Scene from MediaMarkt Tech Village Rotterdam

Store recreates living room, kitchen -- AI home solutions on display

Only brand among 10-plus retailers to replicate an actual home setting

Remodeled last November -- sales up more than 20 percent year-on-year

Among the Netherlands' top-performing stores

Linked to Homey platform from Athom, acquired in 2024

LG Electronics expanded its store at MediaMarkt Tech Village Rotterdam from about 28 square meters to roughly 73 square meters last November, arranging its appliances as they would appear in an actual home. Rotterdam.
LG Electronics expanded its store at MediaMarkt Tech Village Rotterdam from about 28 square meters to roughly 73 square meters last November, arranging its appliances as they would appear in an actual home. Rotterdam.

At MediaMarkt Tech Village Rotterdam, an electronics store on Binnenwegplein in the center of Rotterdam, appliance brand stores from around the world stand side by side.

Among them, LG Electronics alone decorated its store to resemble a full-size home of roughly 73 square meters. The company recreated an actual European household setting, arranging its refrigerators, washing machines, air conditioners and TVs just as they would appear in a real house. The idea goes beyond simply lining up products -- it lets consumers experience them vividly. Inside the mock home, visitors can also try out AI home solutions that connect LG Electronics appliances.

"Consumers can compare specs and prices online, but they cannot experience how a product fits into everyday life," Jay Romers, head of the marketing team at LG Electronics' Benelux unit, said on Monday (local time). "Here, we arrange products to resemble an actual living space, so consumers can experience how LG Electronics' technology would work in their own home."

Jay Romers, head of the marketing team at LG Electronics' Benelux unit, gives an explanation in front of the LG Electronics store at MediaMarkt Tech Village Rotterdam. Rotterdam.
Jay Romers, head of the marketing team at LG Electronics' Benelux unit, gives an explanation in front of the LG Electronics store at MediaMarkt Tech Village Rotterdam. Rotterdam.

Tech Village is a network of strategic flagship stores operated by MediaMarktSaturn, Europe's largest consumer electronics retail chain with more than 1,000 stores. These stores are located in the core commercial districts of major European cities. They are also known as "lighthouse stores," a name meant to signal innovative customer experiences and operating methods for brick-and-mortar retail.

LG Electronics expanded the Tech Village Rotterdam store from about 28 square meters to roughly 73 square meters last November, nearly tripling its size. The company also overhauled the space, shifting from a product-centered display to a lifestyle-style layout. Among the more than 10 brands housed in the store, LG Electronics is the only one that recreated an actual home environment. A tour of the other brand sections showed product-centered displays instead.

Other appliances at MediaMarkt Tech Village Rotterdam are displayed in a simple, product-lined format. Rotterdam.
Other appliances at MediaMarkt Tech Village Rotterdam are displayed in a simple, product-lined format. Rotterdam.

Olivier van den Bosse, CEO of MediaMarkt, visited the store last year and called it "the most beautiful store I've ever seen."

The remodeling is showing up in the numbers as well. As of the first half of this year, sales at the store rose more than 20 percent year-on-year. The store also ranks among the top-performing LG Electronics offline stores in the Netherlands this year.

LG Electronics introduces its AI home solutions there by linking Homey, the smart home hub of Dutch smart home platform Athom, with its own AI home platform, LG ThinQ. LG Electronics acquired Athom in 2024.

For example, appliances can adjust their operating hours based on a household's total daily energy budget and time-based electricity rates. The system can also be set to automatically minimize energy use according to the living environment, without any manual input from the user. A sensor installed on a window can be linked to an air conditioner so that the unit automatically stops running when the window opens. Such sensors do not need to be LG Electronics products to connect with Homey.

The LG ArtCool air conditioner, sold by LG Electronics in the European market, features a picture-frame-like design that reflects Europe's space-constrained housing. Rotterdam.
The LG ArtCool air conditioner, sold by LG Electronics in the European market, features a picture-frame-like design that reflects Europe's space-constrained housing. Rotterdam.

The store also drew attention for showcasing an air conditioner tailored for the European market that is not sold in Korea. Reflecting the compact housing typical there, LG Electronics introduced the LG ArtCool, an air conditioner designed to look like a picture frame. It comes equipped with an LCD screen that can display a photo of the user's choice, and it too can be linked to the AI home platform.

The LG Electronics section at Tech Village Rotterdam serves not only as a sales and experience space for general consumers. It also functions as a showroom for B2B customers such as local interior design and construction firms. According to the company, local business partners have responded well to examining products installed in the kitchen, living room and utility areas firsthand. They can check not just design and features but also actual installation conditions.


jeongwan@heraldcorp.com