floor can be transformed into an event room with seating for up to 250 people.
Since 1998, the centrally located Thalia Mayersche bookstore on Neumarkt has been a popular meeting place for book enthusiasts. Just recently, Thalia turned the newly remodelled location into a flagship store, which opened on October 31, 2024. Since the beginning of the year, the approximately 3,000 sq m, three-storey sales area of the Thalia Mayersche bookstore in the Neumarkt-Galerie has been redesigned floor by floor during ongoing operations.
A special highlight of the modernized bookstore: local shopfitting elements have been integrated in numerous places, reflecting impressions from the Cologne cityscape. Some of these elements catch the eye as soon as you enter the bookshop: the entrance area was designed in the shape of a market square and is reminiscent of the historic Neumarkt. Five yellow gondolas, which resemble the Cologne cable car hovering over the Rhine in every detail, have been suspended in the stairwell. Two of the gondolas can even be entered. The famous Hohenzollern Bridge with its many small padlocks can also be found in the bookshop.
The unique shopfitting ideas were developed in Thalia’s own construction department in collaboration with the planning office NomNom Design. The team develops individual concepts for the bookstores with a great deal of creativity and attention to detail. This can also be seen in the numerous seating areas, which can be found on all floors of the flagship store and were created especially for this location. The chill-out area with hanging chairs on the second floor, which offers a view of the lively Neumarkt, is particularly inviting. Right next door is the completely modernized “Buch & Bohne” café, where you can enjoy coffee delicacies and small snacks.
The bookshop is also a real paradise for children, as a large world including a play and climbing tower, which extends over two floors, as well as a slide, which the youngest visitors can use to get from the second to the second floor, has been newly built.
Why you should make a visit: The new bookshop not only offers a huge selection of literature. It also impresses with unique store design elements that reflect Cologne. A marketplace entrance area and yellow gondolas, reminiscent of Cologne’s cable car, invite customers to explore. The bookshop also impresses with its high quality of stay. Ample space for sitting and a chill-out area with hanging chairs ensure visitors a relaxing shopping experience. The store has also just recently been awarded The Store of the Year Award in the “Out of Line” category by the German Retail Association for its unusual mix of design concepts, which is a testament to its highly successful remodelling.
Store address: Thalia Mayersche Köln – Neumarkt
Neumarkt 2 50667, Cologne, Germany
