New tenant in the test room: Offenbach agency VRQ turns retail space into a lifestyle and concept store
12.02.2026
The test room at Grosse Marktstrasse 39 is and will remain a popular testing ground for creative minds: from Friday, February 13 until the end of March, Jochen Brenneis will occupy it with his VRQ concept store, vRq.space. Brenneis runs the creative agency vrq concepts in Offenbach. In addition to marketing and creative services, his portfolio also includes his own lifestyle and design products. Having previously sold these exclusively online, he now offers them in the heart of Offenbach and combines local sales with a curated cultural and creative concept.
"Hybrid concepts such as Jochen Brenneis', which combine experience and shopping, are perfectly located in Offenbach's city center - especially as his partners in the various areas all have a clear connection to Offenbach and Hesse. We are excited about the fusion of culture and lifestyle and are delighted that the test space community is expanding," says Božica Niermann, Head of the Office for Economic Development and Real Estate Offenbach.
Jochen Brenneis wants to transform the Testraum into a curated experience space that combines fashion, design, lifestyle and digital micro art exhibitions and is supplemented by events.
An ongoing program is planned with curated artists focusing on digital art as well as event formats in which creative minds from Offenbach, Hesse and the Rhine-Main region will design an inspiring program and create space for exchange, new ideas and sustainable collaborations.
Regional fashion products from VRQ, Sevvard, KLS and other labels are on sale, as well as mugs from Yahya Studio and a pinch of salt, prints from esistfreitag and selected design accessories, creative tools, limited editions and other curated products from the VRQ environment - all with a strong connection to the creative scene in Offenbach and Hesse.
"Competition in online retail is getting tougher and tougher and we now want to test how our products sell in a 'real' store," explains Jochen Brenneis. He also wants to turn the test space into a marketplace for creative brands from the Offenbach and Rhine-Main region.
Details and dates can be found on Instagram at zukunft_of_innenstadt. In keeping with the concept of the test space, Jochen Brenneis will receive the store space free of charge. The store is fully furnished with flexible modules.
A successor tenant has already been found: "The users of the test space are coming thick and fast," says Božica Niermann happily. "We already have a tenant who will take over from VRQ in April. This shows that the test space is generating interest with the aim of testing attractive store concepts in our city center." Celina Ali from Mühlheim am Main will take over the test space from April. Under her label Mada, she sells permanent jewelry such as earrings and rings made of high-quality stainless steel.
The test room is part of the future project Testraum-Allee, which the city of Offenbach is implementing offensively together with the Offenbach Chamber of Commerce and Industry. It enables companies, start-ups and business founders to try out new forms of business in Offenbach under low-risk conditions and to test their potential for permanent settlement.
About the "Test Room Alley"
The "Testraum-Allee" is a project of the city center future concept in cooperation with Agentur Mitte and Offenbach offensiv and aims to sustainably upgrade and expand the retail sector. The project focuses on the conversion of vacant properties with the aim of establishing high-quality retail, gastronomy and service businesses in Offenbach's city center that are economically viable in the long term. The future project "Testraum-Allee" aims to establish new, high-quality and economically viable store concepts in vacant or threatened (ground floor) store spaces in the city center. The aim is to increase the attractiveness of Offenbach's city center and provide impetus for a vibrant and lively city center from which businesses, owners and citizens alike can benefit. Four projects have been implemented and supported so far: the temporary OFTEN department store, the "Doki Doki" concept store, the mini-market at M. Schneider, the test space and the "Ninone by Tanja Ronaghi" store concept, which received support from the test space fund.
More information on the future concept for the city center
German city centers are undergoing radical change as a result of the shrinking retail sector. Against this backdrop, the city of Offenbach developed a future concept for the city center back in 2020 together with the people of Offenbach, the Offenbach offensiv association close to the Offenbach Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the planners from urbanista - a concept that now comprises 16 projects. The 16 projects of the future concept for the city center are therefore deliberately different offers in order to maintain the heart of the city as an inviting and lively place. More than half of the projects are already being implemented. The city of Offenbach is working hard to shape change - together with numerous inner-city and external stakeholders. Together, they want to make the city center lovable.
