What Makes a Store Impossible to Ignore?

*New What's In Store episode, filmed during London Fashion Week, features the Jordan Brand x Mowalola launch and an interview with Ariel Haroush, founder of Future Stores and Outform*

The Episode

*LONDON, October 28, 2026.* What's In Store, the filmed series from retail strategists Sharon Yourell Lawlor and Renee Hartmann, today released its latest episode, "What Makes a Store Impossible to Ignore?" It was filmed at Future Stores by Outform on London's Oxford Street during London Fashion Week in September 2026.

Oxford Street is one of the busiest shopping streets in the world, and the competition for attention there is extraordinary. The episode asks what it takes to make someone stop, step inside and engage, and whether an experience that looks impressive actually works.

The hosts experienced the Jordan Brand x Mowalola "Something's Off" activation first as shoppers. They then went behind the scenes with Ariel Haroush, Chairman and Founder of Future Stores and Founder and CEO of Outform, to find out how an experience like this comes together, and how you know when it has actually worked.

What the episode shows retailers:

• *Stores are competing with the social feed.* Shoppers now take in information faster than ever, and most of the high street hasn't kept pace.
• *Design the store for change.* At Future Stores, the space switches brands within 24 hours and can move from education to commerce to events in a single day. Any retailer can apply the principle by planning for a store that evolves.
• *Put the shopper before the screen.* Retail media works when it adds relevant context where people buy. Monetisation comes after visual merchandising, engagement and conversion, never before.
• *Measure as you go, not in hindsight.* Real-time data on who glances, enters and buys lets a store adjust its content while the experience is still live.

"We've walked into a physical store that brought an iconic designer and her products to life in a physical space. It really allows you to pull the shopper off the street into the experience and tell the story," said Sharon Yourell Lawlor, co-host and co-producer of What's In Store.

"The real change in the way that people operate retail media should be that they design the store specifically for how to experience retail media, so that it's integrated into the store design itself, the fixturing, the flow, the way you tell the story, versus taking your existing store and slotting in media," said Renee Hartmann, co-host and co-producer of What's In Store.

The full episode is available now on YouTube, Spotify and whatsinstoreretail.com.

Watch the Episode

• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZgaf8SILNk
• Website: whatsinstoreretail.com/episodes/what-makes-a-store-impossible-to-ignore
• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/1sodE6ht0kZcz9DsoHNyqL

About What's In Store

What's In Store: Making Sense of Modern Retail is a filmed series hosted by retail strategists Sharon Yourell Lawlor and Renee Hartmann. Through real conversations with the people actually doing it, each episode examines what's genuinely changing the game, and what's just noise, across the shopper, the team and the bottom line. Episodes are filmed in person and available on YouTube, Spotify and whatsinstoreretail.com.

About the Hosts

*Sharon Yourell Lawlor* is a retail and shopper marketing strategist and Managing Director of Think Plan Do Consulting. She is one of NRF's Top 50 Retail Voices 2026 and a RETHINK Retail Top Global Influencer. tpdconsulting.ie

*Renee Hartmann* is a retail strategist and keynote speaker on the future of physical retail, retail media and AI in retail. She is a RETHINK Retail Top 100 Expert and co-author of *Next Generation Retail*. renee-hartmann.com

Media Contact

Renee Hartmann · renee@cla-solutions.com

Sharon Yourell Lawlor · sharon.yourell@tpdconsulting.ie