1. Crash Course on Creativity Observation Lab
Are you Paying Attention Assignment
Before you Enter the Store:
Costco
Store does not draw you in. Went to the store just before it opened and people were
waiting to get in. Impressed me at first at the level of popularity, but as I waited made
me wonder why they do not extend their operating hours. A little intimidating that they
have someone checking your membership card as you enter.
Safeway
A small automatic door to enter difficult for multiple customers to enter at the same time
- very crowded as you enter.
Wegmans
Very inviting even as you approach with your car. Well signed parking lot with
advertising inviting you to experience “Italian Cooking” week. Felt a degree of
appreciation that the parking lot was entirely covered, allowing me to walk to the store
with out getting wet from the pouring rain.
Best Buy
Less inviting from the underground parking place where it seemed like most of the spaces
were marked for compact cars and I had trouble finding a space for my pick-up truck.
Home Depot
The least crowed as I walked in. Left me with a much less stressed feeling then most of
the other stores hammering me with specials as soon as I walked in.
Childs Play
A small independent toy store that did not appear to give much effort to the planning or
effect of their entryway, yet felt homey non the less.
Environment:
Costco
The store is a warehouse style bare minimum style and it does convey bulk well
priced value to me. Quiet and very in formal setting that made me feel relaxed,

2. although the “cart checker” on the way out, again was intimidating and conveyed a
degree of lack of trust in their customers.
Safeway
Nothing really stood out to me in this traditional grocery store. Perhaps I have just
spent too much of my life going to these standard row after row of milk and eggs
here, meat here, cereal here etc.
Wegmans
They were playing very upbeat pop music. The place feels like multiple stores
within one roof. A grocery store, attached to a gourmet food court, attached to a
novelty store and finally attached to a small more warehouse discount store. Again
all of the different formats under one roof. The flow seemed logical and the
employees seemed to be in very good moods.
Best Buy
Definetly noticed the blue and yellow color scheme. Different sections of the store
(appliances, cell phones, computers, light electronics, video games) each seemed to
have different levels of priority. Some appeared to be redesigned and staffed well,
while other areas seemed to be stale and abandoned. I would be upset if, I was
looking to purchase something from the abandoned sections.
Home Depot
More of a bare bones environment similar to the Costco experience. A little more
lively in sections having some degree of merchandising an point of purchase display
effort. Similar to the Best Buy staffing was sporadic depending on section of the
store. The check-out area seemed to be in complete disarray. It was not well
marked and hard to figure out which isle were open and which were not.
Childs Play
Something about the content of this store just seemed to make you happy. I think it
was being around toys that just brought out the child in me. It helped that every
section had two or three samples of the toys for sale open for customers to
experiment with. I lost track of how many times on the floor sales staff asked me if I
needed any assistance. Also noticed that they were gift wrapping purchases at the
front counter for free and very efficiently for anyone who was purchasing an item as
a gift.
Personnel:

3. Costco
The store had very little to know interaction with sales people and customers,
although I was not offended by it. It seemed to be by design for the sales people to
be very utilitarian. Get the customers in and out as quickly as possible. No uniforms
worn by the sales people who were in very casual attire. I even mistakenly asked a
man for assistance who was not staff but another customer.
Safeway
The staff here seemed to have very clearly defined roles: cashier, stocker, butcher
etc. No one seemed to have the specific role of dealing with customer concerns as
they shopped, so when you needed to ask a question no matter who I approached
you kind of felt like you were bothering someone to step out of their area of
responsibility. Did not appear that any staff would pro-actively ask if you needed
help no matter how bewildered you may appear. The staff seemed older and less
enthusiastic then my other store experiences.
Wegmans
This was similar to Safeway in the division of labor and no one making a proactive
effort to engage a customer. The only difference is the check out cashiers seemed to
be much more personally engaging – striking up conversations vs. just scanning
every thin through with out even making eye contact with the customer.
Best Buy
It was hard to judge the personnel in this store. There was a bank of cashiers and
then others who seemed to be assigned to section by expertise. The conversations
they were having in the separate sections appeared to be in-depth and engaging but
I really could not overhear them directly. Although I browsed in certain sections for
pro-longed times, no one ever asked if I needed any assistance. The staff here did
seem to by younger and you got a sense that they were avid consumers themselves
of the products they were selling.
Home Depot
Probably the most diverse in gender, age and race of all of the stores I visited. There
seemed to be a diversity in enthusiasm also. Some employees seemed very
passionate about their subject areas, others seemed to be “part timers” just passing
the time to get their paychecks.
Childs Play

4. You got the sense here that all of the employees were “family” or “owners” of the
store. My sense is there were too many for that to actually be the case, more just the
culture that this small business conveyed.
Products:
Costco
What caught my eye first was a motorcycle displayed at about four feet in height.
Stuck me as not a traditional product to be found at Costco. Upon looking closer,
you could officially by it, however it appeared more to be a prop for a stack of
brochures explaining their car buying service. It appears that higher margin
electronics were placed by the front door to be seen first. My thought is also to
allow you to browse through them before you might have perishable items in your
cart, thus making you move more quickly. Otherwise the store was in three main
isles. The two on the outside seemed to carry the staple items most people make
there trips to Costco for. The center isle seemed to carry the seasonal at probably
higher margin goods. By being in the center, you see them twice even if you just go
through the two outer sections.
Safeway
The first thing I saw was Halloween candy, and then you flowed to produce before
you filed into the traditional grocery store isles. The check out lanes were impulse
purchase overload; candy, gum, magazines, DVD’s, water, energy drinks, soda,
candy, gift cards and books.
Wegmans
The first thing I saw was the produce section. You were then steered towards the
gourmet food section. Just before you got to the main more traditional grocery store
isle there was a huge section of bulk candy. My sense is they put it early on, because
shoppers are probably less likely to splurge on the candy once their carts are full.
The check out sections had some impulse purchase items, but did not seem as
overwhelming as Safeway. May have been that the check out isles were a little
wider.
Best Buy
The first thing I notices coming in was the mobile phone section. I also noticed that
it was very crowded. There was kind of a circular flow to the store with sale items
on pallets in the isle. The inner circle seemed to have lower price DVD’s games and
accessories with the high priced durable goods sort of items on the other circle.
Home Depot

5. This store seemed to be the most organized by function; lumber, plumbing, painting
etc. It seemed like a different set of impulse items at each register. It was kind of
hard to distinguish from regular priced items and special sales.
Childs Play
There were kind of three stores with in this store; toys, hobbies and baby goods. I
found it interesting that toys and hobbies seemed to have lots of helpers, but the
baby goods seemed to be pretty much self-serve.
Customers:
Costco
Most of the customers were alone, over 40 and male. They seemed to be going through
the store shopping in a very utilitarian fashion – knowing exactly what they came for and
getting it. Very few to none of the customers appeared to be “shopping”.
Safeway
A good mix of age, gender and race were at this store. Younger shoppers seemed to be
coming to pick a few items. More middle aged men and women appeared to be doing
their full weekly grocery shopping. Lots of customers had lists. Some were hand
written, but of those looking at list, I would say a majority had them on their smart
phones. In two instances saw customers making phone calls to confirm with someone
what to purchase.
Wegmans
The customer make-up at this store was very similar to the customer make up at the
Safeway described above.
Best Buy
On average the customer base here appeared to be more affluent. There was a good mix
of customers coming to make a specific purchase and those who seemed to be shopping.
Home Depot
Again a mix of those coming to make a specific purchase and those browsing, however
the majority seemed to know what they came to the store for. More than any other of the
stores the customers hear very often needed significant aid from a sales person. From
helping to find an item to helping to narrow down which item was the best for their given
project or need.

6. Child’s Play
Again a very good mix of customers by age, gender and race. One clear distinction that
could be observed at this store was two clear types of customers: those who were
purchasing a gift as a present for someone else and those who were buying for
themselves or the child with them. The majority seemed to be gift purchasers. Having
kids in a toy store lived up to the cliché. In cases they were loud, running around and
even running into customers, which posed a unique risk to some of the older customers
who appeared to be shopping for grandchildren. One interesting observation was it
appeared that seeing someone else’s child playing with a sample of begging a parent to
purchase something was influencing older customers shopping for gifts.