4. Walking through Valencia
Valencia is the third largest city
in Spain after Madrid and
Barcelona.
Valencia is a shoppers paradise.
The most important area is
around Colon Street. You could
find all the well known fashion
chains and the Corte Ingles in
this area.
5. Observing some stores in Colon street
My first stop: Stradivarius
The door is open as an invitation to enter.
First I noticed, the music sounds
extremely loud. That makes me feel dizzy.
The store is crowed with merchandise.
Customes touch the products all the time,
they don't appear to be on a mission but
browsing. Salespersons give them
freedom, they don't follow them.
People don't buy things or stay here as
long I though.
6. Next stop: claire's
Claire's logo is purple. Inside, everything is
purple too. Had I seen it before? I'm not
sure.
They divided the store into two different
spaces using several shades of purple
color. There are white floor tiles and walls
painted lila at the beginning of the store,
and at the end, lila floor tiles and soft lila
color in the walls. I would never have
noticed it if I hadn't this task!
Personnel approach customers with a
friendly smile, offering its special prices.
I dont' like these kinds of accessories and
jewelry they sell but I don't care to stay
here long browsing around. Shop is quiet.
Nice pop music.
7. The next one has an interrogative sign:
GUESS
The store has a distinctive very nice
smell. The ceiling is high. Not noise, just
a soft music at a very low level. I'm
comfortable here inmediately.
Personnel walk silently around the store,
they are visible but don't bother you.
There is almost 1:1 sales person to
customer ratio.
The products are arranged by function,
practically everything is at eye level and
easy to see and find, the shop is well
brightly lit.
I never spent so much time here before.
Today I could appreciate very well how
the environment influences the
perceived value of the merchandise.
8. Antoher jewerly on my way: Bijou Brigitte.
The door is open. Nobody noticed I entered,
there is only one person in the store staying
at the cash desk.
Serve yourself. You can touch everything
you see but you hardly see all.
I have shopped here many times and never
understood as products were distributed.
Now I can figure more exactly the pattern in
products arragement.
The most popular items are earrings and
necklaces. Earrings are distributed on the
central table the way you see it first.
Necklaces are along the back wall
distribuited by colors. Hair accessories are
on the low level, close to the floor.
Men buy imitation jewelry too!
9. The pearl of the crown:
In Spain they say: Does it exist? It may be
found in "El Corte Inglés”. So, I visited it.
Security is the most remarkable here: Security
Guards and Security Bars are everywhere.
It takes a second before a sale person iniciate
contact with you. They are very helpful and
knowledgeable. They have a uniform. They
match the stores image.
Most customers are with someone else, it's
common to find family groups. A high
percentage of them buy something.
I discovered some interesting prices here.
10. Some color in my observation
Bright, but horrible lighting. However, it's a
nice place because of clothing, which is
great . It's placed carefully throughout the
store.
The store isn't crowed with merchandise.
You can see practically all products at eye
level.
The staff is friendly, they help you if ask for
without suffocating you.
It's nice to browsing around the shop just
touching the clothes.
What I discover this time? They sell
phones! Earphones, cups, gadgets,
mobile phone. I hadn't noticed that before.
11. A Little Culture to Luxury end
After years of practice, I can walk into
this bookstore, Librería Serrano, and
find everything I want with closed
eyes.
Is it different a different place for me
today? Not sure. But, for the first
time, I look carefully at the walls,
floor, even at the salespersons'
faces.
This an amazing place for book
browsing & dreaming!
Power of Observation comes from
books, I said my self, and I bought a
book, considering this part of the
task finished.
12. So happy
I am impressed by how much I have developed my observational skills making this exercise.
After visiting two or three stores it was easy to remember details I was looking for without
looking at the list.
Paying close attention to many details help me to improve my long-term memory and to be more
aware at the same time. I'm very happy with my new way of observation.
I want to be an active observer forever.
