Retail Analysis

1. I observed Harding’s Marketplace. They market to those looking to shop for most of their food supply needs.

2. a. The outside of the store is mostly white with some blue paneling. The sign for the store is very bright and somewhat difficult to read. There are two canopy like covering at each of the entrances. The entrances have double sliding doors.
b. The store was playing some music from the 1990s with the occasional commercial or announcement every once in a while. Other than the music the store was relatively quiet.
c. The merchandise was displayed in aisles organized by product types. The ends of the aisles usually held an assortment of popular items that were being featured. There were also some islands featuring specialty items such as fall cookies. The name brand items were usually at eye level. Sections for specific areas such as meat were also labeled directly on the wall.
d. The floors were an industrial white tile, with 1 ft by 1 ft tiles. It makes for being easy to clean up.
e. The signs for the differing aisles were easy to read with the aisle number first and then the types of items in that aisle.
f. The cashier area was located in the front. It was very crowded with candy, magazines and beverages. These were placed there in order to entice shoppers to make last minute purchases. There was also a secondary cashier at what seemed to be a quickie mart check out, with liquor and lotto tickets behind the register available for purchase.

3. This business projects an image of being personable and consumer friendly. All the signs clearly label a variety of sections of the store, in a homey style. It is clearly a chain store but gives off a more local feel.

4. There were few customers in the store. The few that were there were older, and milled around individually with minimal interaction. Many shoppers seemed familiar with the store navigating efficiently from areas to area. A few perused seeming to be looking for something specific.

5. I found interesting the location of non food items such as cleaners. They were sandwiched between a variety of food items which I found a little strange. I think it would make more sense to have all non food items sectioned together. The store also had an expansive liquor selection, with a separate check out area specifically for hard liquor.