Omega Mart

Omega Mart (stylized as Ωmega Mart) is an interactive art installation created by American arts company Meow Wolf and located in the Area15 complex in Las Vegas. Those entering the installation explore a supermarket, from which they can access various other areas and uncover a narrative.[1] It features contributions from over 300 artists and designers. Omega Mart is an example of an Alternate Reality Game. The overarching plot and lore of the Omega Mart Universe is still being solved using various clues (both online and clues present in the physical store).[2][3]

Omega Mart
Entrance into Omega Mart in 2021
General information
LocationLas Vegas, Nevada, United States
Address3215 S Rancho Dr #100
OpenedFebruary 18, 2021
OwnerMeow Wolf
Website
www.omegamart.com

Omega Mart features custom-made products available for purchase, such as Mammoth Chunks, Organic Moth Milk, Nut Free Salted Peanuts, Gender Fluid, and Plausible Deniability, one of the three brands of laundry detergent.[2][4] Piñatas of the Seven Deadly Sins, designed by artist Justin Favela, are also available for purchase.[5] The installation also features a secret bar, Datamosh, which serves eight specialty cocktails.[6][7]

History
Shelves of products at Omega Mart

The concept for Omega Mart first originated in 2009, when artists first created a DIY pop-up grocery store exhibit[3][8] which, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, was essentially "little more than cinder-block shelves with bottles of colored water".[8] It was attempted again in 2012, as Meow Wolf's Chimera educational division worked with approximately one thousand students in Santa Fe, New Mexico's public schools to fill a mock grocery store with handmade fake products.[9][10][11] Both original installations were temporary, with the second one opening on July 8, 2012, and closing September 20 of that year.

In January 2018, Meow Wolf announced they would launch their second permanent attraction (the first being Santa Fe's House of Eternal Return) in Las Vegas, which would be an anchor tenant of retail and entertainment complex Area15.[12] Omega Mart was originally planned to launch in 2020, but its launch was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[13] In August 2020, Meow Wolf announced the project would focus on a supermarket called Omega Mart, and was expected to open in January 2021.[14][9] In January 2021, the opening date of the installation was announced,[15] and it opened on February 18, 2021.[8][16]

Various commercials for Omega Mart have been released, and have been noted for their unusualness and surrealism. A commercial for its opening, which featured Willie Nelson's face deepfaked onto another person's body,[17] was described by Shelby Stewart of the Houston Chronicle as giving Texans "an idea of what a grocery store ad on LSD might be like".[18] Various later commercials were described by Reid McCarter of The A.V. Club as having a "weird '90s" aesthetic,[19] and by Rob Beschizza, writing for Boing Boing, as perfect examples of a certain "darkly humorous, haunted cosmic consumer horror".[20]

References
  1. Martens, Todd (February 17, 2021). "Meow Wolf's Omega Mart is opening in Las Vegas in a pandemic. What to know". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved April 18, 2021.
  2. Sheckells, Melinda (February 16, 2021). "Inside Meow Wolf's New Omega Mart Interactive Experience in Las Vegas". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved April 18, 2021.
  3. McBeth, Hannah (April 7, 2021). "Meow Wolf Gives Inner Children a Shopper's Wonderland at Omega Mart in Las Vegas". SLUG Magazine. Retrieved April 18, 2021.
  4. Karel, Janna (August 11, 2020). "Meow Wolf in Las Vegas to sell bizarre items, portals to other worlds". Las Vegas Review-Journal. Retrieved April 18, 2021.
  5. Karel, Janna (November 20, 2020). "Piñatas of the 7 deadly sins to loom over Meow Wolf experience". Las Vegas Review-Journal. Retrieved April 17, 2021.
  6. Stapleton, Susan (March 17, 2021). "Get to Know the Secret Bar Inside Omega Mart, the Zany Grocery Store Exhibit Inside Area15". Eater. Retrieved April 17, 2021.
  7. Radke, Brock (March 23, 2021). "Quick Bites: Best Friend, La Neta, Pauly D's Italian Subs and more Vegas food news". Las Vegas Weekly. Retrieved April 17, 2021.
  8. Karel, Janna (February 18, 2021). "Omega Mart opens a mysterious interactive world at Area15". Las Vegas Review-Journal. Retrieved April 17, 2021.
  9. Krabbe, Collin (August 11, 2020). "Meow Wolf provides a sneak peek of its Las Vegas exhibit, set to open early next year". Albuquerque Business First. Retrieved April 17, 2021.
  10. Pleshaw, Gregory. "Project Dreamscape: Ask and you shall receive". alibi. Retrieved April 21, 2021.
  11. "OmegaMart | Meow Wolf". July 25, 2013. Archived from the original on July 25, 2013. Retrieved April 21, 2021.
  12. Krasnow, Bruce (January 18, 2018). "Meow Wolf announces permanent exhibit in Las Vegas, Nev". Santa Fe New Mexican. Archived from the original on January 19, 2018. Retrieved April 18, 2021.
  13. Martens, Todd (August 8, 2020). "Meow Wolf was set to transform themed entertainment in Vegas and beyond. Then came the pandemic". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved April 17, 2021.
  14. Vitu, Teya (August 10, 2020). "Meow Wolf unveils 'Omega Mart' as its Las Vegas attraction". Santa Fe New Mexican. Archived from the original on January 2, 2021. Retrieved April 17, 2021.
  15. Gomez, Adrian (January 19, 2021). "Meow Wolf's Omega Mart set to open Feb. 18 in Las Vegas". Albuquerque Journal. Retrieved April 17, 2021.
  16. Vitu, Teya (February 18, 2021). "Meow Wolf enters new world with 'Omega Mart' in Sin City". Santa Fe New Mexican. Archived from the original on February 22, 2021. Retrieved April 17, 2021.
  17. McCarter, Reid (January 28, 2021). ""Willie Nelson" stars in unsettling deepfake commercial for an art installation grocery store". The A.V. Club. Retrieved April 17, 2021.
  18. Stewart, Shelby (January 29, 2021). "Things get bizarre as 'Willie Nelson' stars in new art installation ad". Houston Chronicle. Archived from the original on February 14, 2021. Retrieved April 17, 2021.
  19. McCarter, Reid (April 1, 2021). "Omega Mart advertises time-traveling ham, nut-free peanuts in series of perfectly normal commercials". The A.V. Club. Retrieved April 17, 2021.
  20. Beschizza, Rob (April 18, 2021). "Creepy commercials for Omega Mart, a supermarket with a difference". Boing Boing. Retrieved April 18, 2021.
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