How Retailers Are Pushing the Boundaries

Entertainment and experience has become the cornerstone of retail survival in the wake of increasing online shopping. Now, top brands are starting to incorporate entertainment experiences into select markets to bush the boundaries of the traditional retail structure.

“Retail is continuing to evolve,” Carlos Lopez, EVP at Hanley Investment Group, tells GlobeSt.com. “In some markets, we are seeing experiential retail, which is a very popular push as well as entertainment experiences. We are also seeing tenants with new formats and pushing the boundaries of traditional retail.” Several brands are joining this trend, from Capital One, which has launched cafes, to furniture store RH and Lexus. Capital One’s café model allows customers and non-customers to come and hangout. “We now have Capital One Cafés Banking Reimagined, where people can come into a bank, make a transaction and then sit and enjoy a cup of Peet’s Coffee, tea or a snack,” Lopez says. “You don’t even have to be a Capital One customer. There are no bank tellers there. Capital One calls them “Ambassadors.” With free Wi-Fi, plenty of access to charging stations and some semiprivate nooks, it’s a great place where you can focus on work or find room to collaborate. There are also money coaches that offer free one-on-one coaching to the public.”

Furniture retailer RH has also incorporated a food and eatery experience to customers with rooftop restaurants. “In the past, we didn’t go eat at the hottest restaurant in town where we could also purchase the furniture we sat and ate on. Well, this is what RH—formerly known as Restoration Hardware—is doing,” says Lopez. “RH is blurring the lines between residential and retail, indoors and outdoors, home and hospitality—an experience that activates all of the senses and can’t be replicated online.”