In Berlin city, between the monkeys of the Berlin Zoo and Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church, you find Bikini Berlin. A legendary entertainment and shopping area presently reestablishing itself as highly relevant to its retail and shopping crowd. We have been there to check out what makes it so attractive!
We get of the S Bahn at Berlin Zoo, walk up to Bikini Berlin and realize it´s something else than a typical huge mall glass facade that makes this place pull such a committed crowd.
The Bikini Berlin buildings has been around since 1957 and after the fall of the Berlin wall, the area felt into slumber. In 2014, the doors were re-opened and today you find a beautiful mix between rich heritage and an attractive modern customer destination. The Bikini Berlin of today is a melting pot of new and old. Traditional stores are combined with modern brand experience. The traditional fixed physical shopping location is combined with modern concepts, integrated restaurants, showrooms and pop-up boxes.
Taking the elevator up to the 10th floor, you find a great example of how they have prioritized the modern destination feeling. Here, is the most amazing top floor location with a magnificent 360-degree Berlin view. Traditionally, at a facility like this, you would have found a fine dining restaurant. But not at the Bikini Berlin. Here you instead find two amazing hangouts. Half of the top floor is lively and buzzing from the modern Israeli restaurant Neni which is fully booked all year round. On the other side, a relaxing and welcoming hangout, the Monkey Bar. Both at the Neni and the Monkey Bar, local people spend their lazy Sundays sipping a refreshing drink or having a great meal while enjoying the Berlin view.
The Bikini Berlin concept it´s built on tradition and at the same time embracing the new. It´s cleverly built to future-proof itself by allocating space for pop up boxes in the absolute center of the mall. Their ever-changing entrepreneur driven content will make sure the crowd want to return to Bikini Berlin for new experiences again, and again, and again… Making a space where Berliners come to hang out and a destination for visitors.
Best of the best! :)
Gorm Larsen Nordic
Photocred: Bikini Berlin & Kristine Lium