Mall Rats II - the movie

A fun look at scenes from the mall.

CLEVER CODRAL

East Gardens mall, apart from being seasonally relevant, a simple iconic image.

JB RUNS HOT

JB Hi Fi, East Gardens recently opened, store was buzzing (Friday afternoon), value for money recession-proof formula.

EXCLUSIVE CHANEL ACTIVE

About to open in Bondi Junction

NATURALLY GOOD

L'Occitane, Broadway mall. Outstanding representation of brand values - a bit dreamy about Provence, romantic, warm, homely, natural. All the cues to support this, and they subconsciously reinforce feelings of security and stability.

SMIGGLE COVERS UP

Smiggle, East Gardens, their new range of umbrellas is quite funky.

REFRESHING BUBBLES

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

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.

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.

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.