Einkaufszeile

An Einkaufszeile is a consecutive row of retail shops located along a street or through a covered passage, forming a continuous market front. The defining feature is direct accessibility from the sidewalk, with each storefront presenting a display window and entrance. The concept can appear as an open-air shopping street or as a covered arcade where a roof or colonnade runs above the storefronts.

In many German-speaking towns, Einkaufszeilen developed as part of urban design to support local commerce and pedestrian movement. They are commonly found in historic city centers and often appear in mixed-use streets where ground-floor shops are complemented by residences or offices above. Depending on design, an Einkaufszeile may be a single storefront sequence along a street, or a contiguous row of shops forming a front across a street corridor.

The term is sometimes used interchangeably with Einkaufsstraße (shopping street) but is more specifically a row of shops rather than a whole street, and with Kolonnaden or Arkaden (arcades) when covered. A modern equivalent would be a pedestrianized shopping thoroughfare or a street with integrated retail fronts, distinguishing from enclosed shopping centers (Einkaufszentrum).