The first Instagram pop-up shop to call Austin home features seven different aesthetically pleasing rooms that create Instagram-worthy photo opportunities through a fun and creative experience.

Story by Megan Price

Instagram spaces, such as The Egg House in New York City and the Museum of Ice Cream in San Francisco have been popping up all over the nation. These shops make Instagram tangible and provide customers with an opportunity to further their aesthetic in a creative way. A new store location, the FOMO Factory, has made its way to Austin. “The whole idea of this shop is intriguing to me,” junior English major Shylee Turner says. “I think it’s wild that people will pay $23 to take some Instagram pictures, but I did.”

Each location comes with a specific theme that each room is centered around. The FOMO Factory encompasses a throwback theme with its slogan being “Escape to Childhood.” Each of the seven spaces in the space provides customers with a new experience quintessential to being a kid, such as the school dance, playgrounds and music. “My absolute favorite room was the music-themed room,” Factory attendee Cassie Chavira says. “It had different-colored cassette tapes on the walls, and it was just adorable.”

The FOMO Factory caters to a new modern art form which is the Instagram aesthetic. With multicolored, pastel walls and props such as flamingo floaties and balloons, the store ensures that customers can leave with photos worthy of the ‘gram. “I scroll through Instagram, and I see all these people that have these aesthetics,” senior international relations and global studies major Sydney Colon says. “It’s become this important thing, and it’s hard work to take aesthetically pleasing photos without good lighting or being in the right setting, so the idea of a store that has all of that is genius.”

The shop provides a sensory filled experience that encourages visitors not only to take pictures with the props in the rooms, but to also play with them. “I really did feel just like a kid,” Turner says. “My friends and I were throwing the blow up balls and floaties around everywhere, and there were lots of other people doing the same thing.”

Colon models the same feelings toward the playful environment that the factory provides. “It was hard not to have fun there,” Colon says. “All the balloons and stuffed toys and bright colors puts you in a really good mood, and it felt like just a giant playroom. Everyone looked like they were having a ton of fun.”

Being a pop-up shop, the FOMO Factory is not here to stay. It opened for business in September and was supposed to remain open until Oct. 21, but due to ticket demand and its popularity, it has now extended its time to Dec. 30. “I am trying to convince everyone who wants to go to buy tickets,” Chavira says. “Even though I went because I thought the idea was crazy, I had an absolute blast, and it was so worth it.”