The concept of concept stores;

This thesis investigates how and why concept stores are emerging in struggling financial times. The literature review emphasizes the many aspects of the retailing industry that can be linked to the characteristics of concept stores. Furthermore, the literature review shows the various theories of organizations that exist that are related to this phenomenon. In order to provide more understanding of the current state of affairs for concept stores, 8 semi-structured interviews have been conducted. The results of the interviews were then divided into different groups of categories that zoomed in on the findings of the performed research. The findings that were found that were not discussed in the literature review, are also discussed to show some new perspectives that could be interesting for future research. As a result, it turns out that concept stores have emerged right during the economic crisis in order to provide a platform for young creatives and entrepreneurs in the creative industries, by bundling forces and focusing on collaborations. These collaborations are more local based and find their roots in the motivations of the owners to help strengthen area development in their cities. However, most concept stores have indicated that their long term goal would be to collaborate with more brands and designers, on a larger scale. Their ambitions are international and they see new chances and opportunities in different cities than their own to expand this new retailing concept. With these findings, the author intends to contribute to the lack of academic literature and knowledge on concept stores in the Dutch retailing industry. The patterns that have been found in the results can also be used for research about concept stores in other countries, since it shows that the researched concept stores share many similarities that could also be found in other international concept stores.