“We figured out that people love experiences that look them in the eye, that reach out and touch them, and that keep surprising people so they don’t know what’s coming next,” said Chris Wink, a co-founder of Blue Man Group. He is applying lessons learned from that experiential theater brand to AREA15, an immersive retail concept that will make its debut in Las Vegas this year.

Wink, who is director of content and “cool stuff” for that dining, entertainment and retail space, joined JLL Americas research director James Cook's podcast, titled “Where We Buy,” recorded on the show floor at ICSC’s New York Deal Making.

Among the “cool stuff” Wink is curating for AREA15: a “gamified” space with a back story that will incorporate augmented reality, virtual reality, ax-throwing, a zip line, and a Blue Man Group–like entertainment experience designed to keep audiences returning for more. “We want people to feel they’re walking into a story world, a story universe, and they can explore that,” he said. “They can go as far down the rabbit hole as they want to.”

Listen to the full podcast on the Web, Apple podcasts or Spotify.