ICONIC SHOPPING EXPERIENCES FROM AROUND THE WORLD
Are you a globe-trotting shopping enthusiast? Or at the very least wish
to live such an idyllic life? Here’s a glimpse of some of the most iconic
shopping scapes the world has to offer, from public markets to heritage stores,
here’s a curated list.
REI
Recreational Equipment Inc. (REI), began as a group of 23 mountain
climbing buddies and is now America's
largest consumer cooperative. Their passion for outdoor adventure is clear,
when you visit any of the stores across the country. It’s a place where outdoor
enthusiasts go to be inspired.
They know first-hand the importance of quality outdoor gear and stand
behind all their products with a 100% satisfaction guarantee, and have a
reputation for both quality and integrity.
Today, consumer-oriented
goods, particularly clothing and family camping equipment are the mainstay of
REI's business. REI continues to sell climbing and backpacking gear.
REI operates
154 retail stores in 36 states. Its flagship stores are
in Cascade, Seattle, Washington; Bloomington,
Minnesota; Washington, DC; New York City; and Denver, Colorado.
In the Seattle store, interactive areas include “the pinnacle” a 65 feet tall
freestanding indoor climbing wall and a 470 foot mountain bike test trail.
Bass Pro Shops
This outdoor retailer sells fishing gear,
camping equipment and clothing. However, it also has an added bonus for nature
enthusiasts: Wildlife mounts are displayed throughout each store. The
museum-quality mounts of animals like bears, moose and deer can be seen in
replicas of their natural settings. Visitors are also treated to fish-filled
aquariums and in some cases, a separate aquarium with live alligators. The
retailer says for many, it’s like a trip to a natural history museum.
“People take vacations to travel to our stores,” said spokesman Larry
Whiteley. “They have weddings in them. Yellow school buses bring kids there for
educational experiences.”
Bass Pro Shops
has 94 existing stores in the United States and Canada. All stores have an
indoor water feature that showcases fish species that are indigenous
to the area. Bass Pro Shops is also known for its Outdoor Skills Workshops,
teaching skills as varied as fly fishing, Dutch
oven cooking, archery hunting with an archery range in the
store, and GPS navigation. They hold many skills workshops with the
top names in the outdoor world.
Pike Place Market is
a public market in Seattle, United States.
It opened in August 1907,
and is one of the oldest continuously operated public farmers'
markets in the United States. It has more than 10 million visitors annually;
Pike Place Market is Seattle's most popular tourist destination and is the 33rd
most visited tourist attraction in the world. And, with good reason, the fish
throwing antics of the fishmongers are very entertaining and much appreciated
by tourists.
It has a variety of
unique shops such as antique dealers, comic
book and collectible shops, small family-owned restaurants, fishmongers,
fresh produce stands and craft stalls. Besides them, the market hosts
Dining, Nightlife and Street Performers and Musicians.
From fishing to furniture, we peep into Jordan’s Furniture, a New
England chain, an American retailer that achieves some of the highest
furniture sales productivity in the country by using themed “streets” within
its stores, for eg:
• a Mardi Gras show,
• an IMAX 3-D theater,
• a laser light show,
• food courts,
• a city constructed of jellybeans,
• a motion-simulation ride,
• a water show,
• a trapeze school, and
• special charity events.
We cross the Atlantic and land on
the romantic streets of Paris, here, another retailer dazzles us with its
humungous 43 metre high domed ceiling in a heritage architectural landmark
site.
Galeries Lafayette Paris Haussmann is the flagship store of the
upmarket chain of departmental stores in France. The architecture of the store
is art nouveau, with a remarkable dome and a panoramic view of Paris that has
made it a tourist attraction of Paris.
Inaugurated in 1912 it is a 70,000 m2 store. The store offers fashion, food,
cultural exhibitions from time to time, events such as fashion shows and
services such as personal shopper, VIP services include the ordering of
limousines or package deliveries to hotels. Known for its signature style of
suspended Christmas trees, Galeries Lafayette offers you luxury and fine
fashion in a shoppers paradise.
The Grand Bazaar at Istanbul is often regarded as one of
the first shopping malls of the world.
It is one of the largest and oldest covered markets in the
world, with 61 covered streets and over 4,000 shops and 250,000 to 400,000
visitors daily.
Seeped in history, the bazaar was constructed in 1455 and achieved its final shape at
the beginning of the 17th century. The enormous extent of the Ottoman Empire in
three continents, and the total control of road communications between Asia and
Europe, rendered the Bazaar and the surrounding hans
or caravan serais the hub of the Mediterranean trade. According to several
European travellers, at that time, and until the first half of the 19th
century, the market was unrivalled in Europe with regards to the abundance,
variety and quality of the goods on sale.
In present time, the Grand Bazaar merchants have also anticipated the
needs and concerns of the tourist trade. The food stores advertise Iranian
caviar ready to travel home with you in your checked luggage-sealed in dry-ice
packages to ensure complete confidence in your purchase.
The skinny lanes of Khan Al Khalili in Cairo, Egypt are basically a medieval-style
mall. This agglomeration of shops – many arranged around small courtyards –
stock everything from soap powder to semiprecious stones, not to mention tacky
toy camels and alabaster pyramids. The
bazaar is loud, crowded, colorful, and exciting—full of all kinds of goods and
shiny baubles.
Cairenes have plied their trades here
since the khan was built in the 14th century, and parts of the market, such as
the gold district, are still the first choice for thousands of locals.
This market also dates
back to the 14th century when Emir Dajaharks Al-Khalili built a large market
complex on the site of the Za’afran Tomb, which had been the burial place of
the Fatimid rulers of Egypt. This construction was part of the process of
rebuilding started under Sultan Barquq (ruled 1382-1399) to help the city
recover from the ravages of the Black Death throughout the 13th and 14th
centuries. Today the market has been modernized significantly, but there are
still portions that display the original Mamluk style architecture, which
featured great archways and vaulted ceilings.
Conclusion:
Iconic retailscapes are those where design is about creating experiences that consumers crave. It could
be seeped in history or futuristic, heritage or modern, a single store or a
chain, as long as the retailer/s addresses needs the consumers never knew they
had!
Sources:
Why we buy- Paco Underhill
Comments
Post a Comment