A walk down Abbott Kinney Boulevard in Los Angeles' Venice neighborhood is a bit of a retail treasure hunt. Visitors never quite know what they'll get until they head into a store.
The electric blue and pink cabana? It's a sunglasses store. The turquoise beachy house? That's a spa and skincare boutique. The salmon-colored shop? A cookware retailer.
In that context, a new entry on the iconic retail corridor is no exception: The Buck Mason women's clothing store has just opened in an unassuming white clapboard shop, with a Fast Times coffee shop and products and details from interior designer Leanne Ford.
Though each store along Abbott Kinney runs in its own lane, they all do more than merely sell products, a retail shift that's not just taking hold in Venice. Across the nation, more retail spaces are starting to look less like shops and more like museums or so-called third spaces — gathering areas outside home and work.
Abbott Kinney shows the outer edge of how more retailers are investing in untraditional brick-and-mortar storefronts — and offering some other experiences once shoppers step inside — to get shoppers to linger longer. It's part of an effort to boost sales and compete with e-commerce giants, according to Nicole Larson, senior manager of retail research at Colliers.
"If you can increase your dwell time in a store, you're going to increase your sales. That's the magic recipe," Larson told CoStar News in an interview. "The store location may not be profitable, but if it's great marketing for the brand, they're going to keep it."
Shifting retail playbook
Not everything about Abbott Kinney is offbeat, as it also includes national brand staples like J. Crew and Lululemon. Even so, the Buck Mason store joins an ambiguous mix of retail, including up-and-coming shops such as Resa, and restaurants like the buzzy RVR and Gjelina.
At the Goodr Cabana, consumers can buy sunglasses and then catch a First Friday DJ set. At skincare retailer Albion Garden, visitors can get a facial, pick up a new bottle of lotion and then grab a matcha at the cafe. At Our Place, customers looking for monochrome pots and pans are first greeted with a pink coffee bar that matches the cookware.
As e-commerce adds pressure to an already crowded brick-and-mortar retail playing field — and brands compete for consumer dollars at a time when many are pessimistic about spending — the playbook is shifting.
A majority of retailers expect 2026 to be a more challenging landscape than 2025, according to a Colliers market report. Mid-tier retailers will face even more difficulty, the report said, noting that those brands will be "caught between value and luxury, and must sharpen their differentiation and execution to stay relevant."
The report also found that brands with "intentional, experience-driven spaces," clear branding and products that align with the message to feel authentic rather than generic are outperforming those that aren't taking those steps.
"Authenticity is emerging as a key driver of growth," the report added. "In a slower-growth environment, purpose and authenticity — not just price — will define retail success in 2026."
Larson, from Colliers, said that trend is driving retailers "to work hard to court consumers."
It's especially important as more consumers who are Gen Z, those born between 1997 and 2012, and their younger Gen Alpha counterparts born in the following 12 years, are entering the retail market, too. For them, the in-store experience is paramount, Larson said.
"They think every shopping experience should feel like shopping at a Hermes," where shoppers can sip champagne while perusing scarves and handbags, she explained. "They want the clean stores, they want the aesthetic, they want the Instagrammable moment."
Buck Mason and Leanne Ford are home-ifying retail
Indeed, that's what Leanne Ford, an interior designer who's had multiple stints on HGTV, had in mind when she was designing the Buck Mason store in Venice that opened in December, complete with the Fast Times coffee bar tucked into the back.
At Buck Mason's shop, customers can buy a $6 latte before browsing more than just the retailer's collection of "Modern American Classics", from sleek T-shirts to low-rise jeans, the store touts Ford's interior design collection and an extensive collection of vintage vinyls and books.
"I look at whether people linger," she said in an email interview. "Are they touching things, flipping through books, bringing a friend back? Has the store become part of someone’s routine? Does it create connection?"
Ford aimed to accomplish that in part through the store's design.
"I approach retail the same way I approach a home," she explained. "It should feel layered, personal, and collected over time, not pristine."
Ford's own home is a sign of that style — and its prevalence in Venice. At the same time Ford was preparing the Abbott Kinney store for its December opening, she was also reimagining her family home just a few blocks away.
That home hit the market in early February and went pending in fewer than 10 days.
The store's design aims to make people feel at home, too. The shop itself is inside a house-like building. To the left of that is a stone-and-gravel path that leads back to a second structure housing the coffee bar.
"Retail should feel immersive, soulful, and real," Ford said. "If someone walks in and feels warmth, curiosity, or a spark of inspiration, then it’s working."