Page 28 - March 2020

all photos are froM
MuseuM of ice creaM
New York and san francisco, us MuseuM of ice creaM MuseuM of ice creaM MuseuM of ice creaM
New York, us san francisco, us New York, us

MuseuM of ice creaM MuseuM of ice creaM MuseuM of ice creaM
san francisco, us san francisco, us san francisco, us

Next Generation

Experiences MuseuM of ice creaM MuseuM of ice creaM MuseuM of ice creaM

san francisco, us
san francisco, us
san francisco, us
Started in 2016, Museum of Ice Cream transforms

concepts and dreams into spaces that provoke
imagination and creativity. Here, RLI sits down with
Manish Vora, President and Co-Founder of the brand to

talk about how it all started and what the next steps are
for the business.

esigned to be a culturally inclusive environment experiential retail venue for entertainment. They are a retail Even with its pop-ups, what the company did was target “This is a genre where people have to participate,
and community, Museum of Ice Cream (MOIC) store, as well as an ice cream café, but it is primarily an neighbourhoods, and due to the traffic MOIC generates, to put down their phones and enjoy what is
has been built to inspire human connection entertainment venue. businesses within the neighbourhoods around their locations
Dthrough the global power of ice cream. The last 12 months have seen massive changes within the were seeing revenues double. directly in front of them and get involved”
Created by Co-Founders Manish Vora and Maryellis Bunn, company. Five pop-ups were launched around the country and Due to such impressive figures when it comes to tickets
MOIC combines art, this high culture of the museum with during this pop-up run the locations saw one and a half million sold, the company will be opening its first international believe that’s what is necessary to survive in retail. The normal
the taste of ice cream to produce a platform for what Manish visitors, a staggering return. location this summer and it will be launching multiple practices of the department store or a hotel or a restaurant
calls the human social experience. “The past year has seen expansion of the brand and the flagships this year and next year all around the world. are changing to become hospitality centres.
“The idea for the business came about because whenever evolution of the brand from this testing phase to actually building Social media is still a valuable tool for MOIC, when visitors Looking forward the biggest challenge is the impediment
myself and Maryellis were travelling, she would always say in these tools and platforms for us to really launch our MOIC 2.0, are organically and authentically posting, Vora argues that this for innovation in physical spaces. Vora explains that the ability
‘come and check out this new ice cream shop’ and it was which translated into a permanent museum now in San Francisco is more valuable than even their own in-house social media for companies such as Amazon and Uber to open in new
just fun, and through this we saw an opportunity to build a and our newest MOIC 2.0 in SoHo, says Vora. strategies. markets is phenomenally easier when it does not require
new type of entertainment product and the next generation The company went from these pop-ups to being on the single “When you have to build accessibility to both local building physical space. High rents are another factor, as Vora
of experiences,” explains Manish Vora, President and Co- most visited street and corner of SoHo, which is the shopping audiences and tourists, you will start to see us develop feels that rents do not reflect the opportunity and people are
Founder. “From the beginning we looked at whether we epicentre of New York City, and the brand is now a permanent strategies that incorporate traditional marketing practices not being incentivised to keep their retail units open.
could take the Disney model – which is the combination fixture their after taking over a flagship H&M store. but also innovative programming and special events where “With entertainment and experiences, the digital
of park, content and brand, but then bring it into an urban Vora feels that businesses today have to find opportunities we really become a venue and become a community that perception of an experience cannot be replicated by the
environment and gear it towards adults, gear it towards in retail to get people back into the retail world. “You will sells more than entertainment space.” human experience. With MOIC, people need to be more
millennials and this is how the brand started.” start to see us actually partner with some of the largest When talking about what differentiates MOIC from other than passive. This is a genre where people have to participate,
Vora understands that they are a new genre of business, developers in the world but it is not just about building entertainment concepts, Vora remarks that the mix of design to put down their phones and enjoy what is directly in front
he even mentions that they coined the term Experium an experience, it is about how we transform a real estate and hospitality that they offer is an important USP and it is of them and get involved. This is the message we want to
to describe MOIC, its experience with the museum as an development in a new part of the city.” something they always strive to improve upon because they continue growing with this brand.”

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