Why a big American city is filling empty retail spaces with immersive experiences: to draw tourists to downtown
- Chicago’s empty downtown retail spaces are being filled up with interactive museums and exhibitions in an effort to increase foot traffic
- From museums of torture and ice cream to an interactive art space and museum of illusions, experiential retail spaces are raising hopes of a recovery
Ice cream landscapes, rooms filled with bizarre illusions and other spaces where selfies are a must: Chicago’s new wave of tourist attractions reflects a growing appetite for experiential retail spaces.
Immersive experiences showcasing the work of popular artists including Prince and Vincent van Gogh began popping up around the American city several years ago, putting life back into the streets and filling once-vacant shops.
It was unclear whether such attractions, which allow guests to interact with the exhibits, were a passing fad or here to stay. But most are still going strong, and today they represent one of the brightest spots in the retail sector of the Loop, the city’s central business district.
Museum of Illusions Chicago, an interactive exhibition that presents dozens of optical illusions, has just signed a deal expanding into an empty shop next to its location at 25 E. Washington Street in the Loop.
The expansion takes over space once occupied by a clothing retailer, and will change how the building looks to pedestrians, said Dan Shannon, the property’s asset manager.