Image © Jose & MidJourney
I am not saudosista. According to the Encyclopedia Britannica (a dictionary, yes, those still exist), the term stems from saudade, a supposedly unique Portuguese concept that may be simply translated to “yearning”, refers to a profound and often melancholic longing or nostalgia for the past. It is not just a simple feeling of missing something or someone, but a deeper, almost existential yearning for times gone by, often idealizing and romanticizing those periods. I am more of a forward-thinking optimist, I enjoy the moment to the fullest, in context, but once it’s gone, I look forward to the evolution of that moment.
I was listening to an episode of Monocle (Magazine) On Design about the IRMA, the Danish supermarket that opened in 1886 and will be closing down the last stores by the Spring of 2024 (some of its products will still be available in Coop stores, parent company Coop Denmark). For the Danish it is not just a retailer, but a cultural institution that seamlessly integrated art and design into everyday life. For those not Danish, you might have come across the girl in the blue dress in products such as cans, bags, packaging, etc. One of the secrets of their success was the collaborations with renown designers like Arne Jacobsen and Poul Henningsen who innovated in lighting, creating the famous PH Artichoke pendant sold under the Louis Poulsen brand. Some of the news about why it was closing cited that it was “a response to changing consumer habits, with a significant shift towards discount shopping and more economical purchasing behaviors. This shift has been partly attributed to inflation and a broader trend of consumers seeking more affordable options”. Sounds familiar?
It got me thinking about the fact that it was closing down after 138 years. Knowing I’m not saudosista, I couldn’t figure out if it made me sad or not. I also work in a company that is 133 years old, that has gone through many different stages. We are seeing some of these similarly old companies disintegrating (General Electric), some going out with a bang (Nokia), while we still have a number of global companies still operating under their original company name/ brands, some dating back to 578 AD in Japan. So, what is it about old companies lasting longer than their founders, longer than the average human being, that makes us like and respect them? Is it the simple fact that they prove resilience in face of dramatic change, and does that reflect in their value to society? Is it ‘contranatura’, is it something we should aim for as entrepreneurs, and as designers?
Then I realized I was not sad about the fact that IRMA was closing down, I was sad because a retail concept of good design done in collaboration with renown designers was proving inadequate to modern times, even in Denmark. While we still have some great examples of design led retail concepts that are holding on and some actually growing (IKEA, MUJI,…), what saddens me is the fact that these design driven concepts are no longer capable of cutting it in this new world we live in. Strong design brands seem to be having a tough time maintaining their relevance, it’s harder to create and sustain an end-to-end customer experience, dealing with changing market dynamics, deal with constant low-cost pressure. And perhaps we should not aim for it, Jeff Bezos apparently said “Amazon is not too big to fail… In fact, I predict one day Amazon will fail. Amazon will go bankrupt.” Perhaps this was just IRMA’s time to go.
Jonathan Tuckey, ‘Irma: A Design Story’, Halima Cassell | Monocle