Retail Observation’s Fall into WinterOctober 29th-30th, 2012

By Jocelyn Bromley

I visited Kohl’s (where they are focused on a “dream a little dream” campaign for the upcoming holiday season), CVS Pharmacy, Dollar Tree, Home Goods, TJ Maxx & Benny’s while Hurricane Sandy was hitting the area where I live in Rhode Island. Due to the storm, many places where closed. These that were opened kept a small amount of staff on hand. Some didn’t have any music playing and others did. Some closed early. Most of them had a display in the front with items for the storm like batteries, flashlights, candles, etc.

The woman’s department displayed sparkly eveningwear.

The girl’s department 20 feet away displayed similar sparkly clothing.

Kohl’s had high ceilings with fluorescent lighting. The main aisles had VCT while the departments were marked off by grey carpet. Programed music was sprinkled with ad’s in favour of Kohl’s “green ways”. The employees wore a shirt that had Kohl’s embroidered in the right hand corner as well as a lanyard with their name on the plastic sleeve. Their façade was white in all caps against a concrete backdrop. Clean & simple, it drew me in. One thing I noticed that I hadn’t before was how their marketing plays to a little girl wanting to be just like mom or perhaps being pushed to grow up too fast.

The food section was sparse and located on the back wall. It seems the only sells what they deem are necessities. I noticed how high their prices are marked due to the

convenience factor.

CVS façade really shocked me at first. The bright red colour brings you in and that is wise. This company is know for their pharmacy needs though so I was surprised to see that CVS was all in caps while the pharmacy was all in lower case. Not even the p had been capitalized. The employees also wore shirts with the CVS emblem in the right hand corner. They were of a younger set. The gondolas were short. The first thing you notice when you walk in is cosmetics, bright & glittery. The pharmacy was way in the back. These food items were the most expensive in convenience markups.

The Halloween area was not very well kept up; some in shippers & some just placed on the shelf.

The Christmas & Halloween items were kept in the same aisle and reached out into surrounding aisles.

The Dollar Tree store name is usually in green letters, as you can see on the shelf strip in the first picture. This façade was just a fabric draping in times new roman font. It made it seem as though it was it’s own entity. The employees were also young but did not wear any kind of uniform that would distinguish them apart from the customers. The aisles were unorganized and messy. It did not seem like there was any method to their madness. I hadn’t noticed how messy it was before today. I guess this proves that you get what you pay for. Low prices equals low merchandising goals.

They are cornering in on owl’s popularity right now with these little girl products- a good strategy.

Holiday merchandise was dispersed throughout the store, the main holiday section was in the back. Odd.

Home Goods used to be in the same plaza as TJ Maxx, their flagship store. I never understood why because the home area in TJ Maxx always had the same products as Home Goods. This new location has given them a platform to really step it up. The items are much classier and pricier too. The floor is made up of light oak colour wood planking with a nice sheen. As you walk in there is a table filled with Halloween items. As you move forward there are glass vases and glass table art. I noticed the holiday items were placed throughout the store. They are either unorganized or shoving them down our throats.

As you first walk in you see a large display of pocketbooks, perhaps their big seller?

Still cashing in on the owl popularity we have three different types of table or shelf decoration.

The owl items, as well as the other décor was also found at Home Goods. Both facades for TJ Maxx & Home Goods is in a bold trademark font in a bright red. Both stores also had very professional employees who were friendly and easily distinguishable with the same bright blue shirts, complete with the stores emblem and lanyards with their names. The floors here were a shiny white VCT which reflected the halogen lights. The pattern the lights made on the floor made me dizzy. I noticed makeup and gourmet candy were the chosen impulse buys at the registers. The prices were between $1.99 & $7.99 and with prices like that, why not add something on? This was best merchandising technique I could see.

Once you walk through the vestibule, you encounter clearance items. These were all Christmas themed.

The hometown ornaments were placed on top of the short gondola in toys. Who would look there?

Benny’s is our state’s “hometown” chain store. It is your one stop for anything you may need. Bikes, tires, headlights, food, candles, sweatshirts, etc. They are focused on local interests such as our sports teams and old tyme memories (as you can see in the ornament display). The floor is white VCT but here the longer halogens don’t make the reflection as sickening. Although this store is jam packed, it is very organized and well labeled. The prices are a tad higher but the one stop convenience makes up for it. People like my father love to shop here because it keeps the money in town. As I look around my city I understand why this is so important. This was actually the best shopping experience of the six!