Observation lab For Stanford Creativity Class

Observation Lab By CHELSE BENHAM

OBSERVATION LAB

Payless Shoe SourceGameStopCash AdvanceFred Loya InsuranceGNC Sally Beauty Supplies

I chose the following business for the Observation Lab assignment based on the wide spectrum of products and services geared toward women and men. From Sally’s Beauty Supplies to GameStop, and Cash Advance to Fred Loya Insurance, these diverse businesses provided a variety of company attitudes and shopping milieus. Some were excellent examples of branding while others fell severely short of an ideal customer experience.

Background Removal allows you to quickly and easily remove backgrounds to isolate items in your image.

Payless Shoe Source – national chain

Payless Shoe Source was an unexciting store, middle-of-the-road, and provided a similar expectation its commercials lead the customer to

believe. Branding and store milieu was unremarkable and unmemorable. It was busy and catered primarily to women. Because it was neither offensive or missing its target I gave it a weak thumbs up.


GameStop – national chain

GameStop provided an exciting, if crowded, shopping experience. The employees were genuinely enthusiastic and engaged. The store was busy. It is definitely targets a male demographic. It had an energetic feeling largely driven by the products on display and playing on the monitors. It knows its

target market and caters to it.


Cash Advance – national chain

Cash Advance was the most negative experience of the six stores I visited. The one lone teller was unfriendly and suspicious of me when I entered.

The store had no consistent feeling either in its branding or interior atheistic. There were no customers, no welcoming feeling, no inviting

experience to speak of.


Fred Loya Insurance – regional chain

Clinical – No Personality

Fred Loya Insurance is a professional office, but overly clinical and sterile in its atmosphere. However, the employees were in the spirit of the holiday and pleasant.

There were too many employees (3) with no customers. It’s open floor plan is too open and creates an awkward feeling when you walk in as being the target of the office when

you walk into the building. No identifiable branding.


Sally’s Beauty Supplies – national chain

Many CustomersBeauty Supplies

Lots of Products Knows Its Target Demographic

Sally Beauty Supplies was one of the busiest stores I visited. It was a small crowded space, but well organized and clean. Its target

demographic is women and it caters to them. There was no music and mediocre branding within the store. It had a definable niche it was

filling with unique beauty supplies for women.


GNC – national chain

GNC is a clean, but crowded store with many products. There were no customers

at the time I visited. The one employee was happy and pleasant. He was organizing

products on the shelves. No music play, but the store was well lit and had plenty of

product branding. This store demonstrated the strongest branding of any that I visited.

Education

Observation lab For Stanford Creativity Class