PENNY, in collaboration with the Altona Neurological Therapy Centre at the Asklepios Clinic Altona, has opened a special training market. The centre serves as a therapy facility offering real-life scenarios for people who, following serious neurological conditions such as a stroke, wish to regain lost abilities and practise living independently in their day-to-day lives.
The training centre recreates a typical shopping situation and enables patients to practise everyday activities in a safe environment: selecting products, finding their way around the shelves, making purchasing decisions and paying at the till. This simultaneously helps to develop motor, cognitive and communication skills. Such training opportunities are still rare in Germany.
For many neurological patients, shopping presents a complex challenge. In the training shop, patients can practise, amongst other things, picking up products, opening refrigerated display units, placing items in shopping baskets, paying, as well as spatial awareness, memory, planning, coordination and balance. The controlled environment removes the pressure of real-life shopping situations and enables targeted, therapeutically supervised practice.
„We are proud to be part of this project. This approach impressively demonstrates just how important the link is between therapy and everyday life. If a PENNY supermarket can help people regain a measure of independence and quality of life following a serious health setback, then that is exactly the sort of social commitment we are keen to support.“ Daniel Perpeet, Chairman of the Management, PENNY Northern Region
PENNY supported the project by providing equipment and retail expertise free of charge. The training shop features five shelves with a total length of just under seven metres, a bake-off shelf, a newspaper rack, a freezer and a drinks fridge. The layout is complemented by shopping trolleys, shopping baskets and typical packaging materials for fruit, vegetables and baked goods, to create as realistic a shopping experience as possible.
In addition, bespoke elements were fitted into the shop. Sean Pielke’s woodworking workshop crafted a till with a small conveyor belt and an illuminated PENNY sign. Andreas Röpke from Röpke Ladenbau assisted with the assembly of the shelves and provided the necessary shopfitting elements. Both partners volunteered their time for the project.
The initiative stems from an idea by graffiti artist Ray de la Cruz, who had previously been involved in the design of the PENNY supermarket on the Reeperbahn and who approached PENNY with the idea of a training supermarket in a rehabilitation setting.
For PENNY, the project exemplifies social commitment and active community involvement. The aim is to support people who have suffered serious health setbacks in gradually regaining greater independence and quality of life.
- Opening of a PENNY training store at the Altona Neurological Therapy Centre of the Asklepios Clinic Altona in Hamburg
- Opening on 18 August 2026
- Location: Paul-Ehrlich-Straße 1, 22763 Hamburg
- Target group: Patients with neurological conditions, e.g. following a stroke
- Purpose: To train everyday living skills and promote independence
- A realistic shopping experience in a safe therapeutic environment
- Fitted out by PENNY, including shelving, refrigerated display units, trolleys and baskets
- Support provided by Röpke Ladenbau and Sean Pielke’s woodworking workshop
- The initiative grew out of an idea by graffiti artist Ray de la Cruz
- An example of social engagement and support for local communities