The document provides a summary of observations from visits to several stores located in an SM Hypermart branch in Las Pinas, Philippines. It describes the environment, products, personnel, and customers observed at CDR-King (computer accessories store), Astro Plus (music and movie store), Imono Stainless Jewelry, and ACE Hardware. Key details like store layout, signage, product placement, and employee/customer interactions are examined to understand each store's operations and customer experience.

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A CRASH COURSE ON CREATIVITY

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NAME: CDR-King
SNAPSHOT:
SM Hypermart Las Pinas branch - Location is predominantly
a middle-class to upper middle class area. About 20.1 km fr
om Philippines’ capital, Manila.
Began and established itself as a cheap source for discs, co
mputer peripherals and accessories. Company expanded its
product line to include luggage, home appliances and lapto
ps.
Over 200 branches nationwide.
Directly sources from China factory and no funds used for a
dvertising and marketing are among the reasons given why
the company is able to price its products significantly lower
than others

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Does the store draw you in? If so, how? Yes. You get a clear vie
w of merchandise outside. Near the door is an LED TV with a prod
uct slideshow. The only glass décor is a three inch high CDR-King
tape positioned below eye-level.
Is the door open or closed? Open
How does this make you feel? Easy to enter and exit. Less stuffy.
There are periods when there are more than a dozen people in the
store. The open door allows you to stand outside near the door wh
ile waiting for your number to be called.
How big is the sign lettering and in what font? About three feet
high. The color yellow is predominantly used followed by blue.
What does it tell you about the store? The company was conscio
us about establishing a consistent look and feel of each store. The
colors creates a relaxed atmosphere inside the store.

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How long does it take before a sales person initiates contact? Custome
rs get a number and are attended to when the number is called.
Does the salesperson have a script to follow with each customer? No.
Does the salesperson treat different customers differently? No. All tec
h-related issues are immediately referred to the tech personnel.
What is the ratio of salespeople to customers? Three salesclerks, one tec
h guy and one cashier.
What age and gender are the employees? Late 20s to early 30s. All femal
e except for tech guy.
Are the salespeople using the store products? Not sure.
Do the salespeople have a uniform? Yes. Yellow shirts with blue stripes fo
r the salespeople. All blue shirt for the tech guy.
Do the salespeople match the stores image? Yes.

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What is the color scheme of the store? How does this affect you?
Yellow and blue. Not irritating when you stare to look at the display.
What type of floor does the store have? How does this effect the e
nvironment? Vinyl tiles. Most of the stores in the mall use the same f
looring.
How high is the ceiling? How does this feel? Roughly 12 feet.
How brightly lit is the store? How does this affect you? The store h
as sufficient lighting for people with good eyesight to read the text an
d price of the products displayed.
How loud is the environment? The store is sandwiched between two
stalls selling Christmas decorations. The stall on the right has a loud s
peaker playing Black Eyed Peas. The stall on the left has a sales clerk
with a microphone inviting people to check their merchandise.

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Is there music playing? If so, does it fit the environment? Yes. Upbeat
and familiar music that lifts up the mood.
Is the store warm or cold? Average.
Is the store crowed with merchandise or is it sparse? Floor to ceiling f
ull of merchandise. Every space of the store is used.
Does the store have a distinctive smell? No.
Where is the cash register located? Left corner farthest from the door nea
r stockroom.
How visible is the store security? I didn’t notice any cameras. There is no
store security. There are roving guards in the mall.
How long do you want to stay in this store? Not more than 30 mins.
Does the environment influence the perceived value of the merchandi
se? Yes.

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What is the first product that you notice? Blank discs. LED TVs, headsets.
Is there a central display table with featured products? No.
Where are items that are “for sale” located in the store? Nothing.
How are the products arranged? By function? By price? By color? Functi
on.
Are there free samples or demonstrations? No. Items are tested before it is
sold.
What products are at eye level? Some of the entry-level items are at eye lev
el.
What items in the store are in the least accessible locations? A glass dis
play separates customers from the wall display. Customers need to ask the c
lerk for a specific item.
Are the prices of the products easy to find? Yes
Are there impulse items near the cash register? No.

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• NAME: Astro Plus
SNAPSHOT
• SM Hypermarket Las Pinas branch – Location is predominantly a
middle-class to upper middle class area
• One of the country’s leading film and music retail chains.
• Over 50 branches nationwide.
• Several stalls near the mall sell pirated music and movie DVDs. T
he cost of a pirated movie DVD is about one US dollar or Php40, w
hile a music CD retails for about Php25 ( US$1 = Php41.3)
• Sales of audio and video CDs and DVDs have been on a steady de
cline since 2005. Figures from the Philippine Association of the Re
cord Industry show physical audio and video sales fell by 46.3% i
n 2010 to P699,360 compared to P1,302,877 in 2005.

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• Before you enter the store:
• Does the store draw you in? If so, how? No.
• Is the door open or closed? Open
• How does this make you feel? The store façade does not give me any
compelling reason to check the merchandise.
• How big is the sign lettering and in what font? About three to four fe
et high.

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• What is the color scheme of the store? How does this affect you?
White walls with colorful circles and pinstripes. Easy to the eye.
• What type of floor does the store have? How does this effect the envir
onment? Vinyl tiles.
• How high is the ceiling? How does this feel? 12 feet
• How brightly lit is the store? How does this affect you? Very well lit.
• How loud is the environment? For a music store, nothing was being pl
ayed.
• Is there music playing? If so, does it fit the environment? I would h
ave preferred the store play an audio CD or show a movie.
• Is the store warm or cold? Just right.
• Is the store crowed with merchandise or is it sparse? The store me
asures about 25 square meters. About four feet is dedicated to gaming co
nsoles. The rest is a mix of VCDs and DVDs.
• Does the store have a distinctive smell? No.
• Where is the cash register located? Middle at the back.
• How visible is the store security? No store security.
• How long do you want to stay in this store? No more than 30 minutes
.
• Does the environment influence the perceived value of the mercha
ndise? No.

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• Personnel:
• How long does it take before a sales person initiates contac
t? Personnel approaches only if you ask for something.
• Does the salesperson have a script to follow with each cust
omer? No.
• Does the salesperson treat different customers differently?
I don’t know.
• What is the ratio of salespeople to customers? Two handle t
he gaming area, two people are in the cashier section and two sta
nd near the displays.
• What age and gender are the employees? Late 20s to early 3
0s. Four women and two men.
• Are the salespeople using the store products? Not sure.
• Do the salespeople have a uniform? Not sure. Four of the pers
onnel wore black shirts.

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• Products:
• What is the first product that you notice? Gaming equipment
and the display stand closest to the entrance featured Philippine D
VD movies.
• Is there a central display table with featured products? Yes
.
• Where are items that are “for sale” located in the store? Mo
vies in VCD and DVD formats. Mostly movies shown in the 1990s.
• How are the products arranged? By function? By price? By
color? There was no systematic arrangement. There were movie
s tailored for children that were grouped with horror or suspense t
itles. No alphabetical listing of audio and film titles.
• Are there free samples or demonstrations? No.
• What products are at eye level? VCDs and DVDs.

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• Customers:
● Do customer touch the products? Is this encouraged? Yes. T
o read the description.
• Do most customers appear to be on a mission or are they b
rowsing? I was the only customer in the store.
• What percent of customers purchase products in the store?
There was no other customer when I was there.

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• NAME: Imono Stainless Jewelry
SNAPSHOT
• SM Hypermart Las Pinas branch – Location is predominantly a mid
dle-class to upper middle class area.
• Sells contemporary and stylish jewelry designs.
• Target market is at least 18 years old male and female
• Store offers engraving services. Does not accept custom-made je
welry orders.
• Retails for at least $4USD depending on style and design.

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• Before you enter the store:
• Does the store draw you in? If so, how? There is a big sale si
gn near the entrance. At the time, it was the only one with a sale
sign outside the store.
• Is the door open or closed? There is no door. This is a standar
d design for all the stores in the mall.
• How big is the sign lettering and in what font? About three f
eet high.

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• Environment:
• What is the color scheme of the store? How does this affect you? B
lack and white. There are several posters of models wearing the jewelry. I
was a bit amused they did not use a Filipino model.
• What type of floor does the store have? How does this effect the e
nvironment? Grey carpet.
• How high is the ceiling? How does this feel? 12 feet.
• How brightly lit is the store? How does this affect you? The store w
as brightly lit and the glass displays had its own lighting system.
• How loud is the environment? The only noise came from customer enq
uiries. Not that loud to bother other customers.
• Is there music playing? If so, does it fit the environment? No.
• Is the store warm or cold? Average.
• Is the store crowed with merchandise or is it sparse? The store had
a U-shaped display.

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• Does the store have a distinctive smell? No.
• Where is the cash register located? The register is in the mid
dle of the U-shaped glass display in a direct line with the entrance
.
• How visible is the store security? There is no store security.
• How long do you want to stay in this store? No more than 15
minutes.
• Does the environment influence the perceived value of the
merchandise? Yes.

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• Personnel:
• How long does it take before a sales person initiates contact? A sal
es person immediately talks about the product when you look at the displa
y.
• Does the salesperson have a script to follow with each customer?
No.
• Does the salesperson treat different customers differently? No.
• What is the ratio of salespeople to customers? 1:1
• What age and gender are the employees? Late 20s to early 30s. All fe
male.
• Are the salespeople using the store products? Not sure.
• Do the salespeople have a uniform? Yes. Black shirts.
• Do the salespeople match the stores image? Yes.

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• Products:
• What is the first product that you notice? Rings.
• Is there a central display table with featured products? No.
• Where are items that are “for sale” located in the store? It’
s on the right side near the entrance. A small sale sign measuring
no more than eight inches is on the glass display.
• How are the products arranged? By function? By price? By
color? By price.
• Are there free samples or demonstrations? No.
• What products are at eye level? All the items are in glass displ
ays.

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• Customers:
• Are most customers alone or with someone else? What is the relati
onship? At the time, all the customers were women and had someone wi
th them.
• What is the average age and gender of the customers? 30s to 50s.
• When a customer enters the store, do they tend to walk in the sam
e path or direction? - No. They checked different displays. No one che
cked the sale items first.
• How long do customers stay in the store, on average? About 30 min
utes.
• Do customer touch the products? Is this encouraged? Yes. All the cu
stomers asked if they could take a closer look.
• Do most customers appear to be on a mission or are they browsing
? Most of the customers knew what they want and asked for specific items
.
• What percent of customers purchase products in the store? Out of
eight customers, three made a purchase.

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• NAME: ACE Hardware
SNAPSHOT
• SM Hypermarket Las Pinas branch – Location is predominantly a
middle-class to upper middle class area
• Local franchise of US-based Ace Hardware.
• An affiliate of the SM Group of Companies, the Philippines’s bigges
t mall operator
• Thirty-nine branches nationwide . First branch was Las Pinas, whi
ch is located south of the capital.

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• Before you enter the store:
• Does the store draw you in? If so, how? Very well lit interiors
. Bright Christmas displays.
• Is the door open or closed? There is no door. This is a standard
design for all the stores.
• How big is the sign lettering and in what font? ACE Hardwar
e is in big, bold white letters.

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• Environment:
• What is the color scheme of the store? How does this affect
you? White interiors. Wood display shelves.
• What type of floor does the store have? How does this effec
t the environment? Vinyl tiles.
• How high is the ceiling? How does this feel? 12 feet
• How brightly lit is the store? How does this affect you? The
store is divided into 21 sections. Each section is brightly lit. Easy t
o browse and check the items.
• How loud is the environment? There was Christmas music pla
yed outside the store.
• Is there music playing? If so, does it fit the environment? No.

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• Is the store warm or cold? Just right.
• Is the store crowed with merchandise or is it sparse? There
was room to move around even though the store was stocked.
• Does the store have a distinctive smell? No.
• Where is the cash register located? Near the entrance/exit.
• How visible is the store security? There were two guards on o
pposite sides of the entrance.
• How long do you want to stay in this store? No more than an
hour.
• Does the environment influence the perceived value of the
merchandise? Yes.

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• Personnel:
• How long does it take before a sales person initiates contact? Abo
ut five minutes. It appears one clerk handles two sections. The staff does
not immediately approach you unless you ask for assistance.
• Does the salesperson have a script to follow with each customer?
No.
• Does the salesperson treat different customers differently? I don’t
know.
• What age and gender are the employees? Late 20s to early 30s.
• Are the salespeople using the store products? Not sure.
• Do the salespeople have a uniform? Cashiers wear red shirts and blac
k pants. The sales people wear a red vest on white shirt and black pants.
• Do the salespeople match the stores image? Yes.

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• Products:
• What is the first product that you notice? Outside the store is an ope
n tent. There are candles, tables and Christmas decors on display.
• Is there a central display table with featured products? Yes.
• How are the products arranged? By function? By price? By color?
By function.
• Are there free samples or demonstrations? No.
• What items in the store are in the least accessible locations? Items
that take too much space on a wall or difficult to hang. For example, pails
and fans.
• Are the prices of the products easy to find? Yes
• Are there impulse items near the cash register? Yes. Batteries, tooth
brush and mints.

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• Customers:
• Are most customers alone or with someone else? What is the relati
onship? Mostly alone.
• What is the average age and gender of the customers? 30s to 50s.
• When a customer enters the store, do they tend to walk in the sam
e path or direction? Different directions.
• How long do customers stay in the store, on average? At least 30 mi
nutes.
• Do customer touch the products? Is this encouraged? Yes. To read t
he description and check the item.
• Do most customers appear to be on a mission or are they browsing
? Most appeared to know what they want and were looking for a specific i
tem.
• What percent of customers purchase products in the store? Most of
the customers seem to have purchased an item.