Retail Location

When I was in Atlanta over spring break we visited a Wal-Mart located in suburbs. I think the location was perfect because there was not a lot of thru traffic. Even though most businesses like to locate their stores close to where there will be a lot of vehicle and pedestrian traffic I don’t think Wal-Mart really needs to do that because no matter where Wal-Mart is located people are ALWAYS going to need to go there. So driving a longer distance to get there shouldn’t be much of a problem.
One of the biggest problems I encountered with that Wal-Mart is there was very minimal parking in the front. So we were driving around forever trying to find a spot. Now from not knowing my ways around there I didn’t know there was a PARKING DECK under Wal-Mart (For entry through the back!). That is a very cool feature to have but not if you didn’t know it was there! So I thought that was a little inconvenient towards the out of area customers.
I think it is a very good location because it is not so busy and sometimes Wal-Mart is known for being too crowded. The only problem would be the parking (at this particular location).

Failing Retailers

I believe one of the reasons why these retailers are going out of business is because they had poor business models. They didn't have a well set out option of plans

for making thier money. For that reason maybe they had some financial mix ups or something of that nature mess them up.

One source says that another reason why all these retailers are failing is because "the retail environment is rapidly deteriorating". They say because the economy is in trouble may be a reason why so many retailers cannot keep up with the financial struggle.

With stores like Circuit City it was hard to stay alive because there is so many competeing companies; such as Best Buy, Wal-mart and various online electronic sellers.

Stores like Goody's Family Clothing are under liquidation because they failed to restrucure terms with thier creditors. Failing retailers can be the effect for many of these reasons. Hopefully the economy will shoot back up on good terms and fix all these dying retailers.

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/circuit-city-liquidate-adding-us/story.aspx?guid=%7BC302D694%2D4EF3%2D42FA%2DBBF0%2DA11450A5209C%7D&dist=msr_2

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2008375406_circuit11.html

http://business-model-design.blogspot.com/2005/11/what-is-business-model.html

VALS

A Target market is when a retailer, or something of that nature, tries to appeal to a certian group of people. The people can be based on age, sex, martial status. It can even be targeted to a group like women age 20-35 or men from 40-60.




After taking the survey it said I was listed under the 'experiencers" section. I believe this is true because I do like to be my own person and I like to be independent. I also like to make things and lead others.

Being an 'experiencers' means a few things: I follow fashions and fads. I enjoy socializing and that is where most of my money goes to. A lot of the time I buy on impulse and dont think about what im doing or what im buying, until after its already bought. Then I've realized what ive done and cant go back.

Facts on Forever 21

After doing a little research on Forever 21 I came to find out some neat facts. Forever 21 stores are located all over the world in various different countries including, the US, Philippines, Canda, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Oman, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Thailand, South Korea, and Puerto Rico.
Forever 21 was launched in 1984 by a Korean-American named Do-Won Chang and Jin-Sookhas, his wife. It is a private label and is made in Southern California. The first store was located the Highland park district of Los Angeles on Figueroa St. It sells womens and mens fashionable clothing so it also has a few close competetors. It competes with stores like Charlotte Russe, Wet Seal, Guess, American Eagle etc.
In 2009 there was an estimated 355 store locations nationwide. The revenue recentley topped $1 BILLION dollars.

Sweatshops.

I don't think there is anything wrong with sweatshops...to a certian extent.

I believe that people work in the sweatshops for CHIOCE. They have no better jobs, but for them to feed and provide for thier familes they must work in these places/conditions. Now I don't believe that children that are extremley young should be working in sweatshops. They are too young to work so hard and thier bodies probably are not well adapted to doing so. Kids should be at least the age of teenagers like 15 or 16. But also, this is all these kids know. So it probably isn't as bad to them as it sounds to us. If it is the only way they can stay alive then I think that they should do it.

Art & usability

I think that fashion is combination of art and usability. I believe that when a designer creates an outfit they try to make it look like art but also for maybe some wearing use. Milan has been known for the glamorus & artistic ideas the designers come up with. It is usually out of the ordinary and not really made for wearing out on a regular basis. But this past fashion week in Milan more designs were made for comfort and usability, also still having a lot of artsie flare and style that the shows usually have. I really loved the styles and colors they had in Milan this year. Most of the time when I see Milan's fashion week I just see it as the designers art, this time I saw a lot of wearable desgins that I really enjoyed.

What inspires me?

Even though I am not a design major I still get inspied by everyday things. When I get inspired

by something I usually get extremley happy and excited. I dont draw the designs out, I just think about how to put them together in my head.

For one example, even just walking around campus, I see the different styles and trends that people put together on thier own. At the beginning of the semester I was so enfatuated with what everyone was wearing, I went to the mall and tried to see if I could put the outfits toegther; but in my own way.I like to go into stores and mix and match outfits that I think will work. Most of the time I do not buy or wear the outfits I just suggest them for other people.

I am really infatuated with bold bright colors and long comfy tops; big bags and gladiator sandals; straight legged pants and sundresses. Walking around in the city is another big way i get inspired. I love to go to New York in the summer and just walk around searching for something that stands out. Even if I do not find somethin that really stands out i still like to mix and match the outfits I find.