Department stores and escalators are two cultural phenomena whose history is closely related. At the beginning of the 20th century the big temples of consumption found their way into the metropolises. They promised a place where customers could find all the products they wanted (and products they didn't even know they could want). Department stores promised to make shopping an experience. This also included keeping visitors in the sales rooms for as long as possible and making their stay as pleasant as possible. One invention that made shopping an experience around a hundred years ago was the escalator. At the inauguration of a Berlin department store in the mid-twenties, a rider in costume is said to have been hired,to show the curious customers how to use these moving stairs.

"Spiral-shaped and open at the top"

So it is not surprising that after more than five years of modernization work to inaugurate the 14,000 square meter sales area, KaDeWe is particularly praising its new escalator concept.

"A connection between tradition and modernity" has emerged.

"Spiral-shaped and open at the top" it offers "open perspectives on the various floors during the journey," says the press release.

According to the open view of the surfaces, it bears the name “Void”.

The design concept was developed by Ellen van Loon from OMA, the company of the architect Rem Koolhaas, who designed the Fondation Galeries Lafayette in Paris in addition to the Fondazione Prada in Milan. When Koolhaas presented the KaDeWe project in Berlin in 2016, he wanted to “regain the identity of the house”, as he said to journalists. This should not be dominated by brands, but should be borne by the company itself.

The escalators played a central role for the almost 115-year-old “Kaufhaus des Westens”, which with its 60,000 square meters of retail space is the largest department store in continental Europe.

Each stairwell leads from four different street entrances into the central atrium.

At the opening, a fashion show took place over two floors.

Only the fun with the rider was of course not repeated - meanwhile the shoppers know how to use them.