The highlight of Abt's 100,000 sq. ft showroom is the Las Vegas-inspired atrium. This soaring space is home to unique shopping experiences and many of Abt's fun attractions. Directly under the vaulted skylight, customers will find our newly-renovated dancing fountain. Around the perimeter of the atrium are a collection of specialized shops and vignettes, each focused on a single brand or product category. Customers can wander through the Time Watch Boutique, the Connect and Apple Stores, the Gourmet Shop and more. The atrium is also home to our second-floor mattress store and interactive Inspiration Studio kitchen showroom. One of our customers' favorite attractions, the giant bubble machine was inspired by a version Mike Abt had seen during a family vacation, and built by our in-house woodshop. Visitors stand in the center and carefully pull a cord to envelop themselves in a giant bubble. Enjoyed by children and their parents alike, the machine requires patience and a steady hand, but the result is a truly unique experience.

Tucked into the back of the atrium, next to the cookie kitchen, this fun digital display—created by Mine-Control and Zachary Booth Simpson—encourages interaction from viewers. Step into the spotlight and watch as your shadow is cast on the wall and into a world filled with wild butterflies. Keep moving and they'll avoid you, but if you stay still enough, the virtual butterflies will warm up to you, "landing" on the shadow of your head, shoulders, or even an outstretched palm. One of Abt's most well-known traditions is the weekend cookie bake. Every Saturday and Sunday afternoon, the atrium is filled with the scent of freshly-baked chocolate chip cookies. Follow your nose to the back of the atrium to find them, or simply look for the long line of hungry customers. Fun fact: we bake and serve over a quarter-million cookies every year! Keeping watch over the Merchandise Pickup area is this unique installation by internationally-recognized artist Alan Rath. Rath's sculptures mix art, electronics and customized software to create eccentric, often eerie designs, and have been exhibited by museums worldwide.

The Abt Eyes consist of a pair of orange-tinted, 13" CRT TV monitors which display a constantly-shifting set of eyes looking out into the crowds of customers. One of Abt's most well-known attractions, this 7,500 gallon saltwater aquarium is home to dozens of sea creatures. Stop by to watch schools of exotic fish, our Moray eel, and even a small shark swim about the colorful coral reefs. buy freshwater ghost shrimpThe vibrant scene is more than just a feast for the eyes, it also serves a practical purpose. cycling a new fish tank tropicalAll of the colors and movements make for the perfect testing ground for the wide selection of digital still and video cameras on display in the surrounding areas. buy undergravel filter aquarium

If you're lucky, you might get a shot of our in-house scuba diver feeding the fish and cleaning the tank. The crowned jewel of the atrium is the dancing fountain, which underwent a major renovation in the summer of 2016. Inspired by the famous water feature in front of the Bellagio resort in Las Vegas, Abt's fountain dazzles guests with hourly light and water shows synchronized to music played through the atrium sound system. fish tank light got wetGo ahead and make a wish, all coins collected from the fountain are donated to the For Autistic Kids Foundation.fish tank setup for guppies Located near the Merchandise Pickup area is Abt's kugel ball, a type of structure that uses the power of water to float a massive stone ball. fish tank water odor

Made in Germany from a single piece of granite, the globe weighs 5,381 lbs, yet floats on just 12 lbs of water pressure. The thin film of water makes moving the globe so effortless that it can be rotated by a 3-year-old child. The Dave Abt Theater, named for one of Abt's founders, was built to showcase some of the many high-end audio and video products available at Abt. Featuring a Sony 4K SXRD cinema-quality projector playing movies on a 166" Stewart screen, and anchored by a killer 7.4 surround sound system from Bowers & Wilkins, it's the ultimate display of what's possible in a home theater. Need to watch more than one thing at a time? The projection screen rises to reveal a grid of sixteen separate displays, each capable of playing a unique signal. Rounding out the theater is a set of luxurious leather recliners and a custom fiber-optic constellation ceiling. Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall...in the Abt Atrium! This bronze sculpture was crafted by Kimber Fiebiger, an artist from Minnesota whose artwork often features the beloved nursery rhyme character.

The life-sized Humpty provides a popular photo opportunity for Abt's visitors. Thankfully, he's fully secured to his perch, so no need to worry about the famous fall. The Inspiration Studio at Abt is an exciting new showroom, created to provide a shopping experience unlike anything that has come before. Combining Abt's product expertise and unique inventory with visionary designs from renowned kitchen designer Mick de Giulio, the Innovation Studio is the premiere destination for anyone planning a luxury kitchen. Encompassing over 10,000 feet of floorspace, this one-of-a-kind showroom features 12 unique kitchen builds, each based on a suite of premium kitchen appliances from a respected brand and featuring live, working products. This multisensory exhibit was built by George Rhoads, an artist best known for his "audiokinetic" ball machine sculptures. The ornate piece is part work of art, part engineering marvel, and completely entertaining. As balls move up, down and around the intricate mouse trap, they interact with a variety of materials to create unique sights and sounds.

Kids and adults alike enjoy watching the journey. Solar Panels and Windmills Part of Abt's commitment to the environment involves utilizing renewable energy sources whenever possible. Our rooftop is covered in solar panels, and visitors can get a peek at some of them through the atrium skylight—which itself is an energy saver, illuminating the space during the day. Also visible are a pair of energy-generating vertical windmills. When we call this display "one of a kind," we really mean it. Created by Panasonic for a Consumer Electronics Show some years ago, it found its way to Abt and became a focal point of the atrium. The windmill sports a quartet of flat-panel TVs mounted in a row and onto a special motor that slowly rotates the entire installation. As the windmill spins, the images on the TV screens rotate in accord, as if being affected by gravity themselves. The TVs—originally Panasonic plasma displays—were upgraded to LED TVs in 2014, setting up the windmill for many more years of service.