1. Observation Lab
By CHELSE BENHAM

2. Payless Shoe Source
GameStop
Cash Advance
Fred Loya Insurance
GNC
Sally Beauty Supplies
OBSERVATION LAB

3. 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.

4. Payless Shoe Source – national chain
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5. 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.

6. GameStop – national chain
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7. 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.

8. Cash Advance – national chain
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9. 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.

10. Fred Loya Insurance – regional chain
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11. 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.

12. Sally’s Beauty Supplies – national chain
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13. Beauty Supplies Many Customers
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.

14. GNC – national chain
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15. 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.