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At the Museum of Ice Cream, patrons can ride in an ice cream
sandwich swing, swim in a pool of plastic ice cream sprinkles,
and seesaw on a giant ice cream scoop. But you already knew
that. Its often sold-out installations are extensively documented
on the Instagram feeds of David Beckham, Beyoncé, and the
thousands of noncelebrities lucky enough to get in.
Contrary to its name, the Museum of Ice Cream, a pop-up
attraction now in San Francisco, isn’t a museum. It’s more
like a playground with no age limit. It’s also the most visible
end of a growing movement that’s blurring the line between
shopping and entertainment. Rosé Mansion, which opened
on July 12 in New York, is a two-story celebration of the pink
drink with rooms of rose petal baths and décor resembling
Champagne bubbles. Candytopia, a real-life Candy Land with
a marshmallow pit and edible confection samples, opens a Bay
Area pop-up in September.
Much of the debate around these selie magnets focuses on
what to call them. Are they institutions with cultural value?
Or are they “braindead, Instagram-optimized fun houses,” as
Jason Farago, editor of contemporary art magazineEven, put it
in his newsletter? Neither, says Manish Vora, co-founder of the
Museum of Ice Cream. For him it’s a new retail form, one that
follows in the footsteps of such businesses as Warby Parker.
Harvard Business Reviewcoined the term “experience econ-
omy” in the late 1990s, but the concept took hold only recently.
“Both new and existing companies are increasingly incor-
porating heavy experiential compo-
nents into their business,” says Warren
Teichner, a McKinsey & Co. senior
partner. James Cook, director of retail
research at investment management
company JLL, sees long-term potential.
“Entertainment is going to be the new
anchor,” he says. “It’s going to be driv-
ing traic to the shopping centers of the
future.” (If there are any.)
The formula has yielded a hearty
return for the Museum of Ice Cream,
which began in 2016 as a pop-up in
Manhattan’s Meatpacking District. This
year it surpassed 1 million visitors across
its various locations. Tickets run as
much as $38, and it’s received sponsor-
ship from Dove Chocolate and American
Express Co., among others. PHOTOGRAPH BY DAVID WILLIAMS FOR BLOOMBERG BUSINESWEEKRETAIL Bloomberg Pursuits August 20, 2018This summer the Museum of Ice Cream parlayed that
viral success into a pop-up grocery in New York’s Chelsea
neighborhood called the Pint Shop, which also ofers tick-
eted tastings. It brokered a nationwide merchandising deal
with Target Corp., which on July 7 began ofering museum-
branded clothes and pints in lavors such as Churro Churro
and Vanillionaire. “It’s in their freezers,” Vora says. “It
becomes more than an Instagram feed.”
The Target partnership is of to a promising start. Todd
Waterbury, the chain’s chief creative oicer, says retail “has
always been a form of theater, of staging and storytelling, with
products as cast members.”
Rosé Mansion, likewise, sees a bustling business of 500 to
750 visitors every day, according to co-founder Tyler Balliet.
Tickets for the event, set to run until October, are $45, with a
$35 “happy hour” special on weekday afternoons. It has intro-
duced a rosé wine club as well that delivers a package of three
bottles once every three months for $54.
Dream Machine, which runs in Brooklyn until Sept. 9, has
sold $2 million in tickets since opening in April. A $28 mati-
nee takes guests through a surrealist reverie, complete with
Technicolor neon lights and a room built to make visitors feel
as if they’re at the bottom of a giant swimming pool. Paige
Solomon, Dream Machine’s co-founder, shirks a one-to-one
comparison with existing institutions. “I actually think it’s a
crime to call these pop-ups ‘museums,’ ” she says. “I don’t even
know if I consider myself an artist. I’m
more of an experience designer.”
Either way, more are coming. The
Color Factory, which made its debut in
San Francisco in 2017 and charges $38
to visit intensely hued spaces illed with
disco balls and giant Lite Brites, will
open a pop-up in New York on Aug. 20.
A Museum of Pizza is set for October.
Vora says these competitors are a val-
idation of his market. He plans to estab-
lish permanent locations in 2019 in New
York and Los Angeles, as well as an inter-
national venue in Asia. And he’s already
looking toward his next project, which
may or may not be dessert-themed.
“We’re passionate about ice cream,” he
says, “but it’s just one movie franchise
in our future Disney.” Interactive “museums” are turning viral successes into
profitable businesses. By Emily McCormickSnap ’Til You Shop
Inside the
Pint Shop in
New York