observation lab sj tem431

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Steven Jackson TEM 431 Prof. Bronowitz 8/4/2015 Observation Lab For my observation lab, I visited several stores in—no particular order. My experience was rather interesting, in few of my visits, I was followed by security and asked multiple times, and “What are you doing? Why are you taking pictures?” I respected this place of business, and told them all that this was research for my class assignment at ASU. I had a feeling they thought I was a secret shopper, or someone casing the store. The stores I visited were: FedEx Office, 99 Cent Only Store, Joann Fabric and Crafts, Hobby Lobby, at&t, and BevMo. FedEx Office: Before entering FedEx Office, I did not see anything that attracted me to come in, although the sign is large enough to see from the other side of the parking lot, it seemed to be only visible if you’re facing it.

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Page 1: Observation lab sj tem431

Steven Jackson

TEM 431

Prof. Bronowitz

8/4/2015

Observation Lab

For my observation lab, I visited several stores in—no particular order. My experience was

rather interesting, in few of my visits, I was followed by security and asked multiple times, and “What

are you doing? Why are you taking pictures?” I respected this place of business, and told them all that

this was research for my class assignment at ASU. I had a feeling they thought I was a secret shopper, or

someone casing the store. The stores I visited were: FedEx Office, 99 Cent Only Store, Joann Fabric and

Crafts, Hobby Lobby, at&t, and BevMo.

FedEx Office:

Before entering FedEx Office, I did not see anything that attracted me to come in, although the

sign is large enough to see from the other side of the parking lot, it seemed to be only visible if you’re

facing it.

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Only reason why I went into the store was because I needed to print some information because

I printer stopped working and I needed it printed fast. The store had a color theme of blue and white,

which made it visibly light and light feeling in the store. The floor was interesting, it distinguishes the

main pathway to the registers and to the help desk from where customers would go to shop and use

computers, printers, and fax machines.

The staff was friendly, but I had to approach them, I was not greeted or approached while I was

in the store. There were only two staff members in the store when I was there, and both were female.

The staff members were dressed like the people in the pictures on the walls signifying that FedEx Office

has a particular dress code.

I really was not attracted to anything else in the store, and I wanted to leave once I was in there.

I felt as if I had to go find someone to help me, otherwise I’m on my own. There was only one other

person in the store when I got there, they were already checking out and getting ready to leave. FedEx

Office is place you visit if you have a reason to be there, there was not much being advertised other than

the types of services they provide.

99c Only Store:

While walking up to the store, I was surprise to have a feel like I wanted to walk in. The door

was opened, inviting, and the bright color kept my eyes on the store as I walked in. Unfortunately, that

feeling changed dramatically as soon as I stepped foot in the store. The store was very bright, with

bright blue and white colors, and the store was extremely cool – which was amazing since it was 90

degrees outside.

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The environment was ok; it smelled like plastic wrap and lemon cleaning supplies indicating

that they must have just cleaned something in the store. The floors were tile and extremely dirty, once I

focused on that I did not want to be in the store any longer. The merchandising was very cluttered, but

organized at least which made like a controlled mess. The customers, I noticed, would not place

merchandising back with care either. They took the same pride as the staff did about the environment.

I was not greeted or approached while I was in the store, and several staff members passed me

without acknowledging me. The staff did have uniforms, but they were apron uniforms, not a

traditional style I’d normally see at other stores. The store personnel was restocking the shelves and

Page 4: Observation lab sj tem431

focusing on their tasks, not really on the customers. The store was not jammed packed with customers,

but the only help I saw a customer receiving was at the register, which is located at the front of the store

when you walk in.

Most of everything is on sale at the store for 99 cents. The first thing I noticed when I walked in

was the binders for 99 cents. It looked like they’re getting ready for the new school year to start, the

store had a lot of school supplies visible through out sections of the store. All the products were at eye

level, and the merchandising shelves were no higher than 6 feet, making it easy to grab products and to

see them. The 99 cent Only Store gives me mixed feelings, it seems like people go there to find

something specific for cheap, browsing, or just killing time. I could not pinpoint exactly why customers

were there, but that is the feeling I did my observation.

Joann Fabric:

I had an interesting experience at Joann. My first impression was, “wow, all this space for a

fabric store?” But sometimes, looks can be deceiving, on the outside the store looks very large, and on

the inside it did not look as large. The store had a nice huge front sign that really stood out from the

other stores. The color scheme was brown with some hints of green; it had a nice fall welcoming feeling

to the environment.

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The store was set up very “busily,” the middle aisle separated the store from their fabric side

from their other products. The personnel in the store did not approach me until I started taking pictures

of the environment. When I walked in there was someone checking at the registered which was located

near the front of the store. They greeted me and I proceeded into the store where I stood around for a

second taking a look at the sales items located at the end caps of each aisle.

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From that point, it was not long until I was approached with, “excuse me sir, why are you taking

pictures of our store.” I proceeded to talk to her about the class assignment when the in store security

approached me with the same questions. I was told that one of the employees did not feel comfortable

with me taking pictures; I think it was because I’m a man, and the entire staffs are women, except the

security guard. They all wore aprons and had white t-shirts on underneath, I’m assuming that was their

color scheme for their uniforms.

The first product that caught my attention was the fall décor, mainly the candles for two

reasons: 1) it was the shelf where there was the most space. 2) I really enjoy a nice scented candle at

times. I was the only customer in the store at the time.

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Hobby Lobby:

My experience in Hobby Lobby was the same as Joann. Before walking in, I saw how huge the

store was and thought to myself, “This store is huge.” And it was. Right when you walk in they have

some of their sale items that you can see on your way in and on your way out. Soon as I stepped foot in

the store, it opened up and you can see how large the store is, it was like a warehouse. The store was

very bright and smelled like pumpkin spice, very cool and had a nice feel to the environment.

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The first things I noticed were their glass display and their picture frames. Being that they were

fright in front of the store when you walked in, they were also the brightest items compared to other

items in the store. The employees were not in uniform, some had on an apron, some did not, and the

manager wore all black. The only time I was asked if I needed help was when they saw me taking

pictures of the store and merchandising. I explained how this was for a class assignment, and they

asked me to leave. I walked around the store a little bit longer before walking out; I did not want to

upset anyone any further.

Hobby Lobby has an all-female staff working there; I did not see any men working the sales

floor. The store had products at eye-level and higher, some bigger items were not as easily accessible as

other products.

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at&t:

I noticed the sign out front was smaller than I expected to be. None-the-less, I figured the store

would be quite large since it looks large on the outside. In actuality it was very small on the inside, it

was very deceptive. at&t had a color scheme of blue and white, which was very inviting upon entering

the facility. There was music playing, and also these portable air conditioning units going on when made

the ambient noise loud, but not loud enough to disrupt sales.

Soon as I walked in I was greeted from a representative which made me was to stay and wait to

be helped. The store was full of customers, and all of the representatives were busy handling other

transactions. All the representatives were wearing the same color, baby blue top with blue jeans. All of

the sales teams used iPads instead of computers with registers.

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The first products I noticed were the wireless speakers and head phone section. Though nothing

there is actually on sale, unless you’re eligible for an upgrade, new line, or have a discount code on your

account.

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BevMo:

The BevMo I visited was probably the largest BevMo I’ve been in period. The store was cool

because they sell alcoholic beverages. I noticed the sign was big enough to view from the freeway and

as long as you’re in the plane of site for the store. Soon as I walked I noticed the sales they had for wine

right up front. The middle of the store was set up from promotion and sales, while the remainder of the

store just show cased their product.

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The merchandise was crowded, they have a lot of product to show, but it was easy to view their

products. The sales people wore the same shirts but not the same type of pants. They don’t follow a

script the personnel just need to know their product and where the product is located. The products

were set at eye level, and the more expensive product was placed higher than the other cheaper

product. The higher quality, the closer it is to your eyes, the lesser quality products was placed at the

bottom.

The customers seemed to be happy and have a healthy relationship with the sales

representatives. The customers that were in the store did a combination of browsing and look for

specific types of product; with the many different types of selection it would be easy to go in there with

something specific in mind, and come out with something different.

The biggest surprise I noticed between all the store I visited was the flooring. Regardless of the

type of floor, or the condition of the floor is, they all lead customers on a particular pathway. The floors

guide customers throughout the store and to the registers. Next to the registers in all the stores was

candy for purchase. Stores know customers buy sugar out of impulse so they’ll make it easily assessable

to any customer before the pay and check out.