Project 1

For this project, my group was to make a detailed observation of the store Zumies
located in the Stonestown Galleria. Zumies is primarily an apparel store for boy and girls
between the ages of 12-18. The store also offers a skate shop with various skateboards
and skateboard accessories. The first thing that I noticed when I walked into Zumies was
the use of space. Unlike stores like Apple, Zumies seemed to used every last square foot
for displays and products. The layout and the way products were displayed reminded me
of a teenagers room, cluttered and unorganized. Although the apparel was nicely folded,
there seemed to be no thought put into the overall placement and organization of the
products. The ceiling exposed vents and pipes of the building and the light fixtures were
placed on the pipes in the ceiling, which offered good lighting for all of the products.
Despite my dislike in the layout and placement of the products, I believe that the store’s
look and feel was appropriate for their target market.

The floor plan and placement of the displays allowed for a single main walkway
that led the shopper to the very back of the store. This layout allows for easy access to
any part of the store, if the store was not too crowded. I can see it being very difficult to
maneuver through this store on a busy day.
I did find some displays that I felt were nicely crafted and thought out. The
sketches attached show the displays that I thought worked well and I also thought the
signage and front of the store were worked very well with the store’s image. The front of
the store had an industrial feel to it with the copper and bronze pipes showing. The
backdrop to the signage had a stained glass pattern that matched the copper and bronze
colors very well.