So over the past couple of days we have been scouting locations. First we went to check out the store of one of the big names in plus in Florida. She was the person everyone quoted as being the be all and end all of plus. Her store is in a small strip mall with a few other high end joints. They were closed for the holiday but from what I could see from outside I was not impressed. What really freaked me out was the hours. They open at 11am and close at 5pm. We are open until 9pm at night. This freaks me out man. What kind of foot traffic can they have. Plus they are all closed on Sunday.
Then we went to the mall. It was pretty crowded and had a lot of foot traffic at least. They had Saks and Neimans and Bendels and Nordstrams and lots of high end shops. That is why the other high end shop is in the small shopping center across the way.
Now I know enough to know what I don't know. Mall culture is a mystery to me. I mean I have seen it in movies and stuff but I am too old to have experienced it for myself. I never hung around the food court at the mall so I don't understand the culture. And it is a culture. Just like Hottentot's and Eskimos.
Now when the girls went shopping at Nordstrams I decided to wander away for a while. I went to the bookstore and bought a book like I always do (it was the second in the series about Orc's which was pretty cool). And I stopped at the Food Court for a Philly Cheese Steak Sandwich from Subway. Now I am not a real food snob. I like all kinds of stuff even though I know the Subway Philly Cheese steak is a pale imitation of the real thing I still enjoyed it. As I ate I watched the family groups and packs of tweens and teenagers interact in the food court area. I wondered if we put a store in the mall would it work? It seemed more of a social event than a real shopping event you know what I mean. But maybe these weren't the real dedicated shoppers. Would it be better to be away from all this activity or will it be made up by the greater foot traffic? These are all questions I have to ponder as we think about our next step.
5 comments:
In Bernard Malamud's The Assistant, early in the book the owner of the small grocery store the assistant has found work in is trying to sell his store. A prospective buyer comes to the store, positions himself in an out of the way spot and just stands there for hours, on two separate days, which gives him an accurate picture of just how healthy (or not healthy in this case) the business is.
That would be my suggestion to you. Go stand in the plus store in the mall. See what traffic is like. Trust your own eyes and no one else's mouth.
"I don't understand mall culture."
Good for you! I live in suburbia and do my best to avoid malls as much as I can. I will say this though, you can't beat a mall for efficiency shopping. One stop and you can pick up something for nearly everyone on your list, or really all that you need except for groceries.
Consider the source Troop, but here is my take.
Malls work best for impulse stores, and not destination shopping, except for the anchor stores. Yeah, we head to the mall for the Macy's or the Sears, but who heaads to the Mall for a shoe store?
NYC is obviously a different situation, but IMHO a destination store should be easy to access, parking (or public transportation) very handy.
What do you consider Lee Lees? impulse, or destination?
We are definately a destination store and that is a good tip.
While the girls shopped in the smaller mall I stopped at this frozen yougurt place and sat outside on the chairs they placed there. I had a view of the Lane Bryant for about half an hour. Ten woman went in and ten women went out without buying anything. Now it was Labor Day so we need more observations, I totally agree.
An interesting side note. They yogurt place was totally empty but when they saw fat guy scarfing down yogurt, they decided to give it a try.
The owner guy wanted to hire me as a shill.
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