By Mark Seavy

As location-based experiences (LBE) continue to expand, the lines that separate LBE from consumer products, marketing, and other business units are blurring.

That consolidation across businesses comes as LBE becomes a key cog in brand building. And while LBE was once largely viewed as being limited to theme parks, it includes immersive retail experiences and store takeovers, touring shows, themed hotels and restaurants, and more.

Miraculous Corp.’s Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir partnered with Fever Entertainment on a Cat Noir Adventure experience in Mexico City, Mexico that’s expected to spread to Brazil and Europe, said Roz Nowicki, Global Head of Consumer Products at Miraculous Corp. And that is in addition to plans for takeovers at FAO Shwarz in New York (July) and at the 2,500-square-foot Requiem Café in Anaheim, CA (August).

Lionsgate collaborated with Egan Productions to launch The John Wick Experience at Area15 in Las Vegas, an immersive attraction that was spotlighted as part of a networking event with the Themed Entertainment Association during Licensing Expo last week. In addition to an interactive journey through the world of the film franchise, the experience also includes a themed bar and retail store.

Mattel licensee Epic Resorts, meanwhile, plans to open the 300,000-square-foot Mattel Adventure Park later this year after construction-related delays tied to the surrounding VAI Resorts in Chandler, AZ. A second, larger location in Bonner Springs, KA is due in 2026. On a smaller scale, the Uno Social Club will open at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas later this year. And the seventh Barbie-themed Malibu Café opened in May in Melbourne, Australia, the first outside the U.S. since the format debuted in 2023.

For its part, Hasbro has opened 10 Peppa Pig-themed attractions in the U.S., including three standalone parks with Merlin Entertainments. In addition to Monopoly escape rooms in the U.S. with licensee Breakaway Games, a Monopoly Mansion in Kuala Lumpur, Indonesia, that was sidelined during the pandemic remains in the planning stages, company executives said. A Planet Playskool family entertainment center launched at the Westfield Garden State Plaza in Paramus, NJ while a 30,000-square-foot Nerf Action Experience remains under development.

“It is about each of the properties having core strategies, but at the end of day the connections should be invisible to the audience,” said Josh Silverman, EVP and Chief Franchise Officer at Mattel. “If you have enough fans, you want to be able to bring the properties to life whether that is an experience, toy, or digital games. And, ideally, that should be in [a] seamless stack.”

As much as LBE offerings are focused on storytelling, however, those stacks are not limited to traditional entertainment properties.

Tapestry’s Coach brand, for example, has opened about a dozen “Play” stores that offer consumers custom-made tote bags and screen-printed t-shirts. The format is aimed at Gen Z consumers and, so far, has lengthened the time they spend in a Coach store, executives said. The brand also opened a Coach Restaurant in Indonesia in 2024, offering food and beverage in addition to merchandise. The format has since expanded to include a location at the Jersey Shore Premium Outlets in Tinton Falls, NJ.

“You’re going to see companies continue to evolve store design to speak in an authentic way—in an approachable way—to a younger consumer, but also in a luxury way,” Coach Brand President Todd Kahn said.

Licensee Edx Education, meanwhile, has launched pop-up play zones based on author Eric Carle’s book The Very Hungry Caterpillar. The first play zone opened in Yorkshire, UK on May 18th and the format will continue with stops in Suffolk, Surry, and Chesire, UK before ending in Berkshire on July 20th. And, in the music space, licensees Primary Wave Music and Five Currents is opening a Bob Marley “Hope Road” Experience in the Mandalay Bay Resort in Las Vegas on June 25th.

Yet even with the growing number of LBE offerings, much of the business remains in the early stages, industry executives said.

“Everybody looks at it as this big cash cow and that it is going to be easy, but it is hard and expensive,” said Matt Proulx, SVP Global Experiences, Partnerships, and Music at Hasbro. “The best equivalent is restaurants, where everyone has an idea or concept but many fail within the first year. From when a deal is signed to when a project is completed can be 18 months to three years. This business is in the splashy phase of licensing, and everyone is getting their footing, and it is still in the infancy stage. There is a ton of money flooding into the business, but everyone is still deciding what will work and what are the future bets.”