Toys"R"Us, the toy chain that liquidated all its US operations in 2018, will open 120 new stores in the US before Christmas this year and will build creator studios in selected locations. Some stores and brands open their spaces to creators and decide for themselves who gets to film there. Besides creators, toy makers are also set to film in the Creator Studios and unveil new products there. Under the plan, the studios will open first in existing stores, including Mall of America.
One existing store of another chain already houses a creator studio. Create-it sits inside a Walmart in Franklin, Tennessee, and was founded by Jonathan Phelps. “A lot of people who walk in and out of Walmart every day would never have had access to a space like this,” Grammy-winning mix engineer Leslie Brathwaite said at a media preview in May 2025. “Now, they do.” Access is charged by the hour. An hour in one of the six rooms, from audio recording to livestreaming, costs $60 to $100 depending on the type of studio.
Creators in Prague also rent studios by the hour. As of October 2026, the Scott.Weber Workspace podcast studio in the Karlín district costs CZK 1,000 an hour. At Film Podcast Studio, a video podcast studio costs from CZK 1,700 an hour excluding VAT.
Nilkamal and Jim Beam pick creators from applications
Since April 2026, the Indian furniture chain Nilkamal Homes has been letting creators film in its flagship store with no hourly rate. In Bengaluru, the free studio opens only once the store has closed. The backdrop is furnished interiors, which the chain offers as “real-home settings”. Slots go only to creators selected from online applications. In the EU, the Paris-based Astel project admits creators to a city mansion in the Marais district free of charge, by application.
The Jim Beam whiskey distillery in Kentucky also takes only selected creators. In August 2026, James B. Beam Distilling Co. launched its Creator Campus programme there, inviting podcasters, musicians and filmmakers to apply to create work on the distillery grounds. Selection rests on the originality of the idea, creative vision and alignment with the brand's collaborative spirit and storytelling. Only creators aged 21 and over can apply. Those selected get access to the grounds and the distillery's spaces for filming, and can also take part in whiskey tastings, meals at the distillery's restaurants and Clermont Supper Club events.
Studios like these solve a real creator need, because not everyone has the equipment, space or budget for professional-looking content, Lindsey Gamble, vice president of creator strategy and innovation at IZEA, writes on LinkedIn. In his very next point, though, he adds: “Even when the content isn’t explicitly about the brand, the brand remains part of the backdrop and experience.”
Creator content heads for in-store screens and livestreams from the shop floor
Tesco Media, Tesco's advertising division, will bring creator content into British stores, and this October it unveiled an influencer offering to do so. What creators film for brand campaigns will run on Tesco.com, in the app and on digital screens in stores. The division has more than 3,800 screens, 2,800 of them in Tesco Express stores. The campaigns are still being tested.
On 6 October 2026, the retailer tm:rw broadcast a single unbroken livestream from its Times Square flagship. Hosts and creators moved between nine studios, each belonging to one partner brand. Viewers shopped directly from the stream on TikTok Shop. According to co-founder and CEO Nathalie Bernce, commerce and content are now the same thing, and a store can be a broadcast. One studio remains in the Times Square store permanently, and creators and the public can broadcast from it for free.
Comments