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.