Retail Visit

I visited several retail businesses this weekend but I would like to talk about the retail store I visited yesterday, Forman Mills.

Forman Mills is a retail and department chain known for its low-priced designer clothing brands such as Polo, Tommy Hilfiger, Sean Jean, Bay Phat etc.  They have several stores throughout the region and their target market in the Elizabeth, NJ area is African American.  When you walk into the store you are not greeted by a salesperson. The stores layout is pretty simple.  They have every item on display according to the designer.  Each section is also seperated by size, age, gender etc.  The atmosphere I would say gives you a sense of clutter. They provide you with a shopping cart but you can barely get the cart down some of the aisles.  They used every space, aisle, fixture, mechandise display and even have some items left in boxes.  For the most part, every item is hung on racks.

I would rate the level of service to be low because there are no salespeople on the floor to help you.  They created the "do-it-yourself," casual atomosphere.  The Product Assortment is Broad and the price is low.  I would think that the Gross margin would be high because a lot of people shop there.

You might ask, "Why shop here if it is so cluttered?"  Well, I shop there because I have 4 children who like to keep up with the latest trends.  Shopping at this store allows me to shop and by name brands at a very low cost and at the end of the day my pockets are not broke.