The Moody Blues ?

Hardy Bros, Jewellers, Castlereagh St.  Striking use of colours which alternate - they capture the eye, but could detract from the upmarket image. Worth a look - especially at night.

Retail Landscape

Starting Off on the Right Foot

The Athlete's Foot, East Gardens.  Store designers often talk of the 'decompression zone' - that space at the front of the store when shoppers walk in, and where they are not attuned to any offers or cues, and just simply are trying to get into the store.  I am not sure it always applies - but here is a good example of how a retailer has dealt with the issue.

The use of the foot icon takes shoppers forward - the footprint is colourful and attracts the eye - pretty much can't miss it :) - and says what the brand is all about - 'scientific measurement so you get a comfortable fit'.  I also liked the shoes on the security bollards.

The seating near the front and the measurement device means you often see staff members towards the front of the store - something which is often difficult to achieve.

The Floating Handbag

Wittmer, Broadway.  An eye-catching display from this footwear and handbag retailer.  The red handbag appears to float above the front table, drawing one's eye to it. The symmetry of the shoes is also appealing.

Insipid

Coles, Surry Hills.  Coles have generally been doing a credible job in lifting their game on in-store price signage and ticketing.  However, I thought this ticket shows a fundamental lack of understanding of which colours work in the typically low-lighting levels of supermarkets.  The white on yellow simply does not stand out - contrast that with white on red from the nearby ticket.  I understand they might have wanted to differentiate their gift card offer, but in this case differentiation has been at the expense of delivering the message.

The Visual Mess

Strandbags, East Gardens.  Some retailers don't appear to draw much of a distinction between their stockrooms (out back) and the display stock on the floor.  I struggle to see how even the most ardent shopper can cope with the visual clutter of this store.   The store looks a mess from a visual merchandising perspective - no definition, no hero lines, no subtle use of lighting, just bulk and volume.  The net result is it cheapens the product, and makes things tough for the shopper.  I would be really interested to know what female shoppers think of this.

Happiness is ... being in stock

Tree of Life, East Gardens. I like the fresh approach of Tree of Life, selling ethnic and colourful fashion and lifestyle items. This window illustrates a typical retail dilemma. A few weeks ago they ran a promotion for a white dress, which looked stunning in the window (see post here http://shoppologist.blogspot.com/2009/09/crisp.html ). At the time they applied a decal to the window stating 'Happiness is a white dress'.

So, it was interesting to see the decal still up with a not-so-white dress in the window (see pic). Hmmm, confusing to say the least. A quick glance inside the store showed they still had about three white dresses on the rack - which means being out of stock of some (probably most popular) sizes. Being a national chain, the level of stock is likely to have varied significantly across the store network. If they were expecting more white dresses in (ie. a repeat), it probably made sense to leave the decal up. If they had put the white dress in the window with only three items left (in this particular store), they might have frustrated shoppers interested in the dress. If this is the case, then they probably underestimated the sell-through rate of the dress - a common problem in fashion, suggesting an issue with their stock forecasting methodology.

Another explanation is they could simply have forgotten to remove the decal, but based on past experience that is unlikely for this switched-on retailer. Retailers would know that promoting any line longer than 2-3 weeks is a non-starter in today's market. This especially applies to seasonal lines.

So, for retailers, the moral of the story is: being in-stock of wanted lines is best, get the forecasting right, in order to avoid annoying observations like this one- oh, and get the window (decal) detail right. For shoppers the moral of the story is if you see something you really like, buy it because it is probably popular and won't be there when you return :)

Rebel Strips down for Summer

Rebel Sport, East Gardens.  (apologies for low-light pic). After so much discounting and 'sale' activity, it was good to see this retailer with a positive, 'new range' message.  

Cool design space

pyd, Waterloo. Cool top-end design environment with nice cafe (food is great, service is average). Worth a visit if you want to look at unusual, expensive stuff. Interesting number of strollers and babies around on a Saturday arvo.

Recycled Service Station

Country Style, Waterloo.  Recycled Shell service station -  would you light a match sitting on one of these ? :)

Designer Bottletop Furniture

Country Style, Waterloo.  Impressive use of bottletops to create outdoor furniture. Comfort factor could be tricky :)

Cotton On's Loose Thread

Cotton On, East Gardens.  Yet another example of dodgy promotional advertising from this retailer. The '$10 and under sale'  refers to 'selected lines' - detailed in the superfine font.   I guess it is expecting too much from a retailer who cannot even hang the sale signs up properly ... ?

One Day Blunder

Zaru Jewellery kiosk, East Gardens.  You have to wonder if someone bothered to check this sign before printing and erecting ?

Buddhist inspired retail

Jay Jays, East Gardens.  The flags in this colourful store seem to be inspired by the Buddhist prayer flags you see in India and Nepal. They add great colour to a visually dynamic environment. The visual clutter works to support the 'cheap and very cheerful' positioning.

Symmetry that Sells

Smiggle, East Gardens.  Great example of the effective use of simple colour and lighting to create a compelling window display. The eye naturally seeks out symmetry and repetition.

  

The Spirit of the Surf

SDS, East Gardens.  A great window which captures the magic of the surf culture.

Optus socks it

Optus, East Gardens.  What are Optus thinking ?  They have placed 'socks' for cellphones and 'skins' at the front of the store, so that you see these first as you enter the store.  And there I thought a cellphone related offer with a cool handset might have made it to the front :)  These items have a place, but not in the prime spot....

Pile it High and Watch it ..eh... Sit ?

Lowes, East Gardens.  A shocking example of 'old school' retailing.  More stock than you can shake a stick at, and the highest polyester thread count per square metre - I think they lost a shopper in there somewhere last week ....I am surprised Westfield allows this in their mall - times must be tough.  

Why We Buy - Consistency

I was fortunate enough to attend a dinner at a well-known restaurant last night as part of the Sydney Crave Festival and Pyrmont Uncorks the Hunter Valley promotion.  The discussion at our table turned to why our restaurant was fully booked and another well-known establishment just around the corner was not.  The deal on offer was roughly the same - a degustation menu. It turns out the second restaurant trades under the name of it's owner, let's say Stephen's Bistro, and I wondered why the restaurant was not fully booked as 'Stephen' is very well known in Sydney and widely regarded as arguably the top chef (there are always polite arguments about this :) ).    

Someone at the table mentioned that 'Stephen' owns another restaurant and is the top chef for this restaurant as well (quite close by too), thus dividing his time between the two establishments.  They went on to say that the 'consistency' of the offering at 'Stephen's Bistro' had suffered, and (quite logically) locals were not prepared to take the chance of 'Stephen' not being there on the evening.  

All of this is a long story (apologies) to illustrate the point about consistency - and that it sells.  As human beings we tread a careful divide between wanting variety or 'new-ness' (novelty), and a desire for predictability.  How does your brand cater for this balance ? Do you know which your customers value more and when ?  How can you leverage this knowledge to fine tune your offering ?

It  should be simple.  Insight pays.

Madonna does Monroe

JB Hi-Fi, East Gardens.  I wasn't surprised to see this striking poster where Madonna does Monroe - who HASN'T she done ?  But I WAS pleasantly surprised to see it outside JB Hi-Fi who normally plaster the front of their stores with tacky catalogues.

God-Like

Tree Of Life, East Gardens.  An interesting exotic window.

The Front Table

Events, East Gardens. A good application of the essential principles in the front of house promotional table:

1. Have an offer

2. Use colour blocking

3. Flat-packing for apparel, low-profile for other products

4. Leave plenty of room on either side

5. Keep it simple

6. Do not disrupt sight line to the back of the store

It is surprising how many retailers forget to apply these basic principles in the most important selling zone in the store.  Well done to this team.

Jeans West boobs on Pink Week

Jeans West, East Gardens. Make no mistake, supporting breast cancer research or 'Pink Week' initiatives is the right thing to do. So I was interested to note how this business had co-operated with some leading designers to produce a range of tees. The only snag is: if you were proud to be associated, wouldn't you show the merchandise in the window, as opposed to tucked away in the store and barely visible from the entrance ? and why would you use the really small font for 'Pink Awareness Week' ?

It just seems to signal indifference ? And perhaps that the Mimco brand was a more important aspect of this promotion ?

Black Pepper needs more spice

Black Pepper, East Gardens.  This ladieswear retailer clearly doesn't live up to it's name.  The word 'bland' comes to mind.  I am unsure of how they can be viable in the (expensive) Westfield mall space, surrounded by national chains.

Boost's lights go out

Boost Juice, East Gardens.  Some of you might recall that on 1 Sept I posted an item about Boost Juice and how a franchise system breaks down when the small things are unattended to - specifically I mentioned a light bulb. 

http://shoppologist.blogspot.com/2009/09/when-system-breaks-down.html

Today I returned to the store to find:

a) the same light bulb has not been replaced; or to be charitable

b) the light fitting is faulty and has not yet been repaired.

Either way, it's not good enough is it ?  A month to replace to a light bulb ?  A team of rocket scientists could do it in half the time !

Designs that need a makeover

Stylz, East Gardens. As a brief glance at my avatar will confirm, I am no customer of hair salons :)) I was bemused by this display of products ('presumably after-care') at the front of this mid-range salon.  As you know I see this as a prime selling zone, so it was the absence of colour and the presence of 'industrial'-style packaging which caught my eye. Surely the suppliers could design better (more colourful) packaging and the salon could display it more innovatively ? It wasn't exactly inviting - so I didn't take any :)

New at Hoyts

Hoyts, Broadway.  These self-serve kiosks seem a great idea.  Has anyone used them yet ?  They were easy to miss by the way - tucked away on the left when the eye is drawn to the main queues and service area.

If Only

yd, Broadway.  If only boys were always this tidy ;)  A good looking menswear store - great colour variation and good use of lighting.  Good use of symmetry. Perhaps a bit more variety in hanging required for the front rail.

A problem of identity

Coles, Surry Hills. Does 'green' (as in eco-friendly) have an identity problem ? This is not an isolated example in a packaging context.  What do you think ? Is it time for an accredited trademark (with all the complexity and cost that entails) ? Just asking ...

The World Awaits

Sta Travel, Broadway.  I love the colour and graphics scheme used by Sta in this refresh of their Broadway store.  The regions are colour coded and the colours even pulled through into the furniture.  I think the globes inserted into the desks are a neat way of capturing the romance of travel, and a nice riposte to the wall map of their major competitor, Flight Centre.

What Price Perfection ?

Thomas Dux, grocer, Crown St, Surry Hills. Today we paid our first visit to this upmarket grocery store chain, owned by Woolworths. The merchandising was of a very high standard and well up to expectations. The pleasant surprise was that some of our favourite gourmet items were a couple of dollars cheaper. A major inconvenience that they do not have parking, BUT they are right next door to The Winery, a new and very popular wine bar just opened. So... grocery shopping followed by some wine and nibbles... hmm.

Okay, they weren't perfect - the top pic shows the apple wrapper lying on the pristine floor. This should appeal to the pedantic amongst us :) Maybe the store is untouched or unsullied by customers' hands and feet.... there weren't many around.

However, if you are in the neighbourhood, it's well worth a visit. It will be interesting to see who survives out of the now over-shopped Crown St grocery market (3 upmarket stores and counting).... I am betting this one will - in due course.

Retail Landscape

Off Target

Target, Broadway.  Too many messages from Target dilutes the essential 'sale' message.

Bright as Bright can Be

Coles, Surry Hills.  Given the iSnack2.0 debacle, Vegemite might need to re-think the strapline 'Bright as Bright Can Be' - also doesn't appear to apply to the Kraft marketing department (brand custodians). :)

Let There be Light

Coles, Surry Hills.  My local supermarket has been doing some small-scale refurbs  and re-lays of the store.  I have previously noted the increased emphasis on the health and beauty aisle.  This pic shows the impact of doubling the amount of (fluro) lighting.  This increased lighting is now mainly used in the health and beauty and stationery aisles - it will be interesting to see how far they go.

Individuality in Shop Assistants

Petsmart, Broadway Mall.  Interesting choice of staff uniform here -raises the question of where you draw the line at individuality in a retail setting.  Certainly not a Abercrombie and Fitch clone :)  Would your kids (presumably the main customers) be intimidated or think it's cool ?

Lazy Marketing

(Courtesy of Derek Jenkins @ozdj ).  Spotted at Officeworks.  

1-Photocopy competitor catalogue. 

2-Stick on your better/same prices. 

3-Display. 

4-Sell! (Officeworks)

Low-tech (lazy ?) marketing.

Pricing Inconsistency ?

Aldi, Chatswood, Westfield.  Is there an inherent inconsistency between promising 'permanently low prices' and offering 'specials reduced up to 50% off' ?   Not sure they can have it both ways .....

Hey Kids, get Mum to buy you this!

Target, Broadway. All the necessary cues to get the kids to get Mum and Dad to buy them stuff - the POS on the security bollards, POS promotional display in front and the product display (Disney books) on the left. Mum and Dad have no chance of surviving this unscathed :) I saw a child from every single family go over to the display in the 5 minutes or so I was observing.....

Drugs anyone ?

Amcal Pharmacy, Metropolitan centre. An example of very poor in-store POS signage. There is just way too much small-font text here, and no 'impact' image. Just way too hard for someone to read and instantly 'get it'. Probably a 'quantum' waste of money.

Naturally Gifted

Lush, QVB - this business certainly delivers on the promise 'Naturally Gifted'.  Worth a visit for a gift (guys,  take note).

A Table of Beauty

L'Occitane, QVB.  A beautiful promotional table - wonderful colours, textures and aromas, and cleverly lit.  

Retail Landscape

Rowboats on George St

Peter Alexander, George St.  Summer has arrived. A lot of work required to set this one up.

Adidas gives you wings ?

Adidas, QVB.  Interesting merchandise. For the flight of foot ?