Welcome to the Netflix House

The world continues its inexorable march to digital, and . . . wait a minute. Netflix, which helped usher in the digital economy, continues its inexorable march to analog. The king of New Hollywood has been buying theaters and expanding into brick-and-mortar retail over the past few years as the company builds brands around its entertainment content as Disney has done for decades.

The latest development: Netflix will launch Netflix-themed mega shopping and dining outlets in 2025. Don’t be surprised. Netflix is more than the world’s leading New Hollywood streaming service. Netflix is a brand woven into popular culture. And culture is about shared behaviors and beliefs. Sometimes the company shapes behavior, for example, by ushering in binge watching. Sometimes Netflix reflects behavior, as it’s doing by tapping into Americans’ fondness for experiential shopping, dining, and playing.

The outlets, dubbed The Netflix House, expand upon a multi-channel retailing strategy that also includes the online Netflix Store, where you can order themed merchandise, including custom-designed clothing connected to its popular shows (like Hot Topic for Netflix fans). In fact, Netflix has had a offline presence for quite some time, including pop-up shops and special events such as “The Queen’s Ball: A Bridgerton Experience.”

Netflix’s forays into in-person experiences have also include awkward relationship with Walmart — and if you’e ever seen the cluttered merchandise displays that pass for Netflix shops in Walmart stores, you’ll understand I use the word “awkward” generously.

I mention the Walmart relationship because Netflix is at its best when the company owns the experience, and I think Netflix knows that, which is why the company continues down this path.

Netflix says that the destinations will exist primarily to drive fan engagement in its shows. Whereas Amazon views its Prime Video business as a way to drive Prime membership, Netflix views things the other way around: commerce drives the content. But I suspect Netflix is banking on driving more commerce, too. Think of all those live sports deals Netflx is signing — I’m sure we’ll see some licensed NFL and WWF merchandise in those stores.

New Hollywood is a crowded world now, and there’s only so much revenue to be squeezed out of subscribers and ad tiers. So, where to go? Analog, where brand loyalty can get extended well beyond digital. It’s deja vu all over again.