Mall at Millenia Macy’s upgrades include virtual reality, Starbucks
Customers at the Macy’s store at Mall at Millenia can now sip coffee from Starbucks and don virtual reality goggles to see how furniture could fit in their homes.
The store at Mall at Millenia at 4200 Conroy Road is the first Orlando market Macy’s to offer virtual reality, according to Macy’s media relations manager Julianne Bartosz. The technology allows customers to create a virtual room with their own dimensions and pick furniture pieces to arrange in the space. Customers can then put on goggles and walk through the virtual space.
On a recent visit by a reporter, the virtual reality setup was experiencing a technical issue.
The Mall at Millenia store was announced as one of 100 to receive additional capital for enhancements as part of Macy’s 2019 Growth150 initiative. Last year, 50 stores were improved, including the one at Florida Mall.
Renovations are expected to wrap up in early November, but the Starbucks has opened and the home department, including virtual reality, also is complete.
Other upgrades include LED lighting and updated flooring, fitting rooms and restrooms.
“The performance of the Growth 50 stores has given us the confidence to expand the strategy to 100 more stores this year,” Macy’s chief stores officer John Harper said in a news release.
Because of Hurricane Dorian, Visit Orlando has extended its Magical Dining Month a week to Oct. 7.
Magical Dining Month is generally a month-long program in which more than 120 restaurants offer diners a menu at a fixed price of $35. The restaurants then donate $1 of each of those meals sold to charity.
According to Visit Orlando, a majority of the restaurants involved in the program will extend their offers through the new date. The tourism marketing agency will update its participating restaurants online at its website.
This year, the program, which had been scheduled to end Sept. 30, benefits Lighthouse Central Florida and National Alliance on Mental Illness Greater Orlando.