The company that Walmart bought for $3 billion just opened the 'grocery shop of the future' in NYC - here's what it's like

Jet.com - the online retailer that Walmart bought in 2016 for $3 billion - is now selling some of its products IRL.

From May 10 to June 18, Jet will have a food-themed concept shop in Manhattan which showcases artisanal accessories, cookbooks, and kitchen appliances. Most of the items are pretty quirky, like face masks made from tomatoes, kale-flavored chocolate bars, socks with ice cream prints, and banana-shaped flasks.

The Jet experience comes to life at Story, a 5-year-old retail space that changes its products, decor, and events programming about every month based on its particular sponsor. For the next six weeks, the sponsor is Jet, where people can also find most of the store's items.

The larger goal of the temporary store is to raise awareness around Jet's grocery delivery service, Sumaiya Balbale, Jet's VP of marketing, tells Business Insider.

As thousands of mall-based stores close around the country, she says the set-up - a store that's constantly changing and includes interactive events - could signal the future of brick-and-mortar retail.

"Retail is rapidly evolving,"Balbale tells Business Insider. "Tech is changing a lot of the ways in which people shop, and the way that retailers can fulfill on those behaviors. It's an exciting time to experiment. I don't think shopping behaviors are set in stone, and there's a lot of opportunity to help shape them."

Widely considered an Amazon competitor, Jet was founded in 2014 by Marc Lore, who now serves as the CEO of Walmart E-commerce. Jet's installation at Story is the first time the online retailer is selling its products in a physical location.

Business Insider got an inside look: