Insta-Worthy RetailEverything, Everywhere, All at Once

How the designer behind some of today’s buzziest businesses lands in-person experiences that are too good not to gram.

There was always going to be a backlash to the pandemic years of isolation and online shopping. It's now taking shape offline, with vastly different ideas of what modern retail should be. In recent years, we've seen Barbie-themed cafés, mini Ikea stores, and unexpected retail collabs à la Crocs and Taco Bell.

The funhouse approach, when unusual staging captured by social media creates buzz, is drawing potential customers to visit-IRL-a growing number of unique stores that mix it up and defy expectations. Not that the retail landscape is expanding: American malls have been in decline for decades, while it was projected that U.S. e-commerce sales would reach more than $1 trillion last year, according to FTI Consulting's 2023 Online Retail Report. But rather than cramming everything under one roof, innovative brick-and-mortar vendors-like a pop-up that stays up-offer a shopping experience you'll never find online.