Penny opens 'Leylaland', Germany's first influencer-designed supermarket
- Aug 4
- 2 min read
Updated: 5 days ago
In late July 2026 REWE-owned discounter Penny opened 'Leylaland' in Frankfurt — a permanently themed store designed around reality-TV influencer Leyla Heiter, complete with a golden statue and chandeliers — billed as Germany's first influencer-designed supermarket, with standard discounter prices across around 3,500 products.
A discount supermarket as a content set
Penny has opened a permanently themed store in Frankfurt-Praunheim designed around reality-TV influencer Leyla Heiter, complete with a life-sized golden statue, chandeliers and royal décor. Penny explicitly frames 'Leylaland' as a lasting concept rather than a short-term pop-up, marketing it as Germany's first influencer-themed grocery market. Prices stay at standard discounter levels across the roughly 3,500-item range.
The point isn't the décor — it's the footage. A gilded discount supermarket is engineered to be filmed, posted and shared, turning a routine shop into a destination people travel to and content they make for free.
Why retailers are becoming entertainment venues
Physical retail's advantage over e-commerce is experience, and Penny is pushing that to its logical extreme: a store you visit for the spectacle, not just the shop. Pairing it with an influencer imports a ready-made, engaged audience who will document the visit.
Keeping prices normal is the clever discipline. The theatre pulls people in, but the discounter promise stays intact — the stunt supports the brand's core positioning rather than contradicting it.
Marketing Minute's read: make the store the media
Our take: the smartest retail marketing now treats the physical space as an owned media channel. If your store is worth filming, your customers become your media buyers — and an influencer partnership is just a way to seed that behaviour with an audience primed to share.
For any bricks-and-mortar business, the transferable idea isn't 'build a gold statue'. It's to give people one genuinely photographable reason to visit and post — a signature detail, a ritual, a backdrop — so your footfall generates its own reach.
Quick FAQ
What is Penny's 'Leylaland'?
A permanently themed Penny supermarket in Frankfurt designed around reality-TV influencer Leyla Heiter, with a golden statue and chandeliers, billed as Germany's first influencer-designed grocery store, keeping standard discounter prices across around 3,500 products.
Why would a discounter do this?
To turn a routine shop into filmable, shareable content and a destination — importing an influencer's engaged audience while keeping its low-price positioning intact.
What's the takeaway for other retailers?
Treat your physical space as an owned media channel: give customers one genuinely photographable reason to visit and post, so footfall generates its own reach.
— Oliver Nikolla-Casado, International Markets Reporter at Marketing Minute
Penny's 'Leylaland' shows the smartest retail move now is making the store itself the media: give customers a reason to film and share, and your footfall becomes your reach.
Is there one genuinely photographable reason for customers to visit your space and post about it — or is it purely functional?
If you would like to know more about this topic, please contact us on danieln@merxmarketing.co.uk
Sources: HORIZONT, Lebensmittel Zeitung and Supermarkt Nachrichten.
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Written by Oliver Nikolla-Casado, International Markets Reporter at Marketing Minute
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