I couldn’t decide whether to put this blog in this section or the ‘Here’s a Thought’ one, but since it includes two suggestions of places to visit that have fully, and fabulously, embraced the idea of shopping as entertainment , or ‘retailtainment’ (I promise you I haven’t made that up, the word does exist apparently), in quite different ways, I thought I’d let it sit here.

I also tussled with this as the subject for a blog because of my increasing concern that we are all consuming too much, in ways that aren’t beneficial either to us or the planet. I wrote about the effects of that in relation to our fashion consumption in THIS BLOG.

But I am also only too aware that a combination of financial, societal and consumer-behaviour pressures have converged in a perfect storm that has resulted in the widespread decline of our high streets as a place not only to shop, but for people to interact and socialise. And when high streets stop being places that draw people, and give them/us the opportunity to get-together, communities and local economies suffer and towns and cities start to atrophy from their centre. (There’s a different conversation to be had about the ways high streets can reconfigure themselves to become the community hub of cities and towns, but that’s another blog for another day)

So what can retailers do to tempt us away from our screens and the ease of on-line shopping and into their shops? Well harnessing the power of retailtainment is definitely one of the ways. And what I take retailtainment to mean is sprinkling the experience of shopping with a generous helping of recreation, interaction, fun and spectacle.

It’s something that increasing numbers of shop owners are understanding and putting in place. In my little local high street alone there’s a cafe that has installed a glorious arrangement of fake flowers and greenery arranged around the windows, and now welcomes visitors and their dogs with a plethora of colourful seating for the two-legged customers, and cushions, food/drink bowls and treats for the four-legged ones.

Bigger stores can, of course, bring retailtainment to life in bigger ways and there are two unforgettable examples of this side-by-side in London’s Leicester Square, which, should you ever be in the area, I urge you to make the time to visit.

The first has one of the more beautiful interiors of any shop I’ve ever seen. TWG Tea claims to sell the finest teas of the world, and when you see the jaw-dropping range they have, it’s hard to feel that’s an overstatement.

485 tins of tea leaves of every imaginable kind and flavour from around the world line the walls from floor to ceiling and each member of the shop staff goes through weeks of training, not only to be able to identify and describe each one, but to be able to suggest what might best suit any particular customer.

You can buy exquisitely packaged and displayed boxes and tins of teas and all manner of tea-related paraphernalia,

Some of the teas on display at TWG Tea in Leicester Square

including, should you be so inclined, their most expensive tea pot

I mean, why not buy a pair whilst you’re at it?

Upstairs there’s a restaurant which not only serves a selection of their teas, but a variety of tea-infused dishes which include mushroom soup with Pu-Erh 2000 tea to chateaubriand steak with matcha fries and a tea-infused vinaigrette. And, of course, afternoon tea where the menu offers tea jelly and tea-flavoured macarons.

The upstairs restaurant at TWG Tea in Leicester Square

TWG Tea is open Monday to Thursday 10am to 11pm, Friday and Saturday 10am to 12am and Sunday 10am to 10.30pm and is at 48 Leicester Square.

Next door is a shop that interprets retailtainment in a quite different but equally memorable and enjoyable way. When it opened in 2016, the Lego Store was the largest of its kind in the world. I’m sure it’s been superseded by now, but it is enormous. And jam-packed with so much that’s jaw-dropping it’s hard to know where to start.

Perhaps with the fantastical tree that greets you as you enter and which stretches the full height of the two storey interior

A fantastical tree construction in the Lego Store in Leicester Square

Or maybe with the full-size car which customers can sit in

Or the full size double-decker bus. Or the two-storey high model of Big Ben. Or the Harry Potter figures.

Jaw-dropping models in the Lego store in Leicester Square

But the clever chaps at Lego have understood that whilst all that stuff is incredibly impressive, Lego is a toy people love because you can use it to build things yourself and the store is equally full of opportunities to get stuck in and create your own Lego masterpieces.

Build your own workbenches in the Lego store in Leicester Square

Plus, of course, the opportunity to buy Lego in anything from construction kits to individual bricks from the vast Pick and Build wall that covered one entire end of the upstairs.

Pick and Build wall in the Lego store in Leicester Square

The store also offers demonstrations, special activities, and an all-important picture wall. Which I obviously couldn’t resist taking advantage of (and yes, all of those flowers are made of Lego)

The Lego Store is open Monday-Saturday 10am - 10pm, Sunday 12pm - 6pm

And, of course, that’s the point of all this focus on retailtainment - it’s not just great for the customers, it’s equally good for the retailers. The tills at the Lego store were heaving, and not one customer left TWG tea empty-handed in the time we were there (the only reason the restaurant had no-one in it is that it was shut when we visited because it was in the evening.)

Whilst I realise the scale and ambition of these two particular shops is beyond the reach of the majority of retailers, the principle of making shopping interactive, and fun certainly isn’t. And if we have more of that on offer in our high streets, that surely will encourage us to visit and use them more.

Please do share any examples of clever retailtainment you’ve seen/experienced. I’d love to hear about them.