Mall: Eaton Center
Duration: 2 hours
Question 1: What about the mall tries to entice you to spend as much time as possible there?
bright colors
bright lights
very clean
happy/hip music
signs/advertising/posters
diversity of stores/diversity within stores
food/snacking areas
seats/benches/resting areas
natural light from skylight
easy accessibility to outside/open doors
places for strollers/accommodation of family
kiosks for impulse buying
friendly and quick service
security/surveillance/protection from outside weather
store owned strollers for children
display boxes outside so you know what's in a particular store
polysemic field of vision through the glass
washrooms
telephones
underground lifestyle
wireless access
lights are located on floor for night shopping
mall is an area where you can do something when the weather is bad
Question 2: Choose one floor of the mall. Without going into any of the stores, examine the physical layout of the spacethe location of the entrances, directories, greenery, fountains, benches, food areas, washrooms and telephones. What do you notice? How might this affect peoples behavior in the mall?
Third Floor of the Eaton Center Mall
Entrances are at the beginning, middle and end of the mall, with elevators, escalators, and stairs connecting all three floors.
Hallway railings are made of glass so you can see down to the stores below you easily
Elevators/escalators offer a non-disjointed sense of transition to floors
Food court is strategically located on the last floor to scents travel upwards
Decorations in the mall are always tasteful and non-offensive
Directories are near the entrances so people immediately know where they are
Benches are located in the middle of the mall for convenient resting
Washrooms and telephones are located near each other, near the entrances
This might affect people's behavior because cleaner, fresher, hipper looking stores are more likely to attract the younger crowds of people who have a lot of disposable income to spend.
Question 3: How many stores are there (on one floor)? What stores are next to each other? Are stores grouped in a particular way? If so, why?
There are 29 stores, mostly female oriented stores
o 6 female clothing stores
o 9 handbag/accessory stores
o 7 jewelry stores
o 1 male clothing store
o 1 kids store (kiosk)
o 5 unisex stores
o 2 souvenir stores (kiosks)
o 2 home furnishing stores
o 2 entertainment stores
o 2 restaurants
o 2 others
o 1 ATM
store locations encourage a linear spending practice (goes from clothing to shoes to accessories)
stores that target higher income brackets are grouped together
stores that target teens are brightly lit with vibrant colors and popular music
store locations encourages you to buy in bundles (i.e, new purse for the new shoes and new jacket)
areas are designated for a specific type of consumer (Guess and San Francisco right next to each other)
Question 4: Do most stores try to appeal to a variety of customers? Pick one store in the mall and make an assumption about the type of ideal customer the store is trying to attract. Give evidence to support your assumptions.
Yes, most stores are accommodating to a variety of people and ages
Le Chateau's ideal customer is men and women of all ages since they have sections designated for older and younger women and males.
Evidence:
o Prices are fair for younger adults and a bargain for older adults
o Clothing is color coordinated
o Offers business clothing as well as casual clothing
o Outfits can be dressed up and dressed down
o Outfits made into separate, interchangeable parts
o Accessories located on target clothing (so you know what would look good with the outfit)
o Same print is used on dresses as on shirts
o Employees have to wear the store clothing
o Store is separated in 5 parts: business wear, formal wear, casual wear, men's wear and shoes/accessories
Question 5: Look around. What kind of things are there to see in the mall?
Clothing stores
Accessory stores
Shoe stores
Undergarment stores
Restaurants
Kiosks
Elevator/escalator/stairs/ramp
Potted plants
Gift shop
Question 6: Is the mall decorated? Why?
No the mal is not decorated
There is no major holiday coming up
But potted plants give mall a touch of the outside, on the inside
Question 7: Listen. What do you hear? How does it make you feel?
Popular music playing in stores, radio friendly
Happy, comfortable
Familiar music
Certain stores have music targeted toward their main income bracket
o Le Garage has pop music whereas Bombay has muzak
Question 8: Is there anywhere outside of stores to simply hang out? What are they like?
Yes, since people mostly shop together
Hallways are large so people dont bump into each other
They are wide to allow shopping bags to be placed down
Wide benches
Friends can sit on a bench for more intimate conversations instead of singling everyone out with individual chairs
Designated smoking areas outside with tarps for coverage from the weather
mid-mall eateries have cozy chairs with umbrellas
all are located near elevators and escalators
Question 9: Consider the following descriptions of malls:
a) malls are protected spaces;
the walls around the mall shield people from the outside weather
mall security guards offer a continual sense of protection when walking around
mall security cameras offer surveillance, so people know they are being watched while also knowing that someone is watching the other people around them
people are less likely to vandalize a mall since other people are continually surrounding them
malls are places where people dont have to worry about others damaging their property
Question 10: Who is welcome in the mall, and who is not? Is there an ideal consumer for the mall as a whole?
Shopping is targeted to adolescents, adults and seniors
Not very child friendly in terms of kid oriented stores
Not very accessible to those with disabilities (mental/physical)
Not accommodating to trans gendered people
Item in a store window are at eye level to the average heights of people
Not accommodating to the very tall or very short
Clothing stores often have sizes from XL-L, but not XL (not accommodating to many body types)
Shoe stores only carry certain sizes of shoes for men and women (not accommodating to those with very small or very large feet)
Ideal shoppers:
o Anyone with mid to elevated disposable incomes
o Impulse buyers
o TEENAGERS (you are more likely to spend money if you don't have to use it for something like a mortgage)
