Euroshop is 60 years old

When June 11-15, 1966. Between 1960 and 1968, 330 exhibitors from 11 countries presented their products to more than 30,000 visitors on a net exhibition area of ​​17,193 m². At that time, no one could have guessed that EuroShop would develop into the world’s leading trade fair for retail. The exhibition mainly featured shop fittings, refrigerated display cabinets, cash registers and display advertising materials. The main themes were “the modern drugstore”, “modern textile sales” and “frozen food, the product of the future”. The retail trade initially received the new trade fair with skepticism; but by the time of the second EuroShop in 1968, the press was already writing about “international level”.

EuroShop has always reflected the great transformations of retail. In the mid-1960s, self-service, discounting and open display of goods replaced traditional convenience stores. In 1965, Messe Düsseldorf and the EHI Retail Institute – then known as the “Self-Service Institute” – decided to launch a new trade fair specifically dedicated to retail: EuroShop – the European Exhibition and Congress for “Modern Shops and Shop Windows”. From then on, the EuroShop range expanded in parallel with retail innovations. Lighting, modular shop concepts and electronic cash register systems appeared in the 1970s. In 1975 – in line with the medium-term innovation cycle in shop fittings – EuroShop switched to the three-year exhibition rhythm that is still valid today. In 1978, the two-colour EuroShop star replaced the old logo depicting shops and shop windows. The trademark evokes the jingle of cash registers and later symbolised the meeting of supply and demand in the entire capital goods segment of retail. The eighties were marked by technological revolutions: “Scanning above all else,” wrote the Lebensmittel Zeitung in 1981, when barcodes and automatic inventory management were introduced. Soon, cashless payment, bottle returns and recycling came to the fore – EuroShop was an early adopter of these. In the nineties, stores became brand stages; EuroShop accompanied this change with innovative shop fittings, new POS technologies and the first electronic price tags. In 1996, a virtual reality prototype costing 80,000 marks made a splash – a harbinger of the digital future. At the turn of the millennium, the focus shifted to multi-sensory experiences, e-commerce, RFID and mobile payments. A year later, EuroCIS debuted as a stand-alone technology trade fair and is now Europe’s leading retail technology event. In the 2010s, sustainability, omnichannel and emotional engagement shaped the picture. EuroShop milestones were achieved with new special presentations (e.g. Designer Village) and prestigious awards (e.g. reta). In 2017, the seven dimensions were created, which still organize the fair in a similar structure. The 2020s brought special challenges: in 2020, the fair coincided with the start of the COVID-19 pandemic – visitor numbers decreased, but the spirit of innovation remained. 2023 was a year of great reunion: digitalization, energy management and sustainability dominated the agenda, accompanied by tangible optimism.

Today, six decades after its founding, EuroShop has matured into a cosmopolitan trade fair family: in 1997, EuroCIS joined as an independent retail technology fair, and international “spin-offs” such as Shanghai China in-store and India’s in-store Asia were born abroad. The 60th anniversary will be followed by another expansion milestone: EuroShop Middle East will debut in Dubai on October 26-28, 2026 – a clear signal of the brand’s global significance.

There is plenty of reason to celebrate: between February 22-26, 2026, the trade fair city will transform into a global retail festival. In addition to the exhibition, which features around 1,900 exhibitors from over 60 countries, guests can look forward to a comprehensive accompanying program with seven stages, numerous special presentations – including the Designers’ Village area and the new VM Experience – as well as guided innovation tours to exciting exhibitors and store visits throughout Düsseldorf. Community building is also supported by co-working spaces and networking formats such as “mobile happy hours”. Further details about the 2026 fair can be found here.