The 'most interesting store in the world' has a show with 5 actors, a gold-encrusted elevator, and a secret room behind a library - here's what it's like to go

• Showfields is a game-changer in brick-and-mortar retail. The store specializes in taking lesser-known direct-to-consumer brands into the physical retail sector in its four-story, 14,000 square-foot space in Manhattan.
• The House of Showfields is the store's newest installation, a 30-minute sensory theater production that gives customers a chance to immerse themselves in the store's featured brands.
• We went to see what it looks like when retail meets theater in the first-of-its-kind immersive shopping experience, and how stores can adapt the Showfields model to survive the retail apocalypse.
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Online shopping might be the future of retail, but anyone who says that brick-and-mortar retail can't be creative has likely never visited Showfields.

The self-proclaimed "most interesting store in the world" has already lived up to its name in its general store space, with its whimsical showrooms, eye-popping displays, and clever methods of bringing lesser-known direct-to-consumer brands to life. It's here that a new type of store experience has found life, even in the depths of the retail apocalypse.

"I don't think retail is dead," said Katie Hunt, Showfields' chief revenue officer and co-founder. "I think retail needed to evolve."

It is this forward-thinking mindset that led Hunt and co-founder Tal Zvi Nathanel to co-create Showfields' latest concept, House of Showfields.

Read more: 4 ways Showfields is bringing experiential retail from 'the age of creators' to 'the age of curators'

The idea is simple: a curated, immersive theater experience that lets customers interact with products before they buy them. Think an escape room meets an Instagram-friendly temporary pop-up installation.

Add in a boatload of flashy colors and original sculptures and you get the idea. The "house" in question supposedly belongs to Miss Showfields - a character in the show that makes an appearance - and is filled with twists and turns.

The show, which opened on July 20 and runs through September 3, has already seen success. Showfields racked up 10,000 reservations booked in the first few days. That number has since increased to almost 40,000. Admission is free, but reservations are required.

"We've always believed, and our thesis has always been, that content drives commerce," Hunt said.

The tour culminates in the Showfields Lab, where customers can purchase the products they smelled, touched, saw, and tasted on their journey through the house. The idea is that after experiencing the products, customers are more likely to feel ready to purchase them.

We went to see for ourselves what the first-ever retail theater experience was like. What we saw made it clear that Showfields is revolutionizing the concept of brick-and-mortar shopping.