Creative Retail Awards open vote to crown UK's most talked-about project

Woodmansterne Publications is looking for a passionate, customer-focused Retail Development Manager who enjoys building strong relationships and helping our customers grow their businesses through excellent service and commercial insight.

Send us your news and great ideas

Return to Cover Page»

The Creative Retail Awards have opened the public vote for the 2026 Shop Drop Spotlight Award, putting ten of the UK’s most talked-about retail projects head to head. Voting is open now and closes on Friday 4 September.

Run in partnership with Shop Drop Daily, the Shop Drop Spotlight Award celebrates the projects that captured the imagination of the Shop Drop Daily community and generated the strongest levels of engagement, interest and conversation across its platforms over the past 12 months.

While the wider Creative Retail Awards are assessed by an independent panel of experienced industry judges, the Shop Drop Spotlight Award is decided entirely by the public, the very people for whom these retail environments and experiences were created.

The 10 projects in contention for the 2026 Shop Drop Spotlight Award are:

adidas Hybrid Hotel, Caxton Works, London
Dr. Martens The Art of Comfort Experience, The Outernet, London
HOKA Run Stop Corner Shop, 123 Bethnal Green Road, London
LANEIGE & Space NK Pop-Up Activation, Covent Garden Piazza, London
LOEWE Perfumes The Crafted Garden Pop-Up, The Selfridges Corner Shop, London
L’Oréal Paris IWD Café & Cinema Pop-Up Space, London
Marc Jacobs Daisy Wild Eau So Intense Pop-Up, Covent Garden, London
Nike Women Store Opening, King’s Road, London
Prada and Miu Miu Window and In-Store Takeover, Liberty London
The Blank Street Post Room Pop-Up, Greek Street, London

Together the 10 show how far physical retail has travelled, from immersive pop-ups and experiential activations to new store concepts, cultural collaborations and brand experiences built to be shared. Each one offers a distinctive answer to the same question: what can a modern retail experience achieve?

Antony Behiels, Co-Organiser of the Creative Retail Awards and Director of the Shop & Display Equipment Association, said: “Every year the Creative Retail Awards celebrate the very best in retail creativity, and the judging behind them is rigorous and completely independent. The Shop Drop Spotlight Award works differently. These ten projects have already earned the attention of the Shop Drop Daily community, and now the public decide which of them takes the title.

"Each one shows the creativity, innovation and ambition shaping retail right now, and we look forward to revealing the public’s choice in London on 15 October.”

Tim Nash, founder of Shop Drop Daily, said: "Every day, Shop Drop Daily shines a light on the world's best retail experiences, but it's equally important that we celebrate the incredible creativity happening here in the UK. The Shop Drop Spotlight Award recognises the ten projects that generated the biggest response from our community over the past year. It's a celebration of the brands, retailers, agencies and creative teams pushing our industry forward, and the fact that the winner is chosen entirely by public vote makes it all the more meaningful."

The winning project will be revealed live at the Creative Retail Awards ceremony on Thursday 15 October, which moves this year to an exciting new London venue, alongside the full results from across the Awards’ programme of more than 20 categories.

The public can explore all ten projects and cast their vote on the dedicated Shop Drop Spotlight Award page at the Creative Retail Awards website. Voting closes on Friday 4 September.

Vote here: https://www.creativeretailawards.com/public-vote