Ground Floor Plan

I actually went down twice last week, the second time was again on a saturday between 4 to 5pm but I didn't have time to blog about it until now because this week was (and is still) really busy. So I'll make up for it by trying to make this post really long.


Saturday was busy as usual. I went back to confirm some details of my sketch of the floor plan on the ground floor, and this is what I came up with:

Please note that this is quite rough, although I did try to make the scale as accurate as possible. I added some colors (because once you start, you just can't stop) for easy viewing. 


Let me begin clockwise from the staircase. It is a very narrow staircase which leads upstairs all the way to the fourth floor. There is a grid-wire structure placed on the walls to hang clothes and bags and other "treats" to ensnare your average customer. This is a pretty good marketing and advertising tool - and good use of space if I may add, except that having customers stop in the middle of the stairs from time to time may be a bit dangerous. I also noticed from past visits that the clothes displayed here change from time to time, so they do make a conscious effort to 'redecorate' the staircase and make customers feel that the goods are moving fast. 


Next, we have the staff counter. It includes the shelf-counter, which I made a sketch of some posts back, and other shelves for storage. I noticed that the top shelves are rarely used, probably because of the difficulty of retrieving items from them and maybe because they don't need as much storage as the store has arranged for. So instead of leaving them empty, the employees have taken the liberty of putting (empty) paper bags bearing brand names like "Marc Jacobs" etc as decorations on the top shelves. Again, you can see some continuous effort at decorating the store within their means, because obviously the bags came from their customers when they came selling their items. These decorations also seem to serve as a reminder to other customers that recycling is their motto and it's also "waste not, want not" for the paper bags. There are also two counters - both are used for buying and selling, but usually the one in the middle is used for buying, since the shelf-counter is conveniently located next to it, and the other one is usually used for selling. 


If you notice carefully (even in the actual shop itself), the small fitting room seems to be hidden at the corner. I'm not sure if it discourages customers from trying because there is hardly any light in it and it is very tiny. As mentioned before, I hardly see anybody trying clothes so it seems like it is more of an assurance instead of a real need for customers.  


Next to the fitting room is a large glass display made up of three cabinets of three tiers of shelves each. It consists of the more expensive branded items, which are neatly placed in an orderly fashion by the different types such as bags, wallets, jewellery, watches and other knick knacks. The price tags are openly displayed, unless those in the malls because they deem it to be unsightly or something. This has something to do with the glass display being locked (yes, I did say "locked"). If you need to look at the item closely or try it, you will have to approach the staff to open the cabinet for you. The same goes for buying it. 


Not all bags are inside the glass display, because that is reserved for branded items. The normal bags and less branded bags go into the bag shelves in the middle of the store. The bag display is stacked in order of color and size, although it is understandably not as neat as the ones in the glass display, because there are clear signs of them being rummaged through. The shelves may sometimes consist of a small section for wallets but the majority of it are bags.


We have come to the front of the store. The clothes display in red refer to women's clothing, while those in blue refer to men's clothing. There is a very small section to entice the men, just 3 compared to 11 for the women. In fact, there is a sign next to the men's clothes display advertising the third floor, which has much more men's clothing, so I'm inclined to think that those three racks act as teasers. What are also teasers are the mannequins, indicated in light green circles, which are all strategically placed to grab the customers' attention as they walk past, especially before they are going to head for the staircase. This is compared to one miserable mannequin on the right side of the shop front. The sale carts at the front of the store have also been planted there for the intention to luring customers into the shop itself. Prices are very attractive from 300yen, and the large signs bearing the word "SALE" in bold red letters are simply too big to miss. 


In addition, the four racks and two mannequins at the shop front help to advertise their 'new' spring wear. I know this sounds confusing when they say it is 'new' but actually they just mean new stock, not that the items are new, because none of the items are new and they are also assuming the customers already know that. This is interesting I overheard (more than once actually) a few customers asking their friends if the 'new' spring wear is actually new, and they will somehow come to the conclusion that it is not new, so there is some kind of customer recognition of the shop already in place once they step into the shop.


Okay, so that was the ground floor plan, I hope you've enjoyed it. I also need to warn you that the shop is actually much more narrower than it seems on the sketch. As a gauge, the aisles between the racks are probably a one-person width but two people can probably stand in the same space if they squeeze. This is also a good description of the shopping experience because you need to squeeze past people to get to the counters, to other racks and to exit all the time. Perhaps this is what gets some customers excited - all the squeezing and accumulating good buys. 


My next post will be on the company motto and the whole business behind this business, so stay tuned.

No photos, but the sounds might tell you more...

I went down yesterday on a weekday afternoon in the hope of gleaming more information from the manager, but he seemed rather busy as he had just received a few big bags of goods from his customers. So in order to entertain myself, I made a few random voice memos on my ipod touch, and they proved to be pretty helpful in terms of an alternative documentation.


Among the ten odd sound recordings, I selected three short clips which I thought were the most interesting and had them converted into youtube videos so I could mount them here. 


Now, before you watch the first clip, I would just like you to imagine the setup. (I will be drawing a floor plan of the first floor and insert it here, but just bear with me for the time being). It was a hot and sunny Thursday afternoon from 3 to 4pm, and the street just outside the shop seems quite crowded for a weekday. Many housewives are also doing their shopping, and they walk right into the store or take a good half an hour to check out what's on sale on the makeshift counter just protruding out of the shop and onto the street. Imagine you are such a housewife rummaging through the sales items. You can vaguely hear the grunting of the motorcycle in the traffic on the main street. Two girls who look to be in their twenties are discussing about a dress they are looking at, others are talking about their own lives while checking out the clothes in the store and moving the hangers back and forth.

And yes, if you were wondering, the images from this video are taken from fashion shoots in which famous designers make a statement by using recyclable materials to create their 'new' clothing. Also, if you had been paying close attention to the sound recording, you would have heard some muzak amongst the jostling, chattering and traffic noises. I'm not sure if this has something to do with the image the shop is trying to portray but only English pop/contemporary songs are played in the store. I have never heard of Japanese songs, nor that in other languages for that matter, being played in this shop. 


If you're still not sure of what kinds of songs are being played, check out the introduction to my next sound recording, right before the announcement is being made. 

This second recording features a typical announcement that Mode Off would have, which I also wrote about briefly in my previous post. We have the customer recognition and appreciation, followed by the announcement for the number of the customer. 


The next very short clip also features another announcement. 

If you listen carefully, other than the very polite Japanese used, you can also hear the customers' chattering voices. This is pretty common within the narrow confines of the shop, in which most people can hear each other when one comments, for example, "yasui! yasui!" (meaning "cheap" in Japanese), and I was thinking how it can serve as a kind of interaction between the customers who may not know one another. Even as one engages in an act in the recycling process, one can also at the same time interact with strangers.


This probably gives new meaning to the concept of recycling as not just cleaning, packing up and revamping one's resources, but that the whole experience is one that is centered around people. In this shop, people bring the items to sell. People i.e. the employees also record the items and organizes and displays them on racks. People also come to buy the items. Some other people also bring their friends to buy or sell items, or they come together with their friends or family to patronize the shop. In fact, clothes recycling is very much people-oriented. 

As an example, I had a short conversation with a regular customer of the store in broken Japanese. She's a foreigner from Thailand who is married to a Japanese man, her Japanese is not very fluent, and she can't understand English. She looked to be in her twenties to thirties, probably the former half, and is relatively fashionably stylish. She curls her long black hair, does her nails and has a style which can be best described as "sweet" and "girlish." Anyway she was not alone - she came with her Thai female friend. Something I found really surprising is the fact that she comes to Mode Off every day! And each time, she spends about JPY2000 to 3000. Now, I don't know about you but this sounds like a lot of business coming from just one person. 


When asked why she patronizes this shop so much, she admits she likes the fashion - she thinks it is very trendy. What I think she didn't explicitly spell out is that she thinks it's great place to hang out, because she mentioned that many Thai people also shop here so it is kind of a popular place to see and be seen. With a substantial amount of support from a small foreign community, it is no wonder that the shop is flourishing. A Thursday afternoon like today saw about ten to twenty customers on the ground floor at once. 


Okay, this will be it from me for now, more about the concept of the shop in connection to the rest of the chain stores in the next post, hopefully. I leave you in the hands of a recycle vocabulary sort of mind map. 

Lessons from Edo

One fundamental thing that has not change since the Edo period is the presence of a shopping culture. Granted, shops as well as people appear to look different now but the "arcade-like shopping street"(116) that Brown refers to still exists in modern central Tokyo today. 

Similar to Edo's commercially active population back then, one can see the presence of a "marketplace" (121) in Ueno, especially the Ameyokocho arcade. What I mean this "marketplace" comprises of essentially two things: the shops and the customers. How the two interact in this "marketplace" can be seen in the example of my research site, "Mode Off". Edo sellers' open touting of wares to customers may translate into modern Tokyo shopkeepers employing less direct methods of promotion, such as making constant reminders in the form of announcements throughout the store. This happens regularly in your average shopping malls. It also happens all the time in Mode Off. 


In today's society, however, due to the competitiveness of the industry, hard sell is often not enough to garner consumers and prolonged consumer support. Among other things, branding and marketing are also important to reinforce the regular customer's choice in shopping at a particular store, as well as to actively promote to new customers about the benefits of shopping there. A typical announcement from Mode Off goes like this: "Thank you very much for shopping in our store. Today, we have 'new' spring wear on display, so please take a look. Again, if you have any items [to sell], we are happy to buy it from you." Like in the shopping culture in Edo as described in Brown's book, the consumer culture in modern Tokyo is a massive market that can be considered not simply a source of income (although that is a big part of it), but a life experience in the people's minds. And this comes alive in the small space of the first floor of Mode Off, where there is selling, buying and advertising all rolled into one. 


In fact, used-clothes dealers should not be new to modern Tokyo. According to Brown, used clothes shops abound in Edo as people rarely bought new clothes. They typically sold their old clothes in exchange for a refurbished one. This system is somewhat encouraged in Mode Off as the customer browses the items in the store while waiting to be called up regarding the items he/she has just sold. (If you're unfamiliar with the buying process, please read the previous post). Thus, by the time he/she is called up, he/she may have found a 'new' item to replace the one(s) he/she has just sold. If you were wondering, yes, I did spot more than one young man shopping at Mode Off for himself, not just housewives buying for themselves or their families. In this respect, the customer base has not changed much since the Edo period - men are unashamed in the act of shopping for themselves, which is a very good thing.


Of course, there are quite a few differences between the shopping experience in Edo and that of modern Tokyo. The first is: what can we do with clothes which are no longer usable (because they are too old or torn etc)? Can we use it for other purposes like during the Edo period instead of throwing them away? This is interesting to think about because the fuel option obviously no longer exists for us. So the question is, what's next for these clothes? Well, there are a few options we can think of in today's society such as revamping them to be used for other purposes. More ideas can be found here: http://ecolocalizer.com/2010/11/16/10-ways-to-recycle-clothes-3-recycled-clothes-purchasing-options-america-recycles-week/  

The second thing we can and should learn from Edo is: how can we better design clothes in a way that can minimize harm done to the environment and maximize recyclability? Currently, these options are present but are usually expensive and inaccessible to the average shopper. So the real question is: can clothes with good designs made of sustainable material be affordable? Examples of sustainable material are: sustainable cotton, hemp and bamboo. (See: http://earth911.com/recycling/household/clothing-and-textile/tips-for-recycling-clothes/)


From Brown's book (180-1), we learnt that the basic garments are shared among all classes so this not only facilitates production but recyclability as well. Now, as repulsive as it seems to have us all wear exactly the same undershirts all the time, is it possible for a certain commonality in basic design and material?  

The last difference that I want to raise, which is arguably the most important, is: How can we change consumers' attitudes towards clothes and their relationship with the environment? This is essential because ultimately, when and if clothes of good designs and sustainable material are put on the shelves, without support from the masses, it would all be a waste. People during the Edo period have been described in Brown's book as naturally saving energy and costs, and constantly thinking of the environment in their every move. In modern Tokyo, people do think about the environment in terms of household waste and living costs, but they may carry a different standard when it comes to clothes and personal items. Can this gradually change more in terms of knowing more about how we can do our part as consumers? (See: http://www.natural-living-for-women.com/eco-friendly-fashion.html) 


I know it seems like there are more questions than answers here, but believe me, I'm trying to know more things and in the process, I've enjoyed researching for this post. Until I get some more answers (and questions), this will be all from me now.

Observation on a Saturday

To cut the long story short, I ended up choosing to go with "Mode Off", the clothes recycle shop because that best relates to my research topic and it is also an industry I probably have more knowledge about than the fishing one. 


So I went down on a Saturday afternoon from about 2 to 3 pm, and I did introduce myself to who I assume to be the manager, Takizawa-san. He was basically fine with me observing if I was going to just observe, and he could take questions about the store if they weren't busy, but I could tell he was strict about withholding information. He said no to photos and to answering certain questions, which I interpreted to be those which are sensitive to the store. Anyway, I did get away with asking and having him answer two questions this time, which are below:


1. Are all the clothes old? Do they all come from customers or do you also buy them from somewhere else?


Answer: The clothes are all secondhand, and all of them come from customers.


Comments: This is pretty cool, because it means that the shop is self-sustainable, with people selling what they don't already need and with other people buying these things that some don't want, and this store is at the centre of that buying and selling process. This possibly reduces waste, as many people buy, consume and throw out things every day. 


2. Are there any conditions in the buying process? Any preference in size, brand or type?  


Answer: They are essentially looking out for in his words, "young, casual fashion from sizes S to XL". This means no formal wear like suits, no 年配 items, no "king size", but they take in both branded and non-branded items.  


Comments: This probably translates to the fact that their target consumer is probably the average consumer who is looking for fashionable yet not-too-strange items for normal daily wear. This connects to my one-hour observation, more details of which will be written below.


Observations in the approximately one hour I was there this afternoon will be grouped into 3 categories:
a) The Buying Process
b) The Shop's Atmosphere (on the outside)
c) The Demographics of the Customers (during that duration)


a) The Buying Process


This is probably the most orderly recycle shop I have ever seen, definitely Japanese-style, and I had the luck to witness quite a few buyings (from the shop's point of view).


This is how it works: you have a bag of clothes or things to sell. You walk into the shop, go to the cashier on the inside of the shop on the first floor. The person-in-charge takes your bag, thanks you, gives you a number tag, and asks you to wait for your number to be called. In the mean time, you wait around for your number to be called by browsing the shop's items, and possibly getting more stuff yourself by the time that happens. 


On the shop's end, the employees open the bag, check each item carefully, separates them into neat piles by carefully folding them back. If there are too many items, he will use the wooden shelf-counter marked by the prices they are offering their customer, which kind of looks like this:

When the sorting and pricing are done, the employee will announce throughout the store that your number is ready to be served, together with an advertisement of what are today's special, or simply remind all customers of the uniqueness of this store, probably for the sake of announcing something else together with the fact that your number is ready. 

When you go back to the counter, the employee will show you the receipt, together with (if any) the items that they possibly cannot take because of a certain reason, like it is too old or torn, and they will politely ask if you decide to sell it to them at a much lower price anyway because of its condition. I'm not entirely sure how this works, because I only observed it, but it is interesting to take note and asking questions the next time round. The money and your copy of the receipt is given to you and this marks the end of the buying process.

b) The Shop's Atmosphere (on the outside)

I hadn't realized this the last time I was there, but the human traffic right outside the shop is very high. After standing outside the shop for a whole 20 minutes, I noticed that many customers go in to check out the shop while they were passing by. Although some looked like they specifically came to visit the shop, others looked like they just discovered it and wanted to see what's inside. The turnover of customers is quite high because many go in for a quick buy and are out within 5 to 10 minutes. At any one point, there were about 20 to 30 customers on the first floor, which is probably only 25 square meters of shop space excluding the cashier counters. 

The other interesting thing I had observed from just standing outside the shop was that many came with their families. One look behind me and I knew why, check out the map:

View Larger Map

There was a 24-hour MacDonald's right across the street from Mode Off (google maps have not been updates so it is supposed to be where "ハレーション 上野店　(halation)" is on this map), so it can be a case of while Mommy goes in to get her quick shopping fix, Daddy and kids go to Macs to get their snacks while waiting for Mommy to be done. In my 20 minutes outside, I spent about half the time standing next to one pram from this kind of case scenario. Obviously, this adds to the family-friendly sort of setup, although I have also seen entire families go into the shop: mother and daughter browse the first two levels while father browses the third level, so time spent at the recycle shop can be a family bonding experience.

c) The Demographics of the Customers (during that duration)

Contrary to popular belief, young women in their 20s came in groups, sometimes alone, as well as young men (possibly teenagers). It would be interesting to know why they would visit this recycle shop like any of their regular haunts for shopping, but I have yet to ask any customers, so this could be a potential question for customers. 

As mentioned earlier, the shopping process seems to be pretty fast, with customers picking the clothes that they like off the hangers, paying and leaving. Hardly anybody tries the clothes or looks and considers them for long periods of time. The lack of fitting rooms, I suppose, also facilitates quick buying since there is only one fitting room on the ground floor, and possibly not that many on top either since as much space as possible is allotted to squeeze in as many clothes as possible for sale. This seems to be a rather efficient shopping process, in fact very different from the shopping experiences in the malls in Japan, where things are taken slow - you can have meals while you sit around and mull over purchases or stay in your exclusive-looking fitting room with a full-length mirror and chair and decide if the usually expensive item is worth all that money. Therefore I'm wondering if the fact that it is secondhand and that it is cheap have something to do with the change in the shopping process. 

Okay, this is the end of my report for today's observation. 

Still weighing my options...

I cycled to Ueno today in a bid to find a location to observe. Now I know Ueno is not exactly a typical spot in Tokyo. In fact, it is probably one of the few locations in the city where you can observe life in the 60s, the other spot being Asakusa of course, which is precisely my point on why it should be given some attention in this online project. 


Both my potential locations are in the Ameyokocho Arcade. The first is a stall selling fresh seafood produce right smack in the middle of the arcade.

As you may have already noticed from the pictures, the inside of the stall is actually a wet market. What I find interesting about this location is how they can sell their products at so low a price and still be able to keep the stall going. Also, where do they get their supplies from? Do they fish directly (this seems almost impossible)? Do they get the supplies fresh from the fishermen and cut down the middleman? Will selling this fresh produce at such a low price (usually half of what one gets to buy at the local supermarket) hurt the industry? Since it is fresh, what do they do with the supplies that don't get sold within a certain period? These are just some of the questions that came up in my mind.


The second location is somewhere at the corner of ameyokocho. Actually I'm not even sure it's part of ameyokocho except that it is on the same street, albeit far away from all the action of the food stalls. This is a four-storey recycle shop that buys and sells clothes, bags, shoes and accessories. It is a big place, but I'm thinking of just observing the first floor.

The shop is very narrow and stuffed with as many clothes and other things they can display. One round check around the place shows that the products for sale (or rather resale) are used items, some of them even branded products which have been preserved well. The first two storeys are mostly for women, the third floor is for men, and the fourth is the discount floor on the already discounted items. The last time I checked, the fourth floor was well stocked with winter wear.


The shop got my attention because of its unique concept of recycling things that some people don't want and others might be interested in. Some questions which came to mind were: who sells these items to the shop? Who buys these items? How does the shop determine what can be resold to others and what cannot? What happens to items that nobody wants? Do they stay in the store forever until someone comes to pick them up or do they dispose of them or donate them to charity? How much does the shop profit from the entire process?


Okay, this will be all from me for now, until I decide which location I want to observe.