Give the people what they want (in retail)
December 17, 2017
This weekend, my family had three experiences that really drove home one of the new realities of bricks and mortar retail that I keep reading about – that millennials like “Instagrammable” retail. My daughter, Maggie, and my wife, Kathy, accompanied a friend, Halle, to two separate wedding dress stores. At the first, there were separate rooms for each bride-to-be and her guests, set up for easy picture taking. The staff brought out mimosas and created a fun atmosphere. The second shop required phones to be turned off and allowed no pictures. In the second shop, only shop employees could assist with dressing the bride-to-be. The entire party loved the first shop and hated the second. She’s buying from the first.
The second experience was after picking up my son, Liam, from the airport yesterday. We decided to do some Christmas Shopping at Ponce City Market in Atlanta on the way home. PCM was an old Sears warehouse and distribution facility that was essentially derelict and abandoned for years before Jamestown, the owner, came in and converted the bottom two floors to retail and the rest of the building to beautiful, industrial office and residential. Whatever their formula (they own Chelsea Market in New York as well), you just want to be there. We had lunch at this great sandwich shop, El Super Pan, that looks like it’s been there for 50-60 years, but it is only a few years old. You just want to take a picture (above). You walk around the center at this time of year, and there are photo ops everywhere, from the rooftop deck with Atlanta skyline views, to quotes from popular Christmas movies, to the Grinch instead of Santa. Something completely different.
Finally, it was a conservation I had on Friday with a property manager, Raj Chandani at The Forum Carlsbad. It’s a beautiful open air center in California, and we were joking about Santa needing to be indoors in the California heat. But, at the center he manages, Santa is only in on the weekends. And, it’s not the chain Santa/picture package deal. It’s Santa and your own camera or phone. He talked about how much the people love it. Meanwhile, my wife and son are at a beautiful, local-to-me, mixed use property with our dog for pictures with Santa, where you can take a picture with your phone if your buy a picture package.
I am a behind-the-scenes lease administration person not involved in marketing in any way other than to make sure any assessments are being billed in accordance with the lease. However, from a consumer standpoint, it is so easy to see how giving people what they want makes for a much better experience, and makes me want to go back for more. And, it’s not just millennials that appreciate instagrammable retail!