The document describes observations from visits to several retail stores. It notes that one store was very crowded and busy, with not enough staff to assist the large number of customers. Another store, Sephora, felt unwelcoming and the products were arranged by bright colors. A third neighborhood shop smelled strongly of old socks and rancid cheese, with grumpy older female staff and mostly elderly customers.

3.  The whole store was bright, spacious, with
soft background music (pop music is not my
cup of tea but as it was in the background
was not irritating). However there was this
bustling crowd of people rummaging
around. It was way too overcrowded and
the girls working in the fitting room were not
enough to cover to cover the load. The
security guards were situated near the
entrance//exit and were not conspicuous.
Despite the hoards of people, the place
was not smelly but hot.

4.  There were some girls (not wearing uniforms, just name tags)
that scurried around but they seemed stressed because of
the huge amount of customers (Sunday afternoon). Because
of that it was almost mission impossible to grab hold of them.
At the cash register (relatively close to the exit)the guy
appeared stressed but still we received a good level of
customer service. All the employees at the floor were young-
my guess is mid-twenties. Noticed that some of the girls were
wearing some of the trickles that were sold there- jewelry and
hair accessories.
 The average age/gender of the customers- two groups-
teenage girls and women 24-30. There were items on sale all
of which were in a mess because a lot of people were
concentrated around. Also people were queuing (on
average 4-5 people on each register, I spent around 30
minutes in and the queue was all the time present).

6.  When you enter the store the first thing you see
is three elegant mannequins dressed smartly for
winter season. Right next to it is the “Sales”
section- for the easy access of the customer.
There are tables next to the racks everywhere
in the shop with some items scattered on top.
Clothing is arranged by colour and function
(night dresses, lingerie, casual wear, separate
walls for shoes, bags and scarves, smart
dresses//skirts, pantaloons; also there is a
separate section for the men‟s wear and the
children's, however the women‟s section was
the biggest.)

8.  First impression before I enter- two promoters in front at the very
gate- paid no attention to my friend and me as we were quite
casual wearing jeans, sneakers and no make-up as for the lady
behind us- all dressed-up and glossed-up- both promoters were
smiles and rainbows all over. I should add that Sephora is quite
pricey for the standards in Bulgaria. Throughout our walk in the
shop no one came to check on us if we were fine or if we
wanted anything. The staff were women around 30. All of them
wore heavy make-up with white shirts for uniform. The space was
too tight for all the racks that surround you and seem somehow
daunting as most of them were taller than average.
 The product range consisted of expensive perfumes, make-
up, cosmetics. What grabbed my attention was that the
Sephora brand items were all in extremely bright colours-
orange, yellow, pink. The first thing you see when you enter is the
products on sale. It was not busy in comparison with H&M. While
I was there all of the customers were women (and a dragged in
boyfriend/husband.

9.  Overall I could not spend a lot
of time in Sephora as it made
me feel unwelcomed. On my
way out I noticed these tiny
shower gels which reminded
me of coffee creams with
different flavours. When I did
my research I found out that
we still do not have those here
in Bulgaria. So there you go- a
niche to explore and expand.

10.  That store despite its massiveness
(massive places with huge variety of
choices are scary for me) it was
tidy, spacious, well-organized, easy
to maneuver around. Throughout
my walk those two things came to
my notice:

11.  a a broken
 pepper- pot

13.  Well, this is a regular neighborhood
shop here- it smelled like old socks and
rancid cheese at the same time. All of
the ladies (around age 50 wearing
bright red uniforms) working there were
stiff and grumpy. Because of the smell I
couldn't stay much for a thorough
insight. Noticed that mostly pensioners
were the customers. Despite that they
have managed to put in one place-
pet‟s
food, detergents, newspapers, fruits
and veg, all in one place in dangerous
proximity. Could not provide sufficient
material as one of the grumpy ladies
was giving me the eye when I was
doing my best to sneak out my
camera. Also the counters were
smudged with all sorts of liquids, coffee
and grease, sprinkled with bread
crumbs and fruit/vegetable leaves…
 Definitely the „fragrance‟ is still haunting
me.