experiential retail

Hong Kong, Thursday, 13 November 2025.
Merlin is relaunching LEGOLAND Discovery Centre Hong Kong’s Holiday Bricktacular for late 2025, a calendar-driven programme designed to lift off‑peak winter visitation and drive higher-margin merchandise spend. For retail and operations teams, the initiative crystallises a strategic play: use IP-led seasonal content, capacity‑managed workshops and branded retail activations to extend dwell time and smooth attendance volatility. Operational priorities will include micro-footprint crowd-flow management, repeatable staffing for workshops, limited‑edition SKU planning and local licensing or media partnerships to amplify reach. The event also offers experiential hooks—structured creative sessions and capped play slots—that increase per-guest transactions without relying on weather or large exterior footprints. Data points from similar Merlin rollouts suggest these tactics stabilise revenues and improve average retail yield during slower trading periods. Expect stakeholders to watch conversion rates on limited runs and the impact of timed experiences on length of stay as leading indicators of success, and operational cost efficiency.

London, Thursday, 30 October 2025.
Last Wednesday Wake The Tiger confirmed plans to open a permanent, bookable attraction inside Westfield London, occupying about 7,432 m² and billed as Europe’s largest immersive art experience. For retail professionals, the most striking takeaway is the scale: a high‑capacity, IP‑driven leisure asset replacing traditional leasable space to drive dwell time, family visitation and ancillary spend. The move highlights a growing landlord strategy of integrating branded, revenue‑diverse experiences that blend attractions engineering, thematic design and retail operations into turnkey offerings. Expect shifts in tenant mix, guest circulation patterns and spend‑per‑visit dynamics, plus new programming and F&B integration models that prioritise cross‑promotion and bookings over passive footfall. Competing mall operators and attraction suppliers will watch for commercial model details, capacity management, and operational interfaces that balance entertainment throughput with retail conversion. This development signals a measurable acceleration in experiential retail thinking — a practical test case for mixed‑use centres recalibrating income streams beyond pure rent.