–From the Cheetos Museum to Glade’s Museum of Feelings, why are so many brands launching exhibition spaces? Adweek investigates New York’s latest offering, the Museum of Ice Cream.
–Marriott’s innovation lab is experimenting with Generation Z-inspired upgrades, adding live feedback buttons and coffee nooks to its Charlotte location. Via Fast Company.
–Introducing Hollar, the online-only dollar store taking off among millennial moms. Via Racked.
–Could self-service checkout lead shoppers to justify shoplifting? A new study says yes. From the New York Times.
–In Hong Kong’s shopping districts, luxury retailers are being pushed out by street brands, activewear and dining options. Brands hoping to reach China’s emerging affluents might need to rethink their strategy. Via Wall Street Journal.
–Why do so many hipster coffee shops look so similar? The Guardian investigates the style dubbed “AirSpace.”
–Greek artist Petros Vrellis designed a loom that converts photographs into a peg-by-peg algorithm to weave portraits. Via The Creators Project.
–The Hubble Cantata, an orchestral performance that paired a 100 person choir with a VR tour of space from the Hubble Telescope, premiered in Brooklyn this week. Via The Observer.
–The Venetian Las Vegas’s new “Come As You Are” ad encourages visitors to celebrate their quirkiness, a novel move for a luxury chain, Adweek reports.
–The Oxygen network just dropped the first trailer for Strut, a reality show about exclusively transgender modeling agency Slay Model Management. Via Dazed.
–60% of the brands most visited by Snapchat users have yet to launch an account on the youth-friendly mobile app, Adweek reports.
–”I felt that there was about to be a whole new generation of brands that would be built online”: Business of Fashion takes on the rise of indie fast fashion.
–The maker of Japanese snack Pocky has launched an app that uses cookies and snacks to teach kids to code. Via The Verge.
–Walmart is coming for Amazon: The retail giant just bought e-commerce startup Jet.com for $3 billion. Via TechCrunch.
