2nd assignement submission

1. OBSERVATION LAB
Gabriella Mastrangelo
2nd assignement
A Crash Course on Creativity,
Professor Tina Seelig, Stanford X

2. LOCATION
TARANTO
Shopping Center: La Mongolfiera
Location: Taranto, Italy
Info: the shopping center is managed by Svicom, an italian real estate specialized in retail.
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:

3. THE SHOPS
CACHE CACHE - womenswear
BIANCA - home textiles
FOLLIE D’ORO - jewellery store
GAME STOP - video game retailer
1. time constraint: 2. location constraint:
I had the limit of 1.30 hour, so I set the alarm every 15 min, in order to I needed a comfortable place where to sit and observe, unfortunately
make as many shops ad I could, in the end I spent more than 20 min the benches did not cover the whole length of the aisle, so my observa-
per shop, so I just visited 4 shops. 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.

4. SHOP nr. 1
Cache - Cache
French 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.

5. SHOP nr. 1 Environment:
The shop’s color scheme follows the brand
colors: white and yellow.
Cache - Cache The walls, the false ceiling, the shelves and the
French franchising low-cost clothing store, 1350 shops in the world, owned by Groupe Beaumanoir. till are white, with yellow small details, the ceil-
http://www.cache-cache.com/ 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.

6. SHOP nr. 1 Personnel
As soon as I walk in, the shop assistant wel-
comes me with a “Ciao” (Hello).
Cache - Cache She follows the same script with every new
French franchising low-cost clothing store, 1350 shops in the world, owned by Groupe Beaumanoir. customers: she greets you and reminds you
http://www.cache-cache.com/ 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.
Products Customers
There is a central display table, which is just The prices range from 2,99€ (hairclips) to The typical customers are female, aged 15-30,
in front of the entrance and it makes like a 99,00€ (suede leather jacket). There is no a sometimes they are a couple or a small group
continuous strip that runs from the floor up to specific location for the cheap and expensive of friends, or a mother with her daughter/s.
the wall and the ceiling. items, every shelf/hangers has products with The customers browse around, the lay-
The items for sales are located near the en- different prices and the average price range is out of the store makes a kind of maze,
trance and on the right hand side wall. 25- 55€. so they don’t follow the same path but
The products are arranged by function; at eye The price tags are very visible on each item. zig-zag from one shelf to the other.
level are displayed hung jackets, shirts and The least accessible items are the shoes and
trousers. the bags which are displayed on shelves .

7. 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.

8. Shop 2 Environment
The store color scheme comprises white and
ivory for the background and glass and dark
Follie d’Oro ( Golden follies) cherry veneer for the furniture.
Italian franchising jewellery store, owned by Gruppo Sarni, more than 100 stores across Italy. The floor is made of white matte ceramic tiles,
http://www.sarnioro.it 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.

9. Shop 2 Personnel
The personnel is quite busy, they don’t wel-
come the new customers if they are already
Follie d’Oro ( Golden follies) taking care of one.
Italian franchising jewellery store, owned by Gruppo Sarni, more than 100 stores across Italy.
http://www.sarnioro.it 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.
Products
The 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 customers
There 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.
Customers
Half 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).

10. Shop 3 Before you enter
The window and the entrance are messy,
crowded with boxes and graphics promoting
Game Stop offers and new releases.
“GameStop is the world’s largest video game retailer with over 6600 stores in 15 countries worldwide and online.” The logo is white and red, it is a statement, the
www.gamestop.com 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.
Environment
The 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 visible
The 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.

11. Shop 3 Products
The dvds are displayed along the walls on the
racks that go from floor to ceiling, and in cen-
Game Stop tral freestanding shelves.
“GameStop is the world’s largest video game retailer with over 6600 stores in 15 countries worldwide and online.” At eye level are located the new game releases,
www.gamestop.com 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.
Personnel
The 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.
Customers
People 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.

12. Shop 4
Bianca
Reseller of the italian home textile brand Zucchi.
Before you enter
The 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.
Personnel
The 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.

13. Shop 4
The environment
The main colours of the shop are white and
brown for the walls and the furniture, while
Bianca there are also banners with pale colors and
Reseller of the italian home textile brand Zucchi. 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€.