Friday

Store Layout

here is a diagram that shows H&M's current Sputhampton Store layout:



Here is H&M’s current ground floor layout, which is a rectangular space divided up into sections by rails and loutons that display the eclectic mix of garments in offer, while providing an effortless flow for customers to move around the store. In a way, the layout of this store is unconventional, compared to its competitors on the high street, as, from the entry point of the store, customers are guided into an initial horseshoe walkway around the center of the store. This walkway doesn’t take customers through the majority of the clothing rails; it just provides an opportunity to quickly gaze around the store, to find the area in which the customers choose to browse, or to enable them to seek out a specific garment.

Competition yet Inspiration

one of H&M's biggest competitor rivals within the mass comsuer clothing market is Zara. ofen placed within metere form a H*M store, Zara offer similar qulaity of garmnets on a simialr fast paced fashion cycle basis, and ket ranges within the store oftend share the same price points. Here is a brief comparison of the key characteristics of boht H&M and Zara stores:

Customer?

H&M seem to have a vast and wide range of target customers, from kids, to teenagers, to women and men, however their predominant customer tends to be a woman aged bewteen 15 and 35, here is a pen portrait that depicts a typical H&M customer:

Pen portrait of a H&M customer:



Who is she?

She is a young woman, around the ages of 16 to 26 years old looking for an on trend style at reasonably low price points.

Who do they want to be?
She is looking to be the girl that stands out in her peer group with an eclectic mix of style compiled of on trend items yet is also looking to fit in with the current trends that have trickled down from the catwalks.

What are their beliefs?
She believes in individuality and free expression, whether its by following up to date trends in fashion or whether its feeling comfortable in classic style garments and ultimately seeks a laid back, down to earth approach to life.

Where do they live?

She is likely to live in a bustling city or a cosmopolitan university town, surrounded inspiration for her own personal style.

Where do they work?
She is likely to be a university student, studying in order to realise her ambitions as a successful working woman, or perhaps working in the city in hopes of working her way up within a company.

What are their needs?

She need fashion garments that are both on trend yet at affordable price points as they are likely not to have a vast amount of disposable income.

What are their ambitions?

Her ambition is to be an individual yet on trend fashionista within her peer group that can always be depended on for fashion and style advise and her long terms goals are to fulfil her aspirations within her career and to become and successful and empowering woman.

Tuesday

Us kids know, No cars go



Right im not a massive fan of writing blogs or anything but i feel like i need to get to grips with it not only for my own sake, but for the sake of the ever approaching deadline for my second semester assignment. my aim is to kind of focus on H&M as a store however there will be other fashion related posts along with music and myabe even art im sure as in my mind all of these are kind of linked in some way or another any way.

well as a start i guess, there is a trend that can be seen to have had a major influence on not only H&M's spring/ summer collections, but on the direction that clothing is heading for this season which is the 'Americana' vibe. i have always been into grungy 90's inspired trends which feature a lot of denim yet they tend to be made up of garments fit for atumn/winter, and although this new 'Americana' trend is kind of 50's retro inspired, it carries through the use of various denim garments as statement pieces but with a fresher feel for the summer season, take a look...


Wednesday

New year, new assignment

Along with this new semester comes a new assignment. Last semester we were given the oppertunity to research and forcact up coming trends for both the spring summer and autumn winter 2010 trends,however this semester i plan to focus more on the specific garments offered with a specific store which will be H&M.

So far i have gained visual knowledge of the layout of the store and specifically the particular section and rail of the store that i will be focusing on. Here is a simple diagram highlighting the layout of the denim rail within the H&M Southampton West Quay store: