for Blokes with Rugs ?

DecoRug, Moore Park Supacentre.  Not sure of the fit with the target market, but it looks impressive.

Sneakers in the dark

Converse store, Market City.  Cool lighting shows off the product really well.

Concepts that travel

Dotti, Market City. An interesting window concept for a fashion store.  Takes them right into lifestyle territory up against Sportsgirl.

Beautiful summer image

Esprit, Market City. Speaks to their target market.

Wonderfully Colourful and Exotic

Tree Of Life, Broadway.  This retailer stands out with their colourful ethnic and exotic merchandising.

Does Portmans mean business ?

Portmans, Broadway.  This impactful window suggests a greater degree of focus in the Portmans business than we have seen for some time.  It will be interesting to see whether they slant themselves towards the workwear market, as that has traditionally been the domain (albeit with a slightly older focus) of Jacquie E their sister brand also owned by Just Group.

Australia Day cometh

Target, Broadway.  You have been warned .... :)

Bland... yawn!

Sussan,  Broadway.  Technically competent  but creatively bland.

Pink and Black

Forever New, East Gardens.  Great imagery, colours, lighting and display.  Pink and black are clearly 'in'.

BTS Colour

Riot! art & Craft, East Gardens.  I guess these guys represent the fun aspect of Back To School - a great window.

BTS Mayhem

Shoes & Sox, East Gardens.  Busy, busy for Back To School.  Sympathies to long suffering shop assistants and parents.

The queue for self-service

BIG W, East Gardens.  I was surprised to see the length of the queue for the self-scan checkouts (Tues approx 2pm).  Then I noticed very few of the 'full service' checkouts were open.  I hope retailers understand the 'new' technology needs to have a net customer benefit - which seems to be missing at this particular store.

Digital window that sells

Smiggle, East Gardens  
digi window from Stephen Saunders on Vimeo.
.

Down and Dirty

Wittner, East Gardens.  Disappointing to see this rough and ready promotion from this usually very professional footwear chain.  Needs, want, must ?  Makes it very difficult to ultimately sell full-priced product, damages the brand's credibility.

Banks that Listen ???

NAB, East Gardens.  Funny, if not that credible.  The 'Listener' didn't seem that interested in my minor deposit transaction - I didn't even get the time of day ... surprise.  You can't fix a culture with a few signs.

Getting the Basics Right

Target, East Gardens.  Out of stocks in the hosiery dept - a recipe for shopper frustration.

Personalising your Locker for Back To School

Smiggle, East Gardens.  Clever promotion with digital signage, good positioning at front of store, cross merchandising and use of colour - sure to be a hit amongst the BTS set.

The Path to Markdowns

Angus & Robertson, East Gardens.  A clear indication of the need to stick to core business.  What do USB fans and books have in common ?

The Sale Stripped Bare

Queenspark, East Gardens.  Clever concept, with 'legs' (in all senses).  This shows what a little imagination can do.

Tacky

1001 optometrist, East Gardens.  Tacky and unimaginative sale materials and decorations.

Smiggle's cloning calendar ?

Smiggle, East Garden (from a week or so ago).  For those who want to build their own calendar for 2010 - although mine would probably end up looking like a cloning experiment :)

Forever New The Same ?

Forever New, Bondi Junction.  Their windows are always impressive  - but I wonder whether this imagery is wearing thin, impressive as it is. They seem to use the guitar icon quite frequently, although to their credit it is always delivered really well.  What do you think ?

Showing the Way

Angus & Robertson, Chatswood Chase.  Clear and attractive departmental and category signage.  Good use of colour.

The Romantic Lifestyle

Simply Perfect, Balmain.  A great example of boutique merchandising- using props, accessories and lifestyle products to create the French romantic effect.  (apologies for low quality photo). The merchandise was surprisingly affordable too.

Pharmarcy Merchandising in Good Health

Terry White Pharmacy, Chatswood Chase.  I thought this was a tidy and shopper-friendly display with good use of category signage and good sized price tickets.  The ticketing at floor level is an improvement on what I have seen elsewhere, although a tricky area to get right.

The Self-Checkout

Coles, East Gardens.  Spotted at the self-scan checkout. Does YOUR child have a barcode ?  :))

Retail Landscape

An Epiphany ?

Epiphany Jewellers, East Gardens. A very old school approach by this jeweller - closed door.  Obviously not very welcoming to shoppers - makes it more of an effort to browse.  Maybe they will have an epiphany ?

Age no barrier

Diva,  Broadway.  Their $5 sale section clearly appeals to all ages - one of the busiest stores in the mall.

Fresh

L'Occitane, Broadway.  A stunning window display.  Good use of props, colour, lighting and imagery.  Note the intelligent use of height as well.

Clever Smiggle

Smiggle, Broadway.  Clever cross-sell concept for this retailer of social stationery: 'Smiggle your locker' - speaks directly to the Back To School audience.

Too Much Stimulation ?

Boost Juice, Broadway.  There just seem to be too many stimuli for the senses to handle in the compressed time (and space) available to place an order at this juice bar.  Too many options, too many promo offers, too many prompts - so I ordered my 'usual'.  Safe and sound, inertia rules when put to the test ?

Exotic

Tree of Life, Bondi Junction.  Good use of props and colour to create an exotic look and feel.

Wonderful Brand Imagery

David Jones, Giorgio Armani, Bondi Junction.  Classic directional imagery, but which does not say much else.

Summer of Love

Mecca Cosmetics, Bondi Junction.  Striking window decal - very effective.

Next Piece of the Jigsaw

Jigsaw, Bondi Junction.  Readers may recall this post of a few days ago - interesting comparison, next stage of markdowns.  Clever, cost effective use of props by this retailer.

The Active Sale

Rebel Sport, Bondi Junction.  An innovative sale display from this activewear and sports retailer which displays a bit of 'attitude'.

Maximizing Floor Space

JB Hi Fi, Bondi Junction.  Clever use of floor space for advertising at the entry to the queuing area.

Attractive Sale Format

Jigsaw, Bondi Junction.  An attractive sale format used each sale by this retailer.  The development of the sale format and it's subsequent consistent use means the format becomes associated with the brand over time, becoming a valuable source of IP for the company.

We have all bases covered

Blooms The Chemist, Balmain.  Very odd, confusing product adjacencies for a pharmacy:  chocolates, Clarins, and vitamin supplements.  

Atmospheric Windows

Crabtree & Evelyn, Chatswood Chase.  This retailer sets a great standard when it comes to window displays.  I especially like the creativity in the sale window display, and the atmospheric effect of the lighting in the other.

Not Express

K-Mart, Chatswood Chase.  Have a look at the long-suffering shopper (in black, in queue) directly under the blue sign that says 'Express Checkout'.  The clip runs for 1:43 and she still hasn't advanced to one of the two checkouts.  Poor.

Listening to their customers

Bay Audio, Chatswood Chase.  Interesting to see how Bay Audio have adopted a more 'retail' look - promotional material, staff in red t-shirt.  Professional services always have a delicate balancing act between maintaining the professional look and feel - in this case 'medical' (blue) - and getting shoppers to engage.  I believe they are in a growing market - watch this space for the iPod generation and then some.

THE Monster Sale

Industrie Kids, Balmain.  Now THIS is a monster sale !   Great poster.

Made to Measure

Alterations Express, Chatswood Chase.  I thought the visual representation of the brand and concept was clever (measuring tape).

Retail Landscape

A Tale of Great Customer Service

The Body Shop, East Gardens.  I don't hand out bouquets easily.  However I was very impressed by this store on Christmas Eve.  We had headed out to the shops at about 11am for those last minute gifts, hoping, optimistically, to get in and out before the major rush.  

This store, in contrast to many other retailers, was properly staffed - there were five staff members including the manager who discreetly hovered in the background.  Staff were well presented - with the possible exception of the tinsel (which I have previously mentioned is perhaps not in keeping with The Body Shop values).  They were enthusiastic and friendly, and despite one or two minor glitches were keen to help.  Also impressive, was the 'build your own gift' (at no extra cost) section at the back of the store, which really removed any reason not to purchase.    

As an aside I noticed the pre-made gift sets, which came in different sizes, varieties, and pricepoints, were selling best, but those over $100 were not moving at all.  The beauty of their approach is those can be 'dissembled' after Christmas and the stock redeployed.

We were in and out there relatively quickly, with beautifully wrapped gifts - and having bought an additional 'impulse' gift after we were prompted.

Kudos to The Body Shop - they stood out.

The Kikki.k Sale

Kikki.k, Broadway.  Good looking sale poster and window - always of a high standard from this retailer.  However, I didn't quite understand the inclusion of the rope as a prop.

Cool Sale Poster

Dotti, Broadway.  One of the cooler posters around.