Balashi Flagship Store

Sandenburg Experiences developed the Balashi Flagship Store as a key retail component of the Balashi Beer Experience, the ambitious visitor attraction in Oranjestad, Aruba. The experience is a new anchor concept within the Gloria multi-entertainment complex, which is also home to IMAX® cinema The Movies, Starbucks, PF Chang’s and Olive Garden. The store is an integral part of the experience as its gift shop, while at the same time adding to the wider retail and hospitality offering at Gloria. That is why it is also freely accessible to visitors who have not visited the experience.

Customer: MetaCorp

Year: 2026

Market: Retail

From brand experience to retail spend, for experience visitors and passers-by alike

The Balashi Beer Experience brings the story of Aruba’s iconic beer brand to life, interwoven with the story of the island itself: its culture, landscape, people and unique ‘One Happy Island’ spirit. The business case for an experience like this relies in part on a strong gift shop offering. MetaCorp therefore asked Sandenburg to develop the store in addition to the experience itself.

The challenge was clear: visitors leave the experience with a stronger connection to the brand, so how could we translate that enthusiasm into retail spend? Exit through the gift shop is a classic principle for good reason. At the same time, the freely accessible store also needed to generate footfall and spending among visitors to Gloria who had not visited the Balashi Beer Experience.

From market and audience insights to assortment, floor plan and design

Before considering product categories, floor plan and design, we first focused on vision and strategy. We were able to draw on our experience with the Heineken Experience, which also led us to work with Key Merchandise on the assortment strategy, having previously collaborated with them on the Heineken Experience.

However, this was a unique store within a unique experience, in a different country and with a different set of variables: another tourism ecosystem, a different cultural context and partly different target audiences. We analysed Aruba’s tourist population and Balashi’s existing fanbase, and benchmarked the tourist retail offer on the island.

This resulted in two key principles. On the one hand, the store needed to extend the experience and offer Balashi products that would encourage visitors to make a purchase. On the other, a broader merchandise and souvenir range needed to create an attractive proposition and generate footfall among passers-by within Gloria.

More than a gift shop: the Balashi Flagship Store

The role of the store is to turn memories of both the Balashi Beer Experience and Aruba into tangible souvenirs. But we saw the opportunity to go further than a traditional gift shop and elevated the concept into the Balashi Flagship Store.

This allows the store to appeal not only to the new fans created through the experience, but also to Balashi’s existing fanbase within the Aruban community. The Balashi brand is visible throughout the island and deeply embedded in Aruban culture. It therefore made sense to complement the Balashi merchandise with a broader range of Aruba-inspired souvenirs, helping the store appeal to passing visitors within Gloria as well.

A modular flagship store for Balashi fans, tourists and passers-by

The result is a modular Balashi Flagship Store with a broad range of merchandise and souvenirs for experience visitors, Balashi fans and passers-by. To encourage purchasing, we developed a clear assortment and pricing structure around themes including Balashi, Aruba, beach life and carnival. The range extends from impulse purchases to an entirely new Balashi clothing collection. A dedicated section is also devoted to Balashi’s beach brand Chill, featuring products inspired by its laid-back beach vibe.

One of the store’s main visual features is a stylised tree inspired by Aruba’s iconic Fofoti tree, which also serves as a display for Balashi merchandise. The iconic Balashi beer crate is another recurring element, used as an attractive product display along the façade, which also functions as the store window.

The store has been designed as a modular and flexible retail environment using a Shopfit system. This allows the layout and presentation to adapt as the product range changes, for example across different seasons.

Wherever possible, sustainable materials were used for signage and the interior, including lightweight sandwich panels. The same principle was applied to packaging and shopping bags, which are reusable and biodegradable. The Balashi Flagship Store is a distinctive retail concept for Aruba, with strong potential appeal to the approximately two million tourists who visit the island each year. As a Balashi ‘fan shop’, it is also designed to appeal to local residents who have a strong connection with the brand.

Want to know more? Get in touch