Creative Retail Awards reveals 2026 Shortlist Guide and a new home

The Creative Retail Awards has today published its 2026 Shortlist Guide, revealing the projects competing for the retail design industry’s most sought-after honours, and confirming that this year’s ceremony will take place at The Clapham Grand in London on Thursday 15th October.

Drawn from more than 500 entries, the shortlist spans twenty categories and five continents, taking in flagship stores, festive windows, pop-ups, hospitality, supermarkets and in-store VM. It is, by some distance, the most international list the Awards have produced.

A global field

The shortlisted work reaches from Tokyo to New York and Riyadh to Sydney. Among the projects competing this year are Coach’s Winter Forest at the Lotte East Busan Outlet in South Korea and its Tabby Shop pop-up in Sydney; the Armani x Kith pop-up at Topping Rose House in New York; Bulgari’s Diva’s Dream pop-up in Riyadh; RH Paris on the Champs-Élysées; and Twelve at House of Shinsegae Cheongdam in Seoul.

Closer to home, the shortlist reflects a strong year for British retail. Fortnum & Mason appears for its Enchanted Christmas display, alongside window schemes A Perfect Spring Day and Fresh Tea Infusion. Harrods is recognised twice, for the fifth-floor Shoe Heaven scheme with Christian Louboutin and for Brunello Cucinelli’s Christmas takeover. Selfridges is shortlisted for its Beauty Hall and its Disney Christmas Windows, while IKEA’s Oxford Street store makes the list for an LED window façade and immersive live studio.

Breadth as well as reach

If the geography is wide, the range of work is wider still. The Design Museum’s Wes Anderson exhibition sits alongside Pets at Home’s Vets for Pets rollout. B&Q’s Wandsworth mural with artist Dominika Karc competes in Creative Collaboration against BOSS x Beckham and New Era’s MLB Subway Series. Guinness Open Gate Brewery in Covent Garden, Whole Foods Market on the King’s Road, Waitrose Newbury, Dr. Martens’ Soho Beacon Store, Porsche Now Liverpool and Neal’s Yard’s Covent Garden flagship all feature.

Sustainability runs strongly through this year’s entries, with Fortnum & Mason’s Resourceful Nature, Sainsbury’s Ecoform, Diesel’s Denim Salling and Illium store, and Woolworths South Africa’s sustainable Christmas tree all shortlisted.

A new home

The 2026 ceremony moves to The Clapham Grand, a beautiful Victorian theatre in south London and one of the capital’s most characterful venues. All of the industry’s most influential figures are expected on the night, when the full results will be revealed live.

Antony Behiels, SDEA Director and co-organiser of the Awards states:

“The shortlist speaks for itself. What strikes me most is how much of this work would have been unimaginable five years ago, and how much of it comes from outside the UK. Physical retail is in a far better creative state than the headlines suggest, and this Guide is the proof. As for The Clapham Grand, it’s a wonderful venue, and exactly the sort of place a night like this deserves.”

Judged in one room, in one day

Every entry was assessed by an independent panel drawn from across the retail industry. Judges first worked through the entries individually to narrow each category, then met in person for a full day to settle the final results category by category.

It is a deliberately unhurried process, and it is the reason a place on this shortlist carries weight.

Shop Drop Daily Spotlight Award: public vote now open

Running alongside the main programme, the Shop Drop Daily Spotlight Award is decided entirely by public vote. Voting is open now and closes on Friday 4th September, with the winner announced live at the ceremony. It is the one award of the night placed wholly in the hands of the industry and the public rather than the judging panel.

 The Creative Retail Awards 2026 Shortlist Guide and tickets for the evening are available now at www.creativeretailawards.com. The ceremony takes place on Thursday 15th October at The Clapham Grand, London.