THE ITALIAN JOB

Darrell Lea, QVB mall, Sydney. A sweet and confectionery chain. This window is outstanding for colour, vitality, interest, and (apparent) relevance. Great to see this innovation.

RED INK

EB Games, TGV Sydney. Looks disastrous.

REFRESHING BUBBLES

Lush, QVB mall, Sydney. Outstanding fresh and engaging window display. Note: price not mentioned anywhere - how cool is that ?

OUCH!

Events store, Westfield, Pitt St. Real pain here.

THE FINAL MARKDOWN

Nine West, footwear store, Pitt St Mall. Is there a danger of customers reading this as "we are going out business" ? It has some urgency though.

STACK 'EM HIGH

Louis Vuitton style. King St, Sydney

BRING IN THE MARINES

Surry Hills. Obviously inspired by the Marines at Iwo Jima - the new frontline for work-life balance.

NOW BLOGGING

to Twitter - http://shoppologist.blogspot.com

ANOTHER RECESSION BUSTING DEAL

Game, Westfield Chatswood - give them credit - this is a strong offer, even if the execution is not my cup of tea.

IMPROVED PORTMANS

Portmans, Westfield Chatswood. Shopper interview - it seems that despite the older fitout in this store, they've lifted their game in terms of quality of assortment and range. Tough to do in this market.

A FRESHER COLES

Coles, Chatswood Chase - recently refurbished store, operating in a very competitive fresh market environment - a good first impression. Can't wait for the Surry Hills one to be given the same treatment - (sigh).

GEEKS DAY OUT

Apple store, Chatswood Chase. Launch activity for new iPhone (presumably). I liked the colourful T-shirts worn by staff, making it easy for customers to recognise them.

COOL LIGHTING

Camper store, Chatswood Chase. Cool lighting increases visual interest in this footwear store. The simplicity of display focuses the eye on the product.

CRED OFF THE WALL

SDS, Surf Dive n Ski, Westfield Chatswood, wall display lends street cred.

HOT WINTER WINDOW

SDS, Surf Dive n Ski, Westfield Chatswood - impactful window at the end of the mall.

SOLEFUL

SDS, Surf Dive n Ski, Chatswood Westfield. Striking display - probably supplier funded - Havaianas anyone ?

INSIDE THE HYPE

Hype, Westfield Chatswood. Innovative merchandising effect on the wall.

ED HARDY

Opening soon. Westfield Chatswood

BLING RECESSION BUSTER

Diva, Broadway. 3 for $10 is a great offer in today's market - they deserve to do well.

FOREVER GOOD

Forever New, Broadway. Very high standard of window presentation. Great retail theatre.

TIDY BUT DATED

Dymocks, Broadway. This bookstore concept is looking very dated and tired now. However they deserve credit for maintaining high housekeeping standards. One wonders whether they capture their fair share of the lucrative, educated Glebe target market, given the high level of competition in the precinct. This is a market which values the eclectic over the formulaic.

SHABBY MARKETING

Cotton On, Broadway. As per previous post - I think it is totally misleading for Cotton On to have a 'Nothing Over $10' offer prominently displayed, while the caveat ' sale styles only' is really tiny - see if you can spot it. I was outside this store and actually heard a customer complaining about it - retailers who do this should not be surprised if word spreads and they get what they deserve.

GONE WEST ?

Jeans West, Broadway. The winter offering looks a bit drab in the window poster. Always a problem trying to 'lift' the retail theatre component in winter.

STYLISH SWINE

Portmans, Sydney City. A novel approach to dressing the window. Pearls before swine ? Or are they on a zebra crossing ? :)

COLD FEET ?

Peter Alexander lifestyle and sleepwear, Sydney city. Topical window with the current cold weather.

SPORTY GIRLS

Sportsgirl window, Sydney City, detail. As mentioned in a previous entry, this approach to their windows starts to personify the brand - which is a good differentiator in a crowded fashion market.

PENGUINS ON GEORGE ST

Optus store, George St, Sydney. Impressive multi-LCD window display catches attention on a busy street. (There are four LCDs with animations in sequence).

BOOKSTORE TAKING FLIGHT

Angus and Robertson, East Gardens. Good looking store, warm and appealing. I was especially impressed by the Lonely Planet travel promotion, how strong the offer was, and how well it was executed. A great job.

DON'T COTTON ON

Cotton On, East Gardens. Misleading sale advertising - the $10 only applies to sale stock - see the really, really fine print. Hopefully the ACCC notices.

NOT ABC

ABC store, East Gardens. Weak, confusing 'sale' sign - overly complicated.

SWAROVSKI RECEDES

Swarovski, East Gardens. When is a retailer on sale not on sale ? When their sale posters are too recessionary (how ironic) - this one is just not visible enough.

LOSING FOCUS

1001 optics, East Gardens. A beautiful store design compromised by use of poor sale signage and posters. The colour yellow is all wrong for this business.

URGENCY SELLS

Target, East Gardens. Displays shows good 'urgency' at front of store - pulled me in, but I was more disciplined than usual :)

DRAMATICALLY VAGUE

Just Jeans, East Gardens. A good, dramatic window, but the proposition is unclear. Probably a bit too obtuse for most people.

SMIGGLE SIMPLY SHINES

Smiggle, East Gardens. Looking sharp as usual. Simplicity of display. Less is more.

REWARD FATIGUE

East Gardens mall, Woolworths-Qantas rewards programme. Interesting how the Woolworths brand name is so low profile, suggesting they are relying on people recognising the relatively new Woolworths logo. Consumer response to this nessage might be a somewhat sceptical, 'so what'.

GO WILD

The Body Shop, QVB. A strong, vibrant window display. Better than some recent insipid displays from this brand.

FITS WITH TARGET MARKET

Esprit QVB - clearly a good match between this location and the target market. Saturday afternoon.

EQUAL ACCESSORISES WITH BLUETOOTH

Surry Hills, Crown St. Equal uses bluetooth technology to download a voucher to customer's phone. Similar one noted recently in Oxford St. Copy of voucher attached.

http://www.peeptoeshoes.com.au/home

COVERING ALL BASES

Surry Hills, spiritual healing shop - seems to cover all bases.

BIGGEST BECOMES SMALLER

Adairs, Broadway. Initially impactful sale concept, is now looking tired having run for roughly the last month. This is one of the dilemmas in the manchester and homewares category - how to keep looking fresh and new when sales are seasonally and cyclically slow.  It doesn't help that these stores target the same shoppers as the fashion stores (out of necessity) who introduce freshness more frequently and set the pace for 'new' from a consumer perspective.

TRANS-SEASONALLY BLAND

Dotti, Broadway.  Usually they set a very high standard of presentation, and while this window has been executed well, I question whether the presentation concept is strong and vibrant enough.  Of course some of the concept is dictated by the merchandise, but this seems to be missing the 'x' factor. However, the store was pretty busy for a Friday evening.

COVERGIRL COLLAGE

Sportsgirl, Broadway.  Interesting collage approach to their window, showing the various incarnations of 'sportsgirls' - a great way of bringing the brand to life.

FRESHLY TRUCKED

High profile delivery truck signage looks 'fresh'. New Woolworths livery stands out on a busy Oxford Street. Sometimes overlooked as a consumer 'touchpoint' in 'brand 360' thinking.

STUNNING LIGHTING

Wayne Cooper, Oxford Street. High end fashion.

OXFORD ST ON SALE

Oxford Street on a fine winter's day. A sale sign with attitude.

STRIPPED BARE

Sale, Queenspark, Bondi Junction.  Clearly still lots of distressed merchandise.

DEEP RELIEF

Strepsil, in-mall advertising, Broadway.  Good impact, useful reminder, and very relevant timing for winter, nice warm colours, and the logo stands out.  A minor comment is that the white background perhaps needs a 'frame' to add a little definition, as it could be lost against a busy background.

BLACK AND WHITE

Jacquie E, Broadway.  Out of sale mode, a very crisp window that is perfectly 'on-brand'. Less is more.