Liverpool Interlomas, Mexico City

At the time, the silver hubcap-studded ‘blob’ seemed to have been beamed down from another planet and news of its unveiling extended far beyond the immediate confines of retailing. Much the same reaction has greeted this store, which is the Interlomas branch of Mexican department store operator Liverpool.

Opened in December, this is a shop that looks a little like a titanium-clad fortress, a shiny Martello tower, in one of the more affluent parts of the sprawling mass that is Mexico City. Whichever angle you approach it from, it is hard not to be impressed.

Internally, the visual merchandising and store architecture combine to create something that is almost as impressive as the remarkable external carapace. A massive, LED-lit internal escalator atrium at the heart of the store changes colour on a continual basis, providing a focal point for visitors.

There are also armies of mannequins and merchandise departments that, for the most part, may have almost every brand you care to shake a stick at, but which are firmly under the control of a branded house, rather than a house of brands. The store itself, as Selfridges in Birmingham, is the anchor of a large modern mall, but it is Liverpool that is the star. It has not been upstaged by any of the other retail incumbents.

At a time of austerity and cutbacks in the UK, it is good to see that retailers in different parts of the world are prepared to push the boat out, take a little risk and come up with something that really does challenge perceptions about the way a store should look.