House of Fraser - buy and collect store

House of Fraser have just opened a shop in Aberdeen's Union Square. It has no stock, and will probably used primarily for click-and-collect.

Source: Daily Record, Scotland

Next Home & Garden Shop, Shoreham

Next have opened a large out of town shop near Shoreham, covering Home and Garden. Supposed to be good.

Looks like Habitat meets Homebase.

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XI4PFi1WCAc

Goldsmith's Jewellery Vending Machine

Goldsmith's in Westfield Stratford Goldsmith’s boutique will include Autonomous Retailing Machines – vending machines that allow customers to purchase products out of operating hours.

Interesting to see how that works out.

Milk vending machine

In August 2011 a milk vending machine was installed in Gosforth by dairy farmer Richard Mawson. Interesting to check back and see if it works out and is still there in a year.

http://www.thirstlink.co.uk/news/browse/innovation/

Curry's and PC World 'Black' Concept Store

Curry's and PC World have a new 'Black' concept shop in Birmingham. Products are supposed to meet high style and technical standards to earn a place in store.

Lululemon - highest sales per square foot

According to retail analyst ThinkEquity, cult 'yoga-inspired athletic apparel' retailer Lululemon have the highest retail sales [presumably in the US] at $1,800 per square foot. J.Crew and Abercrombie & Fitch come in at $600/sq ft.

In the UK, that distinction used to go to Richer Sound, don't know if that's still true.

Perfume spritzing at Hollister flagship store, New York

We've all gotten over being shocked by Abercrombie & Fitch stores by now. The Hollister flagship in SoHo, New York pulls most of the same tricks. Half-naked models, loud music, clothes in no discernible order. Yet somehow it's still an amazing, intense experience.

A few reasons:
- It's incredibly dark, breaking the fundamental rule of retail that people actually have to be able to see the product.
- The fit-out, as somewhere between an opulent beach house and a pier, is to an unbelievable level even by today's flagship store-meets-Disneyland standards.

Perfume spritzing - I also happened to be when someone walked around spritzing everything with perfume. That'll be why a nice smell wafts out when you just walk past. And when you get the clothes home I bet the smell has a sub-conscious effect on satisfaction.

Bored models are a problem - a few models were dancing, laughing and enjoying themselves. It worked - you wanted to be part of their gang. But many, understandably, looked bored. This totally breaks the spell.