New Fashion Island Shop Selling Vacation Dreams, Not Things

From a press release:

Denver-based luxury destination club Inspirato announced today that it will open an interactive experience center in Fashion Island in Newport Beach Tuesday.

The third of six high-profile locations opening across the country, Inspirato’s new experience center in Fashion Island will showcase the club’s growing portfolio of vacation residences and personalized service in a completely unique environment.

Unlike traditional retail stores, the Inspirato experience center will focus on educating consumers about what it means to be an Inspirato member, and inspiring them to embrace vacations as a vital aspect of a life well lived. In keeping with this approach, the experience center will be staffed by a team of Inspirato personal vacation advisers, rather than salespeople, who will help consumers explore firsthand the many services and benefits of membership.

“Inspirato is no stranger to disrupting the status quo in the vacation industry,” said Inspirato Founder and CEO Brent Handler. “So it’s fitting that our experience centers are an entirely new way to market who we are and what we do. We want to show visitors what makes Inspirato residences such uniquely wonderful places to vacation, and invite them to learn how our personal vacation advisers—who are our ultimate brand ambassadors—can make their travels so much easier and more meaningful.”

To help visitors imagine what it would be like to vacation with the club, the experience center will include recreations of great rooms from Inspirato’s Costero Signature Residence in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, and its Eagle’s Nest Signature Residence in Vail, Colo. Other features include a video wall for browsing the club’s large and growing destination portfolio.

The Fashion Island experience center will also serve as a clubhouse of sorts for the approximately 200 Orange County-based Inspirato members, where they can meet face-to-face with their own personal vacation advisers, explore destinations for their next Inspirato vacation and attend special members-only events.

The experience center is located in the former Traditional Jewelers space, near Macy’s and across from Tesla. Inspirato recently opened a flagship experience center in Cherry Creek Shopping Center in Denver; a second location in Walnut Creek; and plans to open additional experience centers in Vail, McLean, Va. and Dallas in time for the holiday shopping season.

“Our mission as a company is to change the way family and friends experience the world,” said Martin Pucher, Founder and COO of Inspirato. “And in this case, that means changing the concept of what a retail experience should be.”

PHOTO The Vail Room. Courtesy Inspirato

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