The news: Bass Pro Shops agreed to acquire Cheeca Lodge & Spa, a historic fishing and sporting resort in the Florida Keys, for an undisclosed price. The resort features a wide array of amenities, including three swimming pools, a full-service spa, a nine-hole Jack Nicklaus-designed par-3 golf course, a 525-foot historic fishing pier, tennis and pickleball courts, and waterfront dining.

The acquisition adds to Bass Pro’s hospitality business, which includes resorts like the Big Cedar Lodge in the Missouri Ozarks, Big Cypress Lodge in Memphis, Tennessee, restaurants like Islamorada Fish Company, and golf courses.

The move shows how retailers like Bass Pro and RH are expanding the scope and scale of experiential retail by investing in experiences that enable consumers to engage with the brand in new ways.

Why it matters: Hospitality businesses not only provide retailers with new revenue streams, they also deepen consumers’ connections to the brands.

As ecommerce has made it easier to compare retail prices and products, hospitality experiences offer brands more ways to differentiate themselves.

RH, which operates 26 restaurants and plans to have 40 open by the end of next year, said during its recent earnings call that these venues drive engagement in ways traditional retail cannot. “While our galleries might see several hundred customers per week, our restaurants feed several thousand,” said CEO Gary Friedman.

Concepts such as Ralph Lauren’s Ralph’s Coffee and Polo Bar restaurants also provide ways for consumers to interact with a brand even when they’re not actively shopping while still keeping it top of mind.

Implications for retailers and brands: While it doesn’t make sense for every brand to build a full-scale hospitality business, many have good reason to look for ways to use physical touchpoints to break through the noise, build awareness, expand their reach, and drive sales. That’s why 70% of US marketers say brands should prioritize community or brand-hosted events, 66% point to experiential retail, and 56% cite limited-time pop-ups, per a recent Association of National Advertisers survey.

For brands like Bass Pro and RH, the bet goes further. By creating full-scale destinations where consumers can live the brand, they are aiming to turn experience into a competitive edge. When customers spend time within a retailer-owned environment—whether it’s a weekend at RH Guesthouse, a fishing trip at Cheeca Lodge, or even a meal at Crate & Barrel’s The Table—the brand gains more data, more engagement opportunities, and a deeper emotional connection than a traditional store visit can provide. As third-party signals weaken, those direct relationships become more valuable, which is why these brands view this strategy as a long-term growth advantage.