At The Grove shopping center, a “pop-up store” attracts the crowd. Entirely dedicated to Netflix series and films, it offers many derivative products as well as life-size replicas of certain characters, such as Vecna from Stranger Things.
On the way to Las Vegas to cover CES 2023, the big show dedicated to new technologies, Numerama stopped in Los Angeles. There, by pure chance, we passed in front of a Netflix store. Yes, a store dedicated to a streaming service.
Extremely popular with passers-by (there was a queue to access it, both inside and outside), this “pop-up store” will close on January 6, since its existence is linked to the end of the year celebrations. For Netflix, this is an experiment before possibly opening other locations in the future.
Netflix Addict’s Paradise
The first Netflix store is located in The Grove shopping center in Los Angeles.
If its ultimate goal is to sell derivative products (and we imagine that the store must have achieved a hell of a turnover at Christmas), the pop-up store also allows Netflix to highlight its productions, as well as its service. . The entrance is also reminiscent of the introduction of episodes and films, with the giant Netflix logo on a colored background. Most of the people who visited the store stopped there to take a picture.
Taking pictures is pretty much what the Netflix Store is for. On the ground floor of the store, in the middle of many spaces dedicated to series and films, there are several life-size replicas of certain characters. doll and costume Squid GameVecna of Stranger Things, The Bridgerton Chronicles… Obviously, all of them are extremely popular. Everyone stops to take a picture. This ground floor is also dedicated to the sale of derivative objects, we will talk about it in a moment.
On the 1st floor (you have to queue again to access it), Netflix offers a space 100% dedicated to its original productions. We can queue to access the detective office ofEnola Holmessee lots of wooden figurines from the film Pinocchio of Guillermo Del Toro, to find oneself in the false France ofEmily in Parissleep at Slumberland… All the strong Netflix licenses are there.
Finally, in addition to an essential photo booth activity, Netflix offers a wishing tree. Small papers and pens are distributed to visitors who can ask Netflix what they want. Some make personal wishes, others ask for new seasons of their favorite series. Then you have to hang your grievances on the tree.
What can you buy at the Netflix Store?
Let’s go back to the ground floor, since there is no derivative product on the 1st floor.
Netflix sells several products to its fans, starting with a few objects in the colors of the streaming service. Caps, socks, notebooks… What amused us the most was the cushions with the effigy of the default profile photos. We would have loved to bring one back, but the size of our suitcase is unfortunately undersized…
The vast majority of the products sold are linked to the productions put forward. In the space Stranger Things, we find for example t-shirts, Pop figurines, mugs or posters. Same thing side Squid Gamewhere there are also disguises to look like the characters of the series.
If the offer is quite low, there is no doubt that it must have been a hit at Christmas, especially given Netflix’s incredible ability to make its content popular.
Will Netflix stores appear everywhere one day? Netflix would not be the first to open shops dedicated to products derived from its productions (Disney, NBC or Universal have done so before it). Will there be a Netflix store in Paris at Christmas 2023? Answer in a few months.
