Shopping as an Entertainment Experience
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Lincoln Park Zoo and the famous Art Institute in visitor attendance (Katz 11).
Nike Town is the definitive fusion of retail and entertainment (Katz 82). The
attention to detail that Nike Town has is legendary. Every comer and crevice has
its own lighting and its own music (Hine 199). This experiential approach moves
the shoes and satisfies in numerous other ways. Thomas Hine relates how
“delighted” some visitors are to discover “that the patterns on the manhole covers
that decorate the floor allude to the waffle-patterned soles of the first Nikes”
(Hine 199).
At Mountain Co-op in Toronto, there is a climbing wall. People who are
not necessarily buyers are coming into the store alone, or with children, in order
to climb the wall. At Ikea, one can drop off the children in a play area, peruse the
various parts of the store, have dinner or coffee, leisurely killing time. Drinking
coffee seems to be a hugely appealing feature for potential shoppers. Most of the
book superstores now have coffee bars and lunch counters, not to mention a host
of ancillary pseudo-educational activities designed to bring people in. For
example, evenings with authors can be interpreted as simply publicity for their
books, but one must concede that something deeper is at work.
Like themed restaurants (such as Planet Hollywood and the Hard Rock
Cafe), entertainment stores (such as the Disney Store or The Warner Brothers
store) fuse entertainment with consumption in a potent way. According to
marketing gum Paco Underhill, “From a child’s perspective, these places are like
amusement parks that just happen to sell merchandise” (Underhill 149). They
become synonymous with fun and excitement. Even the more “traditional”
children’s environments serve as entertainment outlets. On a rainy day, many
parents roam the aisles of Toys R Us with their young children just for something
to do. Children in the store are free to ride the bikes, test drive the electronic
miniature cars, or sample (and break) a vast variety of merchandise. Inevitably,
the ideal for the merchant is to sell something, and that is why this behavior is
tolerated. Outside of the main store there are usua