OBSERVATION LAB

Gabriella Mastrangelo

2nd assignement

A Crash Course on Creativity, Professor Tina Seelig, Stanford X

TARANTO

On monday afternoon I went with my mom to the Mongolfiera Shopping Center, in the outskirt of Taranto, Italy. This is one of the two shopping center of the city. it has been re-newed recently. Whilst she was doing her shopping, I had a walk around in order to fulfill my assignment. I had two constraints for this task:

LOCATION

Shopping Center: La Mongolfiera Location: Taranto, ItalyInfo: the shopping center is managed by Svicom, an italian real estate specialized in retail.

1. time constraint:

I had the limit of 1.30 hour, so I set the alarm every 15 min, in order to make as many shops ad I could, in the end I spent more than 20 min per shop, so I just visited 4 shops.

THE SHOPSCACHE CACHE - womenswear

BIANCA - home textiles

FOLLIE D’ORO - jewellery store

GAME STOP - video game retailer

2. location constraint:

I needed a comfortable place where to sit and observe, unfortunately the benches did not cover the whole length of the aisle, so my observa-tion points covered few shops. As it is forbidden to taking pictures in the shops, finding a good observation point was an asset and a necessity.

SHOP nr. 1

Cache - CacheFrench franchising low-cost clothing store, 1350 shops in the world, owned by Groupe Beaumanoir.http://www.cache-cache.com/

Before you enter:No door - the entrance is just a gap between two shop windows.From the outside the shop seems smaller than its actual size.The sign lettering is very large and is located on the right hand side of the entrance.

The two adjacent windows are cov-ered with advertising.

The shop windows are furnished with small cardboard boxes and two vertical banners.

The logo has no frills, it is designed with a sans- serif font, and carries the brand colours: white and yellow.

In my opinion the logo reflects the brand mission: everyday clothes for young women and teenagers at affordable prices.

SHOP nr. 1

Cache - CacheFrench franchising low-cost clothing store, 1350 shops in the world, owned by Groupe Beaumanoir.http://www.cache-cache.com/

Environment:The shop’s color scheme follows the brand colors: white and yellow.The walls, the false ceiling, the shelves and the till are white, with yellow small details, the ceil-ing is dark blue. The floor is made of ivory matte ceramic tiles.

The ceiling is about 3.5m high, but its dark color together with the false ceiling seem to lower the actual height.

The shop is lit by warm lights, there’s a good lighting scheme, in some points the lights are dimmed.

The environment is moderately loud, most of the noise comes from the outside, and from the customer’s voices.There’s also background music playing but its volume is quite low.

Every vertical/horizontal surface in the shop is used to display the merchandise, there are also many freestanding hangers in the scat-tered around which make the environment more crowded. In general the shop smells of suede leather and chemicals.The store security comprise of two anti-shop-lifting devices in front of the entrance.The cash register is not visible from the out-side, and it is located on the left hand side of the entrance.

There is an abundance of signs, of clothes which makes the environment disturbing and it feels quite overcrowded; I cannot stay more than 10 min cruising around without having headache.

Also the shop windows’ details are very poor, some props are battered and the floor is cov-ered with a thin layer of dust, it seem that they are not well taken care of.

SHOP nr. 1

Cache - CacheFrench franchising low-cost clothing store, 1350 shops in the world, owned by Groupe Beaumanoir.http://www.cache-cache.com/

PersonnelAs soon as I walk in, the shop assistant wel-comes me with a “Ciao” (Hello).She follows the same script with every new customers: she greets you and reminds you there are discounts on some items.The ratio is 1:5 sales assistant per customer, she’s around 25.She stops to talk to the friends that pay visit to her during working hours, she makes personal calls on her mobile and so on, but this behavior doesn’t seem to bother the customers, it seems rather ac-cepted.

ProductsThere is a central display table, which is just in front of the entrance and it makes like a continuous strip that runs from the floor up to the wall and the ceiling.The items for sales are located near the en-trance and on the right hand side wall.The products are arranged by function; at eye level are displayed hung jackets, shirts and trousers.

The prices range from 2,99€ (hairclips) to 99,00€ (suede leather jacket). There is no a specific location for the cheap and expensive items, every shelf/hangers has products with different prices and the average price range is 25- 55€.The price tags are very visible on each item.The least accessible items are the shoes and the bags which are displayed on shelves .

CustomersThe typical customers are female, aged 15-30, sometimes they are a couple or a small group of friends, or a mother with her daughter/s.The customers browse around, the lay-out of the store makes a kind of maze, so they don’t follow the same path but zig-zag from one shelf to the other.

Shop 2

Follie d’Oro ( Golden follies)Italian franchising jewellery store, owned by Gruppo Sarni, more than 100 stores across Italy.http://www.sarnioro.it

Before you enter

The stores draws you in, the entrance is very wide: the interior space is completely open to the aisle and the threshold is de-fined by two series of ceiling-high display window. Behind them lies the shutter, that is recessed in the ceiling during the opening hours. This solution invites the customers to step in and browse around.

The logo is repeated three times and it is lo-cated on the strip above the entrance. The font is a roman italic type with strong serif: the logo is very simple but with charac-ter, the serif of the letter F is an elegant large curve: it tells that the store sells luxury items with affordable prices.

Shop 2

Follie d’Oro ( Golden follies)Italian franchising jewellery store, owned by Gruppo Sarni, more than 100 stores across Italy.http://www.sarnioro.it

EnvironmentThe store color scheme comprises white and ivory for the background and glass and dark cherry veneer for the furniture.The floor is made of white matte ceramic tiles, it brightens the space and at the same time is a neutral background.

The store is over-lit: the window panes, the ceiling and the floor help diffuse and reflect the lights. In addition each display window is lit with cold light, in the upper part of the walls there are a back-lit panels with the brands.The lighting scheme makes the environment flat, it lacks of warmth and character.

The security system is well hidden, the only visible devices are the cctv cameras located on the ceiling.The cash register is located in front of the en-trance, behind the table display window in the center of the room.

The furniture is made of locked display cabi-nets, in order to keep all the items visible and safe. Each shelf inside the cabinet is crowded with items and advertising.Despite the absence of physical barrier at the door, the environment is a bit cold and its brightness is very annoying.

It lacks of charm and it doesn’t convey the pre-ciousness of the items shown, it rather recalls of a supermarket, everything is shown and the furniture is very functional.

Shop 2

Follie d’Oro ( Golden follies)Italian franchising jewellery store, owned by Gruppo Sarni, more than 100 stores across Italy.http://www.sarnioro.it

PersonnelThe personnel is quite busy, they don’t wel-come the new customers if they are already taking care of one.

There are two female shop assistants, aged 20-40.The uniform comprises a black polo shirt with Swarowsky logo and decoration around the sleeves, and a black pencil skirt.

ProductsThe first product I notice is an engagement ring. Just in front of the entrance there is a long display table where all the engagement and wedding rings, arranged by price, are located.All the items in the store are not accessible, all the products are displayed in vertical display windows or inside the central display table. There are also freestanding racks with plastic watches that are accessible to the customersThere are big sales sign scattered around the place, the products price range: 3,00 € (bat-tery) - 13.000€ (diamond ring). The prices tag are usually very visible, specially those of rings and necklaces in the display table, while watch prices are more difficult to read or hidden.All the products are arranged in the display windows by typology: watches, jewelry, silver-ware, and so on. The products with more visibility are the watches.In particular I was stroke by some silverware products, such as decorated mirrors or “holy family portraits” that where hung at eye level.

CustomersHalf of the customers are couples looking for engagement/wedding rings, the other custom-ers are young families or aged parents looking for gifts. So the age vary between 20-30y.o.up to 60-70 y.o.(grandparents, relatives).

Before you enterThe window and the entrance are messy, crowded with boxes and graphics promoting offers and new releases. The logo is white and red, it is a statement, the letters are in extra bold font, back-lit above the door: it stands like a beacon in the shopping center for the lost video game players.

EnvironmentThe store is rather small, it’s furnished with basic and functional elements such as free-standing shelves of modular wall racks. The overall color is white, which is a neutral background for the multicolored covers of the video games dvds.The environment is not lit enough, there is not enough reflection and diffusion from the surfaces.The floor is made of black matte ceramic tiles and it’s covered with yellow illustrations and advertising. The store security is not visibleThe advertising is very aggressive, the walls and the ceiling are covered with banners with the latest offers and releases.It’s very messy, the boxes are piled on the floor and the shelves are very close to each other. There is not enough space to walk around and the people queue next to the cash desk in order to purchase or just ask informa-tion.The store is made for a specific target, so if you are not interested in video games, is not the most pleasant place to stay, and the endurance threshold is about 5 min. Otherwise video game players can spend hours inside.

Shop 3

Game Stop“GameStop is the world’s largest video game retailer with over 6600 stores in 15 countries worldwide and online.” www.gamestop.com

Shop 3

Game Stop“GameStop is the world’s largest video game retailer with over 6600 stores in 15 countries worldwide and online.” www.gamestop.com

ProductsThe dvds are displayed along the walls on the racks that go from floor to ceiling, and in cen-tral freestanding shelves. At eye level are located the new game releases, while the least accessible items are the game consoles, that stands on the shelves at a cer-tain height. The prices are attached on the cover of each dvd. The offers are in a corner on the left hand side of the entrance.the most expensive items are the Iphones, these products are the only ones kept in the back room. The cheapest items are located near the cash desk. Price range 3€ - 700€Near the cash register there are impulse items such as pre-paid gift cards and small toys.

PersonnelThe shop assistant is a young woman aged 20-30.She spends most of the time behind the cash desk, where she replies to the customers ques-tions or gives advices. The cash register looks like an info point.Despite she doesn’t welcome new customers, she’s very helpful and nice with everybody.

CustomersPeople often come in groups or in couples. Groups are mainly made of male, aged 15-30,they are interested in the games, while the couples are mainly interested in the phones offers. Many of the customers are on mission, and ask specific questions to the personnel.Due to the layout of the store, there is always a queue that forms quickly in front of the till, but customers stand in line, they are not bother to spend some time waiting.

Shop 4

BiancaReseller of the italian home textile brand Zucchi.

Before you enterThe shop is very well designed: all the duvets are rolled and piled up on the back wall in or-der to form a sort of multicolored wallpaper.This wall is very visible from the outside, and it draws people in, all the textiles exposed give the environment a “home” feeling.

The extra-clear glass windows span the whole length of the shop; the entrance is in central position, there is no door.

Above the entrance there is the sing lettering which is a brown rectangle with a brushed metal lettering.

The sign is not lit and it is repeated on the window. The logo font is a sans-serif, well spaced, es-sential and understated.

PersonnelThe shop assistant is a young woman aged 20-30, she’s friendly and greets me as soon as I walk in. She doesn’t wear an uniform.

The environmentThe main colours of the shop are white and brown for the walls and the furniture, while there are also banners with pale colors and fancy textures.

The environment is bright and spacious, the main lighting system is recessed while there are also decorative hanging lamps.One of the window is set like a domestic scene: there is a fitted queen size bed, with a floor lamp and a mannequin wrapped in a soft robe.The merchandise is sparse, there is no visible security system.The furniture is made of bespoke shelves and tables, painted in brown or exposed brushed steel structure. There are also pieces of fur-niture from design brand, like colored plastic stools or low tables.

In general the impression from this shop is of warmth and cosiness, it shows the perceived high quality of the merchandise.

Products

The first products I notice are lining sets for children with cartoons characters: they stand in the window near the entrance and in the central table in front of it.The items for sale are in the same location or near the cash register. The products are arranged by color and func-tion: the back wall is packed with rolled duvets that become a decorating pattern. In general, the shop is divided in two areas: the area near the cash desk shows the items with the lower prices and the discounted items, while the wall in front of it displays the most expensive items.Prices range is between <50€ and >250€.

Shop 4

BiancaReseller of the italian home textile brand Zucchi.