



"You can buy a product just about everywhere. They are trying to add a different element so it is not just about the product," said Wendy Liebmann, chief executive officer of WSL/Strategic Retail, retail strategists and futurists based in New York. "They are giving people a reason to play -- like Converse, where you can customize your sneaker -- making it worth it to go into the store. A sense of place and a place to stay."

Retailers have been using entertainment to attract shoppers for years, from mall carousels to the Great Mall of America's whole amusement park. But with advances in technology and growing pressure from online competition, more retailers are adding interactive attractions inside their stores.


For 40 years, Bass Pro Shops has stayed open on Thanksgiving Day, drawing customers out after they have downed their Thanksgiving dinner for family-friendly attractions -- free photos in Santa's Wonderland, aquariums that re-create scenes from a local lake and free rides. Or as one customer put it, a "few free hours of entertainment." And the shops hold free special events year-round.




Build-A-Bear Workshop was one of the innovators in "experiential" mall retailing 15 years ago, having children choose and name their bears -- and later other animals -- as the huggable toys were put together and stuffed. Now it is starting to roll out new designs with several new interactive experiences, including putting the stuffed animals at children's height so they can touch and play with them, and digital screens where children can add more personalized sounds and music to their stuffed toys. Five Build-A-Bear stores have been converted to the new concept, and one new store has opened.







"Technology can be very intimidating for some people, so we try to tear down those barriers," said Microsoft spokesman Lief Knutson. "When they leave and realize they've made the right decision, that builds a lot of repeat business."

Some of the Art of Shaving stores have barber spas for straight-razor shaves and haircuts. The shop's shaving experts will take customers through the process for a "perfect shave." That makes a more intimate connection than if they just bought a can of shaving cream off the shelf at their local discount store.

Cliff Smith already has his audience at the mention of the word "fudge," but he holds it with his showmanship -- from throwing fudge nearly to the ceiling to his goofy jokes.

Smith has been making fudge professionally for nearly two decades and conducts fudge-making demonstrations at Chip's Chocolate Factory in Kansas City, Mo.

"The fudge that falls on the floor is dirt cheap," he tells a giggling group of home-schooled students. "I think we have enough for everyone. Or do we need more?"

"More," the children shout.

Or as one child said, "This is one of the coolest field trips we have ever done."