This is what has happened in Columbus, Ohio. A new business called Industry Standard near OSU has done just that, it has combined clothing store with recording studio, skateboard shop, art galley and created a hangout with couches, turntables and video games. The store is using RFID to interact with the shoppers.

It's a pioneer for the in-store application of radio-frequency identification, or RFID, technology, that allows customers to communicate with store employees as they shop....

With RFID, a chip inserted in a product broadcasts a radio frequency to readers that can identify it. It's the same technology used to track cargo.

In Can's spin on the technology, RFID tags are applied to clothing and can be read by sensors in the store.

That means a store employee can wave a wand over a rack of clothes and take inventory in minutes instead of days. A cashier can ring up 20 T-shirts simultaneously or learn that a customer has a stolen hat stashed in his pocket, thanks to an RFID reader under the counter.

And a customer can step into a dressing room and see images and videos of outfit suggestions appear on a computer screen -- the RFID sensors know what she's trying on.

The costs of implementing RFID technology can add up for stores: about $5,000 for readers, $200 per dressing room and 25 cents per tag.