LA28 Could Be the Biggest Pop-Up Retail Opportunity in Years. Are Brands Ready?
By Rochelle Lozano, RDI
More than four million tickets have already been sold for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games, and interest continues to build across all 50 states and more than 200 countries. At the same time, the 2026 FIFA World Cup offered a glimpse of what happens when a global sporting event converges with local culture, retail, hospitality, and social media.
Visitors didn't come looking only for sports.
They discovered products, brands, restaurants, traditions, and uniquely American experiences. Some international visitors became fascinated with brands many Americans barely think about anymore, from Costco to Buc-ee's to Hidden Valley Ranch. The World Cup demonstrated that major sporting events don't just create spectators. They create explorers.
For retailers, that raises an important question: If millions of visitors are already looking for things to discover, what will make them stop for your brand?
The answer isn't simply opening a pop-up — it's creating an experience worth remembering.
"The Olympics celebrate the very best in the world, and retail around the Games will reflect that same competitive energy. Every brand will be trying to capture attention, which means simply showing up won't be enough. The brands that stand out will be the ones that create experiences people genuinely remember." Rochelle Lozano, Manager of Design Services at DisplayIt
Based on conversations with retail designers, emerging designers, and Gen Z consumers, six principles stand out for brands considering a physical presence around LA28.
1. Give People a Reason to Stop
One of the biggest mistakes brands make is assuming their name alone is enough. It isn't.
Visitors will be surrounded by events, attractions, activations, merchandise, food experiences, and entertainment. Every pop-up will be competing for attention. A logo won't stop people, but participation will.
"Treating an activation like a giant billboard is a mistake," says Stephanie Barragan, DisplayIt, Senior Designer. "People want a place they can actually interact with and use. They don't just want to look at a logo."
The strongest activations give visitors something to do:
Taste something
Make something
Customize something
Compete in something
Learn something
Win something
Compare something
Collect something
A good test is simple: What happens inside your experience besides shopping? If the answer is "nothing," visitors will likely continue walking.
Think Low Commitment
One of the most useful observations from Barragan wasn't about aesthetics at all. It was about psychology.
Visitors should be able to understand an experience quickly and feel comfortable entering it. For instance, if people see a massive line stretching into the heat and have no idea what waits at the end, many won't join. Olympic visitors have limited time and endless options.
"Create something that feels welcoming and low commitment," Barragan says. "People want to feel like they can get in and out easily if they need to." The easier it feels to participate, the more likely people are to engage.
2. Make It Shareable Without Creating a Selfie Trap
For years, brands pursued the idea of the "Instagram moment" and assumed a visually striking backdrop was enough to create engagement. LA28 presents an opportunity to think differently. When millions of people are posting content, the brands that stand out won't necessarily be the ones with the biggest photo wall. They'll be the ones that create experiences visitors want to talk about afterward.
The challenge is making sure the experience remains connected to the brand itself.
According to Kate Rojas, DisplayIt Design Intern, brands run the risk of creating a beautiful environment that visitors photograph but never actually associate with the company behind it. "I think one mistake is making it too much of a photo-op situation where the brand doesn't even get called out. People just remember it because it looked nice."
A better approach is to create moments that could only belong to that brand. The Glossier flagship in LA is a useful example. Instead of relying on generic selfie walls, the environment incorporates oversized versions of recognizable products, distinctive colors, mirrors, and branded moments that make it immediately obvious where visitors are when they share photos online. The brand becomes inseparable from the image itself.
For LA28, brands should ask a different question: What would people want to photograph because it could only exist within our brand story?
For some companies, that might mean creating an oversized version of a signature product. A sporting goods company could create an interactive challenge built around its equipment. A food brand might create a tasting experience that turns a familiar product into something memorable. The idea isn't simply to create a backdrop. The goal is to create a branded experience that naturally results in a photo.
The 2026 World Cup offered a glimpse of this opportunity. International visitors weren't only sharing photos from matches. They were posting about Buc-ee's, Costco, American snacks, and products that felt uniquely tied to American culture. The lesson is that brands don't necessarily need to invent something completely new. Sometimes they simply need to present what makes them distinctive in a way visitors can experience and share.
3. Give Visitors Something They Actually Want to Take Home
The giveaway strategy has changed. Consumers, especially younger consumers, have become more selective. Stickers and disposable trinkets don't carry the same appeal they once did.
When asked about a memorable brand activation, Glory Perez, a Gen Z receptionist, described a Google Gemini pop-up near her university. What stood out? Not the booth, but the rewards.
Visitors could win trending products such as Owala water bottles, snacks, gummies, and tablets through games and quizzes. "The stickers weren't really important," Perez noted. "Everyone throws those away."
That's an important lesson. The souvenir shouldn't feel like an obligation. It should feel like something visitors genuinely want.
Better Takeaways
Consider:
Limited-edition products with practical value
Collectibles
Customization opportunities
Digital content with physical components
Locally inspired items
Products tied directly to the experience
Gen Z Says...
What Younger Visitors Actually Want
One of the most surprising findings from our conversations wasn't about technology. It was about physical objects. Gen Z wants tangible items that they would buy for themselves and that aren’t easily thrown away.
Physical memorabilia.
That insight aligns with a broader trend among younger consumers. While so much of daily life now happens digitally, physical memorabilia has become more valuable. People want something they can keep, use, display, wear, or collect. A useful water bottle, a limited-edition item, a customized product, or even a printed photo strip often carries more value than another digital interaction.
Sustainability matters.
Interestingly, Perez also argued that younger consumers are becoming increasingly skeptical of event-specific merchandise that serves little purpose after the event ends. A generic "LA28" T-shirt may generate a quick sale, but if it ends up forgotten in a closet or discarded after a single use, it creates little long-term value for either the consumer or the brand.
Photo booths, not selfie walls.
Another notable shift involves photography. While many brands still invest heavily in selfie walls, Perez believes younger audiences have largely moved on from them. Instead, she pointed to photo booths and physical photo strips as experiences that are currently resonating with Gen Z. The appeal isn't simply taking the picture. It's leaving with something tangible that extends the experience after visitors walk away.
The takeaway for brands is clear: if you want people to remember your activation, don't just give them a photo opportunity. Give them something worth keeping.
4. Design for Gen Z and Their Parents
Technology will absolutely play a role in LA28. However, designers should be careful not to assume that adding screens automatically makes an experience more engaging.
According to Barragan, technology works best when it supports a physical experience rather than becoming the experience itself. She recalled visiting the Hong Kong airport and encountering a branded activation built primarily around screens and an iPad. Despite its sophisticated technology, the space sat largely empty. Visitors struggled to understand what it was supposed to do and quickly moved on.
What was more interesting was what happened nearby. Activations that incorporated tangible objects and physical interaction attracted significantly more traffic. Small displays featuring local candy, cultural artifacts, and hands-on experiences were consistently busy. Children's activity areas and simple physical games attracted families and kept them engaged, while the screen-based installation remained mostly unused.
That observation highlights an important reality for LA28: people are already surrounded by screens. They carry one in their pocket, work on one all day, and interact with them constantly. An iPad sitting on a pedestal is no longer novel. If brands choose to incorporate technology, it needs to feel experiential, immersive, and connected to something physical.
Barragan's conclusion was straightforward: technology should support the physical experience, not replace it. People want to touch, explore, play, discover, and participate. A screen can enhance those experiences, but it is rarely enough on its own.
The challenge becomes even greater when designers consider the Olympic audience itself. While younger visitors may arrive expecting digital integration, Olympic attendees historically skew older. During our interviews, Rojas pointed out that many visitors may benefit more from clear signage, intuitive navigation, accessible layouts, and straightforward interactions than from another mobile experience.
The most successful activations will be those that accommodate both groups simultaneously. They will provide opportunities for sharing and social content while also offering shade, seating, wide pathways, readable signage, and experiences that don't require visitors to scan a QR code before participating.
5. Let the Design Tell the Brand Story
The strongest retail environments don't communicate through logos - they communicate through design language.
"Storytelling is in the bones of the design," says Lozano. Brands often overlook how materials, forms, colors, and circulation patterns can communicate identity.
Consider a sustainability-focused apparel company. Instead of covering walls with messaging about sustainability, designers could express that story through:
Recycled materials
Corrugated graphics
Modular construction
Reusable fixtures
Efficient layouts
Lozano points to another opportunity: If a brand's identity includes curves, softness, movement, or specific forms, those characteristics can appear in the architecture itself. The spatial design becomes an extension of the brand rather than simply a container for graphics.
6. Design for Day 18
Why the Best Olympic Experiences Should Have a Life After the Games
Olympic activations are temporary by nature. That reality often encourages brands to think short-term. If the environment only exists for 17 days, why invest in designing for anything beyond the event?
The better question might be: Why wouldn't you?
Both Barragan and Rojas emphasized that brands should begin thinking about reusing from the start of the design process rather than as an afterthought.
Modular systems offer several advantages beyond sustainability. They allow environments to be transported more efficiently, installed more quickly, adapted to different footprints, and reused in future activations. They can often expand or contract based on available space without requiring a complete redesign. Just as importantly, smaller modular components are less susceptible to transportation damage than oversized structures that must travel as single pieces.
A familiar example can be found in the trade show industry. Modular exhibit systems are routinely reconfigured from show to show, allowing brands to adapt the same investment to different venues and layouts. Rather than building something new for every event, they build a kit of parts that evolves over time.
Material selection becomes equally important. During our interviews, Lozano recommended durable materials such as laminate, solid surface, powder-coated metal, and metal mesh for high-traffic environments. These materials offer longevity, easier maintenance, and a premium appearance without introducing the cost and transportation challenges associated with heavier permanent construction materials.
This approach also aligns with broader consumer expectations around sustainability. Younger audiences increasingly question disposable retail environments and one-time-use merchandise. Designing a fixture, display, or activation with a second life in mind isn't simply a logistical decision anymore. It's becoming part of the brand story itself.
The most successful Olympic experiences won't be the ones that disappear after the Closing Ceremony. They'll be the ones that continue generating value long after the Games are over.
Who Stands to Benefit Most from LA28?
Not every brand will benefit equally from LA28, but some categories are particularly well-positioned to capitalize on a global audience. According to Lozano, industries such as cosmetics, skincare, beverages, fashion, and sporting goods naturally lend themselves to experiential activations through sampling, demonstrations, customization, and social sharing. These categories already rely heavily on product interaction, making them strong candidates for pop-ups and temporary retail environments.
Large national and global brands also have a unique opportunity. Companies such as Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Apple, and other household names don't necessarily need introduction, but LA28 gives them something advertising alone cannot: a chance to reconnect with millions of visitors through a shared physical experience.
As Lozano notes, "The Olympics are about being the best in the world, and retail around LA28 will be very similar. Brands won't just be competing against the event itself. They'll be competing against hundreds of other experiences. The challenge is creating something memorable enough that people choose to spend their time with your brand."
Start Planning Now
LA28 may feel far away, but it isn't.
Permits, approvals, locations, materials, transportation planning, fabrication, marketing strategy, and influencer partnerships all require significant lead time.
"Good design takes time," says Barragan.
Lozano compares the process to planning a wedding. First comes the location. Then the design. Then the logistics. Then the build. Waiting until 2028 means competing for space, vendors, fabricators, and attention at the exact moment everyone else is doing the same thing.
The brands that succeed at LA28 will not be the ones that simply show up. They'll be the ones that start planning now. Because when millions of visitors arrive looking for something to discover, the question won't be whether your brand is present. The question will be whether your experience is worth stopping for.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
ROCHELLE LOZANO, RDI
Rochelle Lozano, RDI, is Manager of Design Services at DisplayIt and a Professional Member of the Retail Design Institute's Southwest + Pacific Chapter.
She specializes in experiential environments, retail design, branded spaces, and custom fixture solutions that connect brand storytelling with customer experience. Connect with Rochelle on LinkedIn.
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