A plumbing fixture showroom, Canada, 1921
A showroom is a large space used to display products or show entertainment.
Marketing location

A showroom is a large space used to display products for sale, such as
automobiles
A car, or an automobile, is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of cars state that they run primarily on roads, Car seat, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport private transport#Personal transport, peopl ...
,
furniture
Furniture refers to objects intended to support various human activities such as seating (e.g., Stool (seat), stools, chairs, and sofas), eating (table (furniture), tables), storing items, working, and sleeping (e.g., beds and hammocks). Furnitur ...
,
appliances,
carpet
A carpet is a textile floor covering typically consisting of an upper layer of Pile (textile), pile attached to a backing. The pile was traditionally made from wool, but since the 20th century synthetic fiber, synthetic fibres such as polyprop ...
or
apparel
Clothing (also known as clothes, garments, dress, apparel, or attire) is any item worn on a human human body, body. Typically, clothing is made of fabrics or textiles, but over time it has included garments made from animal skin and other thin s ...
. It is a
retail store
The retail format (also known as the retail formula) influences the consumer's store choice and addresses the consumer's expectations. At its most basic level, a retail format is a simple marketplace, that is; a location where goods and services ar ...
of a company in which products are on sale in a space created by their brand or company. A showroom can also be a space for wholesale buyers to view fashion merchandise for sale in their retail stores.
Among the various forms of showroom, one has been increasing significantly. The guide shop model is a strategy that many brands found to be present in both online and physical stores. A guide shop is a kind of showroom where the client can try and feel the products and purchase them to have it delivered on his/her home. Fashion stores are adopting the showrooms such guide shops for immersive brand experience and the vantage of no inventory in the stores. Also, their clients feel more confident before buying the product, decreasing the return rates.
The world's most famous locations for a showroom, generally in the form of a
cluster, are the
Champs Elysees in Paris and
Merchandise Mart
The Merchandise Mart (or the Merch Mart, or the Mart) is a commercial building in Chicago Loop, downtown Chicago, Illinois. When it opened in 1930, it was the List of largest buildings, world's largest building, with of floor space. The Art De ...
in Chicago.
One of the world's largest showrooms is the BMW showroom in Abu Dhabi. The biggest collection of showrooms is a car showroom in
Istanbul
Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...
called
Autopia Europia.
[Mibz.com]
Autopia Europia, The World’s Biggest Car Dealership, Will Have A Circuit On The Roof
.
Entertainment venue
A showroom is a permanent enclosed space used to present a
performance
A performance is an act or process of staging or presenting a play, concert, or other form of entertainment. It is also defined as the action or process of carrying out or accomplishing an action, task, or function.
Performance has evolved glo ...
. Sometimes it is customized for a particular show; for example, the
Las Vegas Hilton showroom used for the
rock opera
A rock opera is a collection of rock music songs with lyrics that relate to a common story. Rock operas are typically released as concept albums and are not scripted for acting, which distinguishes them from operas, although several have been ad ...
''
Starlight Express
'' Starlight Express'' is a 1984 musical with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Richard Stilgoe. It tells the story of a young but obsolete steam engine, Rusty, who races in a championship against modern locomotives of diesel and el ...
'' was customized by pouring
concrete
Concrete is a composite material composed of aggregate bound together with a fluid cement that cures to a solid over time. It is the second-most-used substance (after water), the most–widely used building material, and the most-manufactur ...
ramps onto its stage area and in the seating area.
Some showrooms are used daily, while others are only used when a performer is booked to perform. In some cases, a showroom is
lease
A lease is a contractual arrangement calling for the user (referred to as the ''lessee'') to pay the owner (referred to as the ''lessor'') for the use of an asset. Property, buildings and vehicles are common assets that are leased. Industrial ...
d to a performer, who then retains all income rather than being paid by the showroom owner.
Temporary showroom
In fashion capitals such as
New York City
New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
,
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
,
Milan
Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...
or
London
London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
one can find temporary showrooms.
These places can be rented on a daily or weekly basis. Some temporary showrooms are managed with the help of
event management agencies. Most are run and operated by in-house or contracted sale reps in that territory. Temporary showrooms can also be
pop-up stores, which are short-term sales spaces.
See also
*
Showrooming
*
List of auto dealership and repair shop buildings
References
{{Template:Retail
Retail formats
Rooms
Entertainment