Brand specialist Bertrand Pellegrin has published a new book for retailers that says if they want to capture the typical guy’s dollar, they need to create more inviting spaces to shop in. The author “points to electronics stores, strip clubs, sports bars and gyms as spots where men feel comfortable socializing and spending money.” That may all be (kind of) true, but that’s gonna make one hell of a noisy, sleazy, sweaty, drunken place to shop for clothes.

Speaking from experience, I suggest the ideal clothes shopping jaunt would involve a side door the general public doesn’t use very much, a straight line directly to the clothes, a quiet employee who ignores you until you have a question, a nearby register, and a straight line out of the store. If you can’t get the entire experience down to under 5 minutes, you (the retailer) are doing something wrong. Or you’ve installed strippers, which probably wasn’t a good idea.

“Making guys feel at home shopping” [SFGate]
(Photo: quinn.anya)

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