Netflix has announced it will be opening an “immersive retail experience” at The Grove in Los Angeles. The store will feature some of the most popular and best shows and movies on Netflix right now like Stranger Things, Bridgerton and Squid Game. It will be a shop that also includes interactive experiences for shoppers. Netflix at the Grove is set to open on Thursday, October 13.
According to THR, the shop will sell apparel, collectibles like Funko Pops, and books, as well as other products. The article notes that this will add to Netflix’s portfolio of in-person experiences that help leverage the Netflix brand. Previously, the streamer has opened a Stranger Things pop-up store, and a Bridgerton experience titled The Bridgergton Ball.
This store is 10,000 square feet and will feature “colorful photo-ready vignettes” of characters like Vecna from Stranger Things, Queen Charlotte’s throne from Bridgerton, and the Young-Hee doll from Squid Game. I mean who wouldn’t want to pretend like they were in the Upsidedown with Vecna or like they rule in the Regency era?
With the high volume of fans creating TikToks and other social media reactions to shows like Stranger Things (especially with the Kate Bush song), or the Squid Game trends that flew around earlier this year, it makes sense that Netflix is trying to capitalize on its social media presence.
Having a space for fans to purchase merchandise and interact with the shows in person makes a lot of sense, and I think the demand is there. Especially when you consider that Stranger Things Season 4 broke records when it became the most-watched English-language TV series during its first week of release with over 286 million hours of viewing. Plus both Bridgerton and Squid Game have also broke records on the streamer. The South Korean drama beat out the regency era drama as the most-watched original show when it was streamed by 82 million viewers.
According to the press release shoppers can buy items like the Hellfire Club shirt from Stranger Things, Funko Pops from Squid Game and other shows, a book called Inside Bridgerton by the show’s creator Shonda Rhimes, and items from some of the streamer’s most successful children’s shows like Gabby’s Dollhouse.
Down the road, the shop will use its second floor for interactive experiences to promote its holiday programming, which includes: Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio, Enola Holmes 2, The School for Good and Evil, Matilda, Emily in Paris Season 3, and Slumberland. The shop will also feature some of Netflix’s Christmas movies, like Lindsay Lohan’s Falling for Christmas.
Per the THR article, Netflix is new to retail. It launched its online retail store last summer which features lots of branded merchandise from its most popular shows. Between the online store and their brick-and-mortar in LA, it seems like Netflix is ready to really promote merchandise sales this holiday season.
The store will stay open through January 6, 2023. You can check out everything listed above with a Netflix subscription, and pay attention to the 2022 Netflix movie releases and Netflix’s TV releases to stay up to date on when a lot of the upcoming titles are set to hit the streamer.
