A New Home for the Experience Economy

Netflix House is living for a wild, multichannel approach to retailtainment

By Anne-Frances Hutchinson

Netflix is making blockbuster moves again. Since the launch of NetFlix.com in March 1998, they’ve revolutionized the way we choose and consume media, from offering the first online subscription rental service by mail (offering flat-fee unlimited rentals with no return date, late fees, or shipping costs) to creating a game changing streaming service that set the stage for today’s $200 billion global streaming market. With a CAGR of 10.85%, by 2031, that figure is expected to reach $356.2 billion by 2031.

To support its streaming services, Netflix has become a prestige media developer, producing a slew of award-winning movies and TV series. We can’t confirm that they have a sizeable vault for the Oscars, Emmys, Tonys, Screen Actors Guild, and People’s Choice awards they’ve garnered, but they’re certainly making room on their shelves for the retail entertainment awards they’re likely to collect as they compete with the biggest mouse on the planet for hearts, minds, and revenue.

To be clear, Netflix competes with Disney for their streaming and media businesses; the overall Disney model is destination-driven, appealing to families on vacation and theme-park lovers. Disney parks and cruises are expensive, require advanced planning, and significant investments in travel and lodging for those who don’t have a Disney attraction nearby.

When it comes to parks and cruises, Netflix isn’t trying to be Disneyland Earth Two, but being category leaders in customer acquisition and retention. Like other legacy theme parks, Netflix House is based on immersion, participation and community. Same church, different pew.

Netflix brings their brand to the people with their Netflix House mall-based model, delivering in-person immersive, memorable, and deeply cool adventures based on their original content offerings. The venues themselves are based in malls: The first two houses opened in 2025 in Philadelphia’s King of Prussia mall, followed by another in the Galleria Dallas. Netflix House Las Vegas is scheduled to open in 2027 at Blvd, a new three-story shopping complex on the Strip.

While advanced AV technology has made experiential retail more realistic and thrilling, the concept isn’t new. Constantly seeking ways to stay relevant, brands have used live events, pop-ups, cross-brand partnerships, and gamification to attract and keep shoppers for decades.

Netflix is merging their retail and creative strategies to drive value in physical form. By bringing experiences to urban and mixed-use properties, Netflix Houses have the advantage of built-in audiences of locals and tourists. They can innovate, create, and iterate new attractions faster, and don’t bear the cost of land use or new construction. Netflix House requires lower upfront capital and demonstrates ROI faster than the legacy theme park model. And, by tying expansion plans to foot traffic, the concept benefits retailers in the same complex.

Prior to the house, the company invested in several high-profile experiences. To augment their 2021 release of “Army of the Dead” in Los Angeles, they produced a zombie-fighting VR experience to go with it. They launched a traveling “Bridgerton” experience in major cities around the world, including Paris, New York, Sydney, Bucharest, and six other locales. Their “Stranger Things” musical landed on Broadway, winning rave reviews and multiple Tony Awards. These endeavors paved the way for active engagement, brand loyalty, and led to the Netflix House concept.

Netflix House IP is central to diverse distribution channels of screens and physical interaction, with value no longer tied to viewing metrics. They’re creating robust, diversified revenue streams designed to flex with changing expectations, generational appeal, and tech advancements.

The model greatly reduces the risk of experimenting and enables audiences to develop deeper connections with like-minded fans. The individual media properties drive organic growth through social media exposure, fan community amplification, and word of mouth.

AV Nation said of the model, “It offers a roadmap for building flexible, content-driven venues that merge storytelling with cutting-edge audiovisual engineering. And for fans, it’s the promise of stepping into the worlds they love powered by the technology they never see.”

Netflix House is framed as a potential model for shopping center revitalization. Anchor tenants like Lord & Taylor, Saks, Belk, Kohl’s, and J.C. Penney are disappearing, and Macy’s is purging 150 poorly performing stores. (Netflix House Galleria Dallas is situated in a shuttered Belk, and the Philly House replaced an empty Lord & Taylor.) Large indoor shopping malls have been reduced to hosting fewer than two dozen stores, compared to more than 100 in their heyday.

The largest retail REIT in the country with roughly 194 malls in its portfolio is leading the charge in retailtainment resets. Simon Property Group (SPG) partnered with Netflix to create Netflix House Philadelphia. According to Bloomberg, Eric Sadi, SPG’s co-president for North American real estate said that Netflix House fits into the company’s broader “experiential retail” strategy.

According to Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL), malls have the highest number of vacancies among all retail property types. JLL is working with Gindi Capital to capture high-end tenants in retail, dining, and entertainment at Galleria Dallas.

To regain their popularity, malls must feature attractions that draw younger audiences and increase dwell time. Venues like Netflix House entice shoppers to stay longer; the longer they stay the more likely they are to spend on merch and dining.

Netflix understands the emotional power of fandom, which they are successfully converting into purchasing power. Love can make you repeatedly binge your most beloved shows and buy way too much merch. And when the seller is also the creator of that show, it’s easy to lock in the enthusiasm, build trust, and develop ongoing relationships with dynamic, ever-changing audiences.

Netflix is reviving more than retail space. Its potential to break the hold of screen addiction, isolation, and passive viewing just may be the social blockbuster we’ve been waiting for.

• Flix Fact: Tim Burton’s Beetlejuice (1988) was the DVD mailed to their first customer.
• Flix Fact: The world’s last Blockbuster Video (Bend, OR) is now a tourist destination with plenty of merch – but no rental services.
• Flix Fact: The 2020 documentary The Last Blockbuster was released on VHS and DVD and made available for streaming on Netflix.
• Flix Fact: using their own algorithm based on their viewing data they added personalized recommendations in 2000.
• Flix Fact: The 2013 release of House of Cards marked their major push into original programming.
• Flix Fact: Netflix covers the globe, expanding 130 countries simultaneously in 2016.