Oakdale Mall

I’m considering my local mall at Christmas time because malls and Christmas shopping go hand-in-hand.  The Oakdale Mall sits on a small hill and the exits are well marked.  Each entrance has a directory map that tells each store location.  The whole mall is decorated for Christmas, as is each store.    There is also a celebration of Hanukah.  The celebration of Festival of Lights began last Saturday night by lighting the first candle of the Menorah.

 

There are always displays in the center court.  At Christmas there is Santa doing photos with families and friends.  Christmas trees are decorated by different organizations, by Girls Scouts and Boy Scouts, or the local animal shelter.  The trees serve two purposes, one is to obviously promote the organization that did the decorating and the other is to promote the stores that supplied the decorations.   There is usually an educational component, but the shopper must shift gears to read the educational information. 

The store windows tell a story of what is available inside the store.  Toys or books or shoes or sweaters or hairstyles, the store window is your first invitation to come in the store and look around.

Retail stores have to make it comfortable for a man to shop for a woman; and a toy store will have the newest products at eye level.  According the text Chandler Screven’s claims that Gibson and Gibson’s research shows “design… needs to be pretested and adjusted during the planning stage to improve the possibility that they encourage… selective attention.” (C.G Screvens, 2000, p. 142)

Companies who design malls know all about aesthetics.  The aisles are wide and open, with seating through the middle to accommodate weary shoppers.  There is plenty of lighting, the temperature is comfortable, and there are a variety of stores situated throughout the mall.

I can plan my shopping trip online before leaving the house by using the malls web site.  This helps me to park in a more convenient place.

The space is well planned; it’s easy to navigate from store to store.  There is plenty of room, the displays are appropriate for the size of the space.  Even during the Christmas rush, there is enough room for everyone to move through the mall with arm loads of packages.

I honestly could not find an area for improvement in the design of the mall.  There is a variety of stores, there are many stores, there is plenty of room to move around and easy to navigate your way around, and there is lots of seating and not mention restrooms available.  Also, there are a variety of food places to choose from.  My local mall is well cared for: there is very little garbage; there are security and maintenance people who keep everything neat and orderly. 

Reference:

Jacobson, R. (2000). Information Design. Massachusetts: MIT Press. Print.

Scannabar System

Shrinkage is the gentle word that we use instead of saying loss or theft.  In the bar business, shrinkage is about 25%.  Losing one quarter of my income over the bar could force me to lose my business.  (Scannabar, 2012)

By using an inventory control system, like Scannabar, I can keep my employees honest and protect my profits. 

Scannabar can track and monitor every bottle of liquor, beer and wine from the door until its empty.  By using an inventory control system, I will keep accurate records of my profit center.  Using inventory control also gives the perception to the staff that I have every detail under control.

Each bottle is barcoded when it comes into the facility.  When it is opened at the bar it is scanned again.  During the inventory process, all the open bottles can be measured and scanned.  When the bottle is empty it is scanned one last time and the system will tell me how much money that bottle made. 

I can integrate the Scannabar system into my Point Of Sale system.  By doing that I can control my inventory, track my sales dollars, and manage my business more efficiently. 

Any new business needs to be managed.  A new business that depends on employees is especially vulnerable, so computer systems that help me control my business expenses are invaluable. 

Reference: 

Scannabar. (2012). Scannabar hospitality management solutions. Retrieved from http://en.scannabar.com/