Turning a shop into an experience: the Elli supermarket in Delbrück opts for an emotive lighting concept from Zumtobel

Delbrück (Germany) is home to one of 18 Elli grocery shops in total. One of the things that sets it apart is its range: a wide variety of over 20,000 items, a broad selection of fresh produce and a regional focus have been attracting customers since 1968. The 2,000 m2 supermarket has now been fitted with future-ready lighting solutions from Zumtobel, providing the different areas not only with functional illumination but with a nuanced lighting concept to show them literally in their best light.

Shopping is an experience for the senses. We have become acutely aware during the coronavirus pandemic of how much we miss leisurely wandering around the shops and discovering something new. Even supermarket shopping is now a welcome change, with various concepts increasingly turning this into an experience - above all for the senses. Light plays a key role in this experience as it can bring branded environments and even entire architectures to life. Natural lighting is essential in supermarkets, especially in areas with fresh produce. Modern technology can be cleverly orchestrated to introduce light only where it is actually needed. This provides optimum guidance for the customer and also dramatically reduces the power consumed per square metre. Insufficient light can be just as disruptive as too much though: sudden glare can deter customers, for example. With control systems, it is now possible to regulate brightness and sequences according to the time of day to create dynamic lighting scenarios that adapt to the environment.

High standards for accessibility and sustainability

As well as an impressive range of produce, the Elli supermarket in Delbrück is also committed to accessibility, a multi-generation overall concept and consistent application of the latest technical standards. Examples of these include a heat recovery system and CO2-controlled cooling technology that does away with the need for refrigerant. The shop's entire lighting is delivered by a custom LED lighting solution from Zumtobel. The lighting designer was tasked with using light to create different zones, accentuating the fresh food sections for fruit and veg and the service counter as well as the non-food and till areas. Suitable lighting solutions were also fitted for the aisles and secondary areas and outside for the façade and car park. Each area was given its own lighting solution, providing uniformity overall and helping customers find their way around the store.

Glare-free lighting for a natural setting

As the shop's interior is dominated by dark colours, the challenge for the lighting was to use light efficiently to showcase the main areas and products. Spotlights are used to illuminate the fresh produce in the fruit and veg section, at the meat, sausage, fish and cheese counters and the baked goods. These lights have the perfect light colour and colour rendering to showcase the produce and to set the scene in a natural way without any distortion. The shelves were given the dimmable TECTON C in black, boasting impressive light output and design but also using double asymmetric light distribution and vertical lighting to bring light wherever it is needed and place the focus on the produce. The Wide Shelf Beam (WSB) look lights up vertical surfaces and provides basic lighting for the floor and in the shelf aisles. Additional spotlights on the TECTON continuous row illuminate the displays and provide orientation. The till areas, the car park and the mall were fitted with lighting solutions from Thorn, a Zumtobel affiliated brand.