What: Santa Monica's retail spaces are transforming into interactive entertainment venues, combining TikTok content creation, miniature golf, and pickleball to attract younger consumers.

Why it is important: The conversion of traditional retail spaces into experiential venues demonstrates the retail industry's strategic response to changing consumer behaviors, where participation and social sharing have become key drivers of foot traffic.

In a significant transformation of Santa Monica's retail landscape, former traditional stores are being repurposed into dynamic, experiential venues. A previous clothing store now hosts young entrepreneurs conducting marathon TikTok live sessions, where customers can watch content creation in real-time and purchase featured products. The evolution extends to a former food court, now reimagined as an Instagram-worthy miniature golf course with movie set-inspired holes, serving both families during the day and the dating crowd at night with cocktails and karaoke. Even a vintage 1960s storefront, previously home to Adidas, has been converted into a pickleball venue. This shift reflects broader changes in shopping habits influenced by internet commerce and younger generations' preference for shared experiences. The transformation is partly attributed to post-pandemic behavioral changes, where consumers increasingly seek active participation rather than passive shopping experiences. While experiential retail isn't new, its current iteration combines consumers' desire for active engagement with landlords' need to fill vacant retail spaces, creating a mutually beneficial solution for property owners and experience-seeking customers.

IADS Notes: The transformation of retail spaces in Santa Monica reflects a broader industry shift towards experiential retail that has gained significant momentum. As reported in May 2024, malls are actively pursuing unique experiences to drive traffic, with 60% of Gen Z visiting malls primarily for socialization. This trend has evolved dramatically, as evidenced by Dubai Mall's launch in February 2025 of a 100,000-square-foot social media-driven theme park, demonstrating the scale of this transformation. The integration of TikTok content creation spaces aligns with findings from August 2024, showing major retailers achieving significant success through social commerce, with 57% of transactions coming from new customers. The emphasis on participatory experiences responds directly to Gen Z's demands identified in October 2024, where research showed this generation's USD 360 billion spending power is increasingly directed towards engaging, tech-enabled environments. By January 2025, this evolution had crystallized into the "third spaces" trend, where retailers create community-focused environments that prioritize emotional engagement over traditional sales metrics, precisely the model being implemented in these Santa Monica venues.

‘Experiential’ retail surges as landlords try to lure customers back to the mall