Element of Design - Line

The lines in the image of teh street lines, resemble the lines in this dress because the lines are all distinct, defined, angular, and straight.

The lines on the bottom of the dress resemble the lines in the wings of the butterfly.

The images on the right resemble each other with the lines and patterns of this famous style of art.

The structures and lines created in the abstract painting, are very similar to the ones created in this dress.

The line created on this dress is very reminiscent of the structure on Caesar's golden laurel leaf crown.

The lines found in the design of these perfume bottles are re-created in the lines of this dress.

The designs of the Henna Tattoo, and the lines they create are resembled in this dress.

The top of this dress resembles the lines in the cast-iron gate, and Eiffel Tower.

This dress resembles the lines that are created by the branches in this tree with all the criss crossed lines and kind of messy jungle theme.

The structure of the lines on the top of this building are re-created by the horizontal lines going across the dress.

Retail Site Location

CVS is a very popular pharmacy with many locations here in Greensboro. CVS would be considered a free standing store. It is very convenient, has little traffic, and usually is located three to seven miles within a "trading area". The CVS pharmacy location specifically the one located on Spring Garden Street by UNCG is a genius location site.
It is no lie that the most important issue for a retail store is location, location, location. The main advantage for the CVS on Spring Garden is it's convenience. For college students who live on campus and don't have cars, it's a very easy walk to get there for things like medications, face wash, and other essential toiletries. Since, they are a free standing store, their competition is not directly linked to their stores, however their competition could easily be located across the street, such as with the CVS, their competition is Walgreens located right across the street. Since, CVS is located in such a high traffic area, it is easy for consumers, college students, to see this on their drive to school and there is an easy turn into the store on the right side.
A natual disadvantage to a free standing store is that there is hardly an foot traffic, but that is not the case with the CVS located on Spring Garden. Because it is so close to UNCG's campus, they get business from both foot traffic and car traffic. Although the location is great, I think the parking is at a disadvantage also. There is limited parking space, and when a customer parks in one of the first few spots, when they try to back out, they come very close to backing out on the road, and it is inconvenient for other drivers who are trying to come into the store.
Overall, I think this CVS location is very suitable, and does its purpose as a free standing store.

Circuit City

Circuit City was a retailer that sold many electronics such as tv's, stereos, phones, and cameras. Circuit City was the number two retailer in the U.S. for electronics, but in November Circuit City had to file for bankruptcy. The company said that due to economic challenges, they had no choice but to liquidate and that they hope to come back from their bankruptcy as a stronger company (Circuit City, Breaking News). There are many factors that come into play, and there is not just one reason that Circuit City failed.

The closing of Circuit City can be blamed on reasons such as location, no more selling of appliances, and passing up hugh opportunities. Circuit City was said to have bad locations because they were in places that were far away for consumers, and just "out-of-the-way". A setback for them was that they stopped selling appliances, so that made less reasons for customers to want to go there, and they missed a major opportunity to be able to sign with Apple products. Since they passed up that contract, Best Buy took it and is now the number 1 electronics retailer in the U.S. (Hamilton, Time Magazine).

Another major setback for Circuit City was that they did not have an effective website. Online retailing is very important to this new generation of technology. They were unable to keep up with the online competition. A main reason that people say that Circuit City went out of business was because of poor management and bad customer service. Apparently the new CEO of the company thought that getting rid of the older employees that had been with the company for many years would cut costs, and they could hire new employees for a fraction of the cost. Because of this strategy, there have been many complaints about the employees at Circuit City.

I personally believe that Circuit City went under because they were not able to keep up with the changing times. They didn't change much about their marketing, or advertisements, and pretty much kept things the same throughout their sixty years of business. I feel that if they had better marketing strategies, and better employees, they would still have a chance even through these challengings economic times.

VALS Market Segmentation

VALS is a marketing tool that helps businesses to effectively develop strategies to attract consumers. They base their strategies on the personality of the potential customers. It is all very psychological. Basically the VALS system separates the consumers into eight different types. There's the innovators, thinkers, believers, achievers, strivers, experiencers, makers, and survivors.
Survivors are the type of people that don't really like change and their main concerns are comfort and safety. Thinkers are well-informed about current events and are very knowledgeable. Achievers are goal-oriented, are interested in investing in time-saving devices. Experiencers are young, active, are motivated by self-expression. Believers are conservative, and prefer American products. Strivers are very trendy, and are impulsive. Makers have constructive skills and prefer value to luxury. Innovators are very succesful with a high self-esteem, and they often have a taste for the finer things in life.
When I took the survey it said that I was an experiencer. I completely agree with the description of the experiencer and I think it describes me very well. Most of my paychecks go to fashion, food, and a social life. I also try to buy items that look cool and are in style at the time.

Express

Express was started in 1980 by Limited Brands. The store concept started out as an experiment and has turned into one of the top retailers for what's new in the men's and women's departments. Express is known for it's sleek, and sophisticated style for going out.
Express is a privately owned company. Michael Weiss is the president and chief executive officer of the company. Express is the destination of the latest trends and essential items for men's and women's wardrobes. For a time Express for men was taken out of stores, and the Limited Brands restructured the men's departments, and they reopened men's Express in 2002. There are more than 550 stores across America, and they now have an online store for customers to shop.

My Favorite Retailer

My favorite retailer would hands down have to be Express. The reasons that I love to shop Express are that they're style is very trendy, they offer GREAT customer service, the quality of their clothing is excellent, they frequently have good sales, and the store is always neat.
I think that Express has really great styles and trends. Their clothes can be trendy, but they can also mix classic pieces into their lines. The store is perfect for girls many ages, because they have great going out pieces, great statement pieces, and great work pieces. Not to mention their jeans always fit really well. Their style is fashion forward and I am usually happy with anything I buy from that store.
The customer service offered at Express really helps to make it a nice place to shop. The employees acknowledge customers from the moment they walk into the doors. They are very friendly and will offer whatever they can to help me. I'm a picky shopper, and for me I like it when employees acknowledge that I'm there, but I don't like it when they follow me around. I think Express has a good balance between those two extremes. If I tell them I'm just looking, they kindly leave me alone until I need help and I really like that about their service.

The quality of the clothing I buy is a really important factor to me as a customer. Yes, somethings in Express can be pricey, but it's worth it. The clothes do not easily fall apart, and they are very durable. When you buy an item from Express and tell your friends that you got your shirt or dress from there, everyone knows that it's good quality. You pay more for it, but unlike places like Forever 21, the clothes won't fall apart after one wash.

Express does very well to keep their customers informed about what sales and events are going on in their stores. They put customers on their e-mailing list, and they frequently have good sales to keep their customers coming in. They also send little flyers in the mail about every month with a catalouge of what's new for the season and a special coupon. I think they are very smart about how they decided to go about informing people of their sales to keep them coming in, because I know that it works for me.

The last reason that I love to shop Express is that the store is always neat and organized. Everything is always folded and there has never been a time where I couldn't find something I wanted because of an item being misplaced. It makes it so easy to shop with everything being sized so it's easier for me to go in and out, unless I just have a bunch of free time to shop!

The Challenges of the Home Fashions Industry

With today's economy it is very hard for businesses to do well. The real estate market especially is having trouble with the way the economy is going. With this decline in the real estate market comes a decline in the home fashions industry. The home fashions industry includes cushions, rugs, pillows, curtains, etc. With people buying less houses, there are less houses to decorate and turn into "homes". Also, many people don't really want to spend money on new home furnishings because they last for such a long time, and they need to save their money. Another challenge the home fashions industry is facing is that there is only a turnaround twice a year, so it's not always changing as much. It is hard to attract consumers and it keep things interesting in the industry. The home fashions industry is having a very rough time right now due to economical situations but since this is all part of the cycle and soon they will be back on track.