In March, the Japanese Doki Doki concept store opened its doors in Offenbach's KOMM-Center and, with its mix of pop culture and tradition, shopping and cultural experience, caused the heartbeat in Offenbach's city center to accelerate for two months - Doki Doki means heartbeat. Following the successful launch, talks are now underway with the City of Offenbach am Main regarding the continuation and continuation of the concept store. Lord Mayor Dr Felix Schwenke emphasizes that the city will continue to do everything in its power to keep an eye on retail in the revitalization of the city centre with the "Testraum-Allee" project, which supported the Doki Doki store concept: "Doki Doki, with its unique offering in the Rhine-Main region, attracted many customers to the KOMM-Center several times and thus offered people a good reason to come shopping in Offenbach's city centre," says Schwenke. This is exactly the effect the city wants to achieve with the Test Space Alley: "We are specifically promoting bold and innovative business ideas that revitalize and enrich the city centre. I am delighted with the courage and success of the Doki Doki test. Together with the Doki Doki team, we are now examining whether and, if so, in what form the concept store could be permanently located in Offenbach's city center."
Norman Seidel, initiator of Doki Doki and Managing Director of Main Matsuri, is also optimistic about the future of Doki Doki: "We are sitting at the same table as the city of Offenbach and would like to develop the concept further." The people of Offenbach could well be happy about this: at least a non-representative Instagram survey on the Main Matsuri channel showed that the community can well imagine a continuation.
Fireworks of young Japanese culture
The concept for Doki Doki came from the people behind the Japanese Main Matsuri Festival in Büsing Park. The Japanese festival for music, food and culture transforms Offenbach's Büsing Park into a Japanese summer festival every year. In 2023, more than 20,000 visitors came to the city for the event. Doki Doki in the KOMM Center was also a small festival of Japanese culture in store form. The concept store combined retail and event, was an information point and creative workshop and offered visitors an interactive experience with young Japanese fashion, a Japanese coffee corner, high-quality cosplay costumes and workshops. Now that the concept store has come to an end for the time being, the Doki Doki team is by no means resting: They are working flat out on the program for the 2024 Main Matsuri Festival, which will take place in Büsing Park from 16 to 18 August
Synergies for KOMM-Center and city center
Another highlight was the Cherry Blossom Day in mid-April, when Doki Doki filled the entire KOMM Center. The creative offerings on several floors attracted a large number of interested visitors: There was a cosplay contest, live music, a meet-and-greet with dubbing actors celebrated in the scene and DIY workshops. The KOMM-Center, the established stores and local businesses also benefited from the temporary neighbor. Collaborations were established straight away: For example, customers who purchased a manga from the Thalia bookshop's manga store received a keyring as a gift from Doki Doki. Kerstin Födisch from the Thalia bookstore was able to see the special neighborhood in the figures: "Manga sales have actually increased."
The Thalia manga store concept has been working with a combination of sales and additional manga-related activities since 2022 and has already created an emotional bond with the target group. Doki Doki has brought a breath of fresh air, which the owner is also pleased about and supports the City of Offenbach's approach of promoting unusual and innovative business ideas. Collaborations with Offenbach companies that have found a place in Doki Doki contribute to the revitalization of the KOMM-Center. For example, the collaboration with Rena Kato from Hochdruckzone - an Offenbach printing company in Luisenstraße. A limited edition calligraphy card was published here.
About the test room avenue
The "Testraum-Allee" is part of the future concept for the city center and aims to sustainably upgrade and expand the retail sector. The project focuses on successively converting vacant space and establishing high-quality retail, gastronomy and service offerings in Offenbach's city center that are economically viable in the long term. The Doki Doki concept store was supported by the City of Offenbach as part of the "Testraum-Allee" future project. "The aim is to counter the threat of vacancies and to secure a reliable basis for the retail sector. Testraum-Allee is an invitation to potential tenants and retailers to take a look at spaces and their potential from a different angle. We support an introductory phase at the beginning because you can then test something with significantly less risk," says Mayor Schwenke.
More information on the future concept for the city center
The future concept for the city center developed in 2020 with the people of Offenbach and the planners from Hamburg-based urbanista now comprises 16 projects. These are far-reaching offers to strengthen the heart of the city as a place for new ideas, experiences and exchange between citizens. "Anyone who walks through the city with open eyes can see how the city center is suffering from this shrinking of the retail sector," says Mayor Schwenke. "Our aim is to keep as much retail as possible, which is why we need to support the remaining retailers. But it is also absolutely clear that things will never be the same again. We are therefore fighting with all our might to mitigate the impact on the city center and to contribute to a new city center with new projects. The transformation process has begun, the first projects are being implemented and further impetus will follow."
Further information online at:
