German Apparel Retail Fills Flagship Store Window With Transparent LED

April 24, 2025 by Dave Haynes

While there are lots of vendors now making or reselling someone else’s near-transparent LED products, they’ve seemingly been more evident at trade shows than out in the real world. However, that also used to be the case with conventional direct view LED displays, which are now EVERYWHERE.

So it is probably more a function of awareness and time, and there are indeed some projects popping up – like this near billboard-sized display in the street-level picture window of a German apparel retailer.

The new Robert Ley flagship store in Mülheim-Kärlich (kinda between Bonn and Frankfurt) has a 9 by 4.5 meters transparent display that is there for branding and promotions. The  core attraction of this kind of tech is how the LED-embedded metal structure is largely transparent – allowing natural light inside the store and allowing only nominally impaired views out.

The job was done by retail-centric tech integrator Buetema – from hardware delivery and installation to software setup and ongoing monitoring. Buetema says it has its own cloud-based digital signage software.

You could make the argument that the job would have been better if the entire window was filled, and not just 75% or so. But that’s more cost and depending on the product, it might not be designed for custom dimensions.

No word on which LED manufacturer was used, but if you walked around ISE, you’ll know there are now several selling mesh LED or louver-style products. Buetema says this is mesh, but when I squint at the phots the product looks more like a louvre-grid product that is more rigid than the foil-like LED. Mesh or grid, the tech keeps getting better in terms of their form and performance.

I haven’t seen it in person – I’m in Canada but Toronto is a 20-hour drive from my house (this is a BIG country) – but among the better applications I’m aware of for these LED mesh window displays is a Bank of Montreal branch on the edge of that city’s financial district.