By Janet H. Cho
For Netflix, it's clearly not enough that we binge-watch our favorite series, perhaps with a pint of Ben & Jerry's Netflix & Chill'd ice cream. Now, the streaming service, following other entertainment/tech companies with physical presences, wants us to hang out at one of its Netflix Houses, where fans can solve Stranger Things--style mysteries or step inside a virtual reality Squid Games. Admission is free, but you pay for "experiences," food, and merch.
At the Netflix House at a mall outside Philadelphia, I paid $50 for tokens to enter Wednesday's moonlit festival, which is built around Wednesday Addams, daughter in the old Charles Addams--inspired TV show, The Addams Family, and the Netflix series Wednesday. There, I played macabre versions of arcade games, like spinning a Wheel of Doom to find out how I'll die (Wednesday said I'll be burned at the stake). I haven't watched the series, so I didn't understand why we were beheading a stuffed bear, but families seemed thrilled to explore the venue, including petting Uncle Fester's Chupacabra.
Hungry? Netflix Bites serves dishes like Featherington (from Bridgerton) french toast, Hellfire Club (from Stranger Things) sandwiches, and the Morticia (Wednesday's mom) cocktail.
I might have enjoyed Netflix House more if I were a bigger Netflix user. It's pricey, though King of Prussia's affluent shoppers might not mind. And I couldn't resist buying a KPop Demon Hunters keychain for a friend's daughter.
Write to Janet H. Cho at janet.cho@dowjones.com
Last Week
Markets
Oracle, Broadcom, and CoreWeave sank as the week began. Chinese manufacturing output growth hit a 15-month low, and retail sales sagged. Oil hit a five-year low on Ukraine peace hopes. October lost 105,000 jobs, November gained 64,000, and unemployment rose to 4.6%. Oil rose as President Trump ordered a partial oil blockade around Venezuela. November inflation surprised at 2.7% amid doubts over data. On the week, the Dow industrials fell 0.7%, the S&P 500 rose 0.1%, and the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.5%.
Companies
Ford Motor took a $19.5 billion write-down and killed several electric-vehicle models. The European Union dropped a phaseout of combustion vehicles by 2035. Nasdaq filed to begin near 24-hour stock trading. PayPal applied to become a bank. Medline raised $6.3 billion in the year's largest initial public offering, rising 41%. Blue Owl Capital said it wouldn't back Oracle's $10 billion data center for OpenAI.
Deals
Warner Bros. Discovery rejected Paramount Skydance's $108 billion bid over financing concerns; Jared Kushner's Affinity Partners exited as a Paramount backer...Roomba maker iRobot filed for bankruptcy. E.W. Scripps rejected a Sinclair bid...Elliott Investment built a $1 billion stake in Lululemon Athletica... Trump Media & Technology will merge with fusion-energy firm TAE Technologies...ByteDance agrees to a U.S. joint venture with TikTok and an Oracle-led group.
Next Week
Tuesday 12/23
The Bureau of Economic Analysis releases its initial estimate of third-quarter gross-domestic-product growth. Consensus estimate is for GDP to have grown at an annual rate of 3.2%, down from 3.8% in the second quarter. This release was originally scheduled for October but was delayed due to the government shutdown.
The Census Bureau releases the durable goods report for October. New orders for manufactured durable goods are expected to decline 1.5% month over month to $313 billion. Excluding transportation, new orders are seen rising 0.3%, compared with a 0.6% increase in September.
The Conference Board releases its Consumer Confidence Index for December. Economists forecast a 91.7 reading, three points more than in November. Consumers continue to have a dour economic outlook, with November's reading the second lowest since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, after April's tariff-induced shock.
Thursday 12/25
Equity and fixed-income markets are closed in observance of Christmas. Also, the Nasdaq and New York Stock Exchange will have an early close to regular trading on Wednesday, Christmas Eve, at 1 p.m. ET.
The Numbers
16%
Decline in property investment in China from January to November, compared with same period in 2024.
$13 B
Art sales at Christie's and Sotheby's this year, ending a two-year slump with gains across most categories.
$248 B
Amount of Oracle's future lease deals for data centers and AI cloud computing that isn't on its balance sheet.
$350 B
How much JPMorgan Chase has withdrawn from its Fed account since 2023 and invested in U.S. Treasuries.
Write to Robert Teitelman at bob.teitelman@dowjones.com
This content was created by Barron's, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. Barron's is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
December 19, 2025 20:26 ET (01:26 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2025 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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