Online Class 1

Take a walk through any one of the dozens of Lowe’s Home Improvement stores across the country and you’ll be hard pressed to distinguish which city you are in; once you’ve been to one Lowe’s, you’ve been to them all. This set design is undoubtedly the product of years of trials and tens of thousands of dollars in research to maximize the efficiency of every one of the one hundred and sixteen thousand square feet of their standard layout. Though some aspects of the store’s design could simply be attributed to ease of logistics, it is plain to see that many of the design aspects mirror those suggested by Paco Underhill, a well-known retail market consultant well versed in the nature of the average shopper.

When first entering into the vast labyrinth of shelves and displays one can easily become overwhelmed by then sheer scale of the establishment. The bee hive like buzz of the shoppers purposefully drifting from one department to another can only be described as an organized chaos interrupted only by the shrill beeping of the occasional forklift. The variety of customers manifests itself in the different ways people are seen walking though out the store. Some are the “usuals” coming back for another box of nails and knowing the store like the back of their hand, while others wander from department to department still trying to figure out what style to apply to their newest DIY home improvement project.

Due to its widely varied customer base, Lowe’s seems to employ several wildly different strategies to sell different types of products. For the dusty, no-nonsense carpenter they offer simple pricing labels and large signs and lettering to attract their attention. This differs greatly from the approach taken in the aisles more likely populated by the type of shopper who doesn’t actually know what they want before entering the store. Here Lowe’s has the opportunity to “inspire” homeowners with certain products and designs to entice them into making larger purchases. This is accomplished quite effectively in the lighting section, where aisle after aisle of lamps and other lighting accessories are arranged with the most expensive shelf displays at eye level and within arm’s length for examination, while the more modest choices reside higher on the racks and out of reach. Standing in this aisle observing the many passing hands groping at potential purchases I share Gladwell’s surprise as he documents his interactions with Underhill. “It would never have occurred to me to wonder about the increasingly critical role played by touching- or, as Paco calls it, petting (products) in the course of making the decision to buy them” (Gladwell).

Though it could be a case of confirmation bias, having read Malcom Gladwell’s The Science of Shopping prior to visiting my local Lowe’s, I felt as if many of Paco Underhill’s layout and sales strategies as described by Gladwell came alive in the aisles of the big blue store. With display racks and sale tables typically at an angle facing down the left side of the aisles (so as to be in direct view of those walking down the right side), Lowe’s follows Underhill’s suggestions of canting displays so that “a potential shopper approaching…can see the display from at least twenty-five feet away” (Gladwell). Lowes also employs strategies similar to Underhill’s zone tactics by placing items mostly relating to major home renovations at the rear of the store. The theory here I could only assume being that it forces consumers to walk past everything else in the hope that in doing so, some will think to themselves “well if I’m already replacing the front door, I might as well repaint the hallway”. This marketing strategy is explained by Underhill depicting the typical grocery store. “…A supermarket will often put dairy products on one side, meat at the back, and fresh produce on the other side, so that the typical shopper can’t just do a drive-by but has to make an entire circuit of the store, and be tempted by everything the supermarket has to offer” (Gladwell).

As one traverses the lengthy aisles of nail guns and bathroom vanities armed with the knowledge of Underhill’s studies, it doesn’t take long to forget the insightful theories and get sucked back into the mindless consumer mentality. Being drawn in by large colorful signs and finding yourself standing among the highest priced items, for no explainable reason other than it felt natural to walk in that direction, one can easily see the Paco Underhill’s theories hard at work.

 

Works Cited:

Gladwell, Malcolm. “The Science of Shopping.” The New Yorker, 4 November 1996, pp 66-75

I must say, this is very well done. Your thesis is very clear and supported well. Your citations appear to be in order, properly formatted. I hate to be that guy but I am honestly struggling to find anything to seriously critique or suggest aside from reading it over to correct for minor grammatical errors. If there is one thing to comment on it would be that your fourth paragraph my need some adjustment as it currently reads more like a list to me then a vivid description of a particular environment. Beyond that, your organizations seems just fine, and the transitions between main points flow smoothly. I also quite enjoyed the anecdotal way you backed up Underhill’s claim that women are still the shoppers. All in all, well done.

Take a walk through any one of the dozens of Lowe’s Home Improvement stores across the country and you’ll be hard pressed to distinguish which city you are in; once you’ve been to one Lowe’s, you’ve been to them all. This set design is undoubtedly the product of years of trials and tens of thousands of dollars in research to maximize the efficiency of every one of the one hundred and sixteen thousand square feet of their standard layout. Though some aspects of the store’s design could simply be attributed to ease of logistics, it is plain to see that many of the design aspects mirror those suggested by Paco Underhill.

When first entering into the vast labyrinth of shelves and displays one can easily become overwhelmed by then sheer scale of the establishment. The bee hive like buzz of the shoppers purposefully drifting from one department to another can only be described as an organized chaos interrupted only by the shrill beeping of the occasional forklift. The variety of customers manifests itself in the different ways people are seen walking though out the store. Some are the “usuals” coming back for another box of nails and knowing the store like the back of their hand, while others wander from department to department still trying to figure out what style to apply to their newest DIY home improvement project.

Due to its widely varied customer base, Lowe’s seems to employ several wildly different strategies to sell different types of products. For the dusty, no-nonsense carpenter they offer simple pricing labels and large signs and lettering to attract their attention. This differs greatly from the approach taken in the aisles more likely populated by the type of shopper who doesn’t actually know what they want before entering the store. Here Lowe’s has the opportunity to “inspire” homeowners with certain products and designs to intense them into making larger purchases. This is accomplished quite effectively in the lighting section, where aisle after aisle of lamps and other lighting accessories are arranged with the most expensive shelf displays at eye levels, with the more modest choices hung higher on the racks and out of reach.

Though it could be a case of confirmation bias, having read Malcom Gladwell’s The Science of Shopping prior to visiting my local Lowe’s, I felt as if many of Paco Underhill’s layout and sales strategies as described by Gladwell came alive in the aisles of the big blue store. With display racks and sale tables typically at an angle facing down the left side of the aisles (so as to be in direct view of those walking down the right side), Lowe’s follows Underhill’s suggestions of canting displays so that “a potential shopper approaching…can see the display from at least twenty-five feet away”. (Gladwell) Lowes also employs strategies similar to Underhill’s zone tactics by placing items mostly relating to major home renovations at the rear of the store. The theory here I could only assume being that it forces consumers to walk past everything else in the hope that in doing so, some will think to themselves “well if I’m already replacing the front door, I might as well repaint the hallway”. This marketing strategy is explained by Underhill depicting the typical grocery store. “…A supermarket will often put dairy products on one side, meat at the back, and fresh produce on the other side, so that the typical shopper can’t just do a drive-by but has to make an entire circuit of the store, and be tempted by everything the supermarket has to offer”. (Gladwell)

As one traverses the lengthy aisles of nail guns and bathroom vanities armed with the knowledge of Underhill’s studies, it doesn’t take long to forget the insightful theories and get sucked back into the mindless consumer mentality. Being drawn in by large colorful signs and finding yourself standing among the highest priced items, for no explainable reason other than it felt natural to walk in that direction, one can easily see the Paco Underhill’s theories hard at work.

 

Works Cited:

Gladwell, Malcolm. “The Science of Shopping.” The New Yorker, November 1996, pp 66-75

The words home and house are not always synonymous. During the work week, I live in a house, come Friday evening however, I go Home.

Home isn’t just a place to sleep and get out of the rain as a house is, home is a place where you can feel free to be yourself without judgment, to truly relax and escape the world, and to be loved by those around you. Since my birth my family has resided in five different houses, and none of them have felt like home to me. I have always struggled to feel comfortable in the environment my family creates. I should clarify that they aren’t bad people by any means, we just don’t share the same life values and priorities. I struggle to relate to their desires to always climb the ladder or their infatuation with creating an illusion of obscene wealth for the sole purpose of flaunting it rather than simply focusing on stability and comfort. Just as well, their need to shove their religion down the throat of whoever is within earshot further drives a wedge between us. This lack of a connection has led me to sink into a self-inflicted introverted state of separation. More often than not I find myself coming home from work to hide in my room, (that is, if I come home at all) trying not to make too much noise or be noticed. It is quite depressing to feel as if I’m not able to do simple things like play music out loud or even cook in my own house, and over time this arrangement becomes quite taxing on one’s mind. This is why every Friday once the whistle blows at work I go back to my house to pack a bag before making the trek north to my home among the people I love.

For the past three years I have been more then fortunate to be able to escape the day to day by travelling up to my girlfriend’s family’s farm on the weekends. This is when I get to feel at home. The sense of family, the freedom of individuality, and the ability to freely express my thoughts and feelings further support the feelings of being “home”. It proves almost overwhelming some nights to be able to join her family at the dinner table, as they eat together every single night, and be a part of a whole family. It has completely changed my life to be able to observe her parents live out a healthy marriage and to learn from them what actually matters in a relationship. The amount of life lessons I have learned while spending time on the farm are almost incomprehensible. Her father has taught me the true value in hard work, her mother has passed on her vast knowledge of cooking and animal healthcare. Though the lesson I’ve learned from her family that is the most strikingly opposite from anything my own family would have taught me is that it is always best to live below your means. Don’t live on credit if you don’t have to, and never budget all of your earnings away. This choice to live a very simple life even though an extravagant one is financially possible is quite refreshing compared to the attempts of my own family to appear wealthier then they really are by spending money they don’t have. The differing outlooks on wealth and family ties is really amplified once you realize these two families are quite similar on paper. Both feature a father whom owns and operates a successful small business, both include a homemaker style mother figure, and each include an equal number of children from the same age group. It is the values and attitude differences that cause such a stark difference in the feel of each household.

Even with all of these conditions at play a tremendous feeling of guilt hangs over my head whenever I return to my family’s house on Sunday evenings. This unintentional living of a double life forces me to deeply reflect upon my behavior in both environments, which is enlightening in so many ways, some not so nice. It sometimes feels as if being perpetually caught in a lie, having to sometimes remind myself of where I am and how I should act because of it. One could argue that I need to do whatever it is I need to do to feel happy, to be able to go home, but I can’t seem to shake the guilt pushing my own family out of my life to favor another.

The message of “home” being a feeling rather than a physical place really does get driven home. Your introductory paragraph displays a plethora of descriptive detail that really allows the reader to paint a picture in their mind. That being said however, I feel more of a transition is needed between the first and second paragraphs as the current setup leaves me with some unanswered questions; Is the neighborhood you describe in the first paragraph where your mother lives and how does this relate to your father?
The description of your father’s apartment was so vivid it felt like I could be standing in it myself, the phrase “tacky wood paneled cabinets” provides the perfect backup to the cramped feel you described about the place. On a separate note, I know this essay is supposed to be about a place or a “home” but I’m left craving a little more information about who your father was as a person, what kind of man was he like, soft spoken, outgoing, playful, serious, that sort of information, however I think you do successfully tie in how the places and feelings that make you feel at home relate to your father. As far as the order of your piece goes, it might not work at all but I think it may be worth experimenting with moving the phone call from your mother to your first paragraph, then turn back the clock and give the back story as a way to really suck the reader in right off the bat.

• Place products at the height of the target consumer (impulse buys up high (for men), cookies down low for children)
• Allow for transition space between entrance and showcase items (decompression zone)
• Place the most common purchases further into the store or in opposite locations to one another to draw consumers past other products
• Avoid narrow walkways among women’s products
• Adjust atmosphere to target consumer (i.e. slightly louder music, darker colors for men)
• salespersons should guide and recommend rather than tell
• place salespersons among/next to consumers rather than across a counter

The words home and house are not always synonymous. During the work week, I live in a house, come Friday evening however, I go Home.

Home isn’t just a place to sleep and get out of the rain as a house is, home is a place where you can feel free to be yourself without judgment, to truly relax and escape the world, and to be loved by those around you. Since my birth my family has resided in five different houses, and none of them have felt like home to me. I have always struggled to feel comfortable in the environment my family creates. I should clarify that they aren’t bad people by any means, we just don’t share the same life values and priorities. I struggle to relate to their desires to always climb the ladder and seek out creating an illusion of obscene amounts of wealth for the sole purpose of flaunting it rather than focusing on stability and comfort. Just as well, their need to shove their religion down the throat of whoever is in the room further drives a wedge between us. This lack of a connection has led me to sink into a self-inflicted introverted state of separation. More often than not I find myself coming home from work to hide in my room, trying not to make too much noise or be noticed at all. It is quite depressing to feel as if I’m not able to do simple things like play music out loud or even cook in my own house, and over time this arrangement becomes quite taxing on one’s mind. This is why every Friday I run to my sanctuary among the people I love.

For the past three years I have been more then fortunate to be able to escape the day to day by travelling up to my girlfriend’s family’s farm on the weekends. This is when I get to feel at home. The sense of family, the freedom of individuality, and the ability to freely express my thoughts and feelings further support the feelings of being “home”. It proves overwhelming some nights to be able to join her family at the dinner table, as they do every single night, and be a part of a whole family. It has completely changed my life to be able to observe her parents live out a healthy marriage and to learn from them what actually matters in a relationship as my girlfriend and I continue to grow closer together. The amount of life lessons I have learned while spending time on the farm are almost incomprehensible. Her father has taught me the true value in hard work, her mother has passed on her knowledge of cooking and raising children. The lesson I’ve learned from her family that is the most strikingly opposite from anything my own family would have taught me is that it is always best to live below your means. Don’t live on credit if you don’t have to, and never budget all of your earnings away. This choice to live a very simple life even though an extravagant one is financially possible is quite refreshing compared to the attempts of my own family to appear wealthier then they really are by spending money they don’t have.

Even with all of these conditions in play a tremendous feeling of guilt hangs over my head whenever I return to my family’s house on Sunday evenings. This unintentional living of a double life forces me to deeply reflect upon my behavior in both environments, which is enlightening in so many ways, some not so nice. It sometimes feels as if being perpetually caught in a lie, having to sometimes remind myself of where I am and how I should act because of it. One could argue that I need to do what I need to do to be able to feel happy, to be able to go home, but I can’t seem to shake the guilt of seeming as if I am pushing my own family out of my life to favor another.

I read “A Hobby Best Kept Small”.  This memoir in particular stood out to me even after just reading the title as I felt I could probably relate to it, and even after realizing that the general topic was dollhouses, I still relate to the author’s experience. The general theme seemed to be that even though one can very easily get far too wrapped up in their hobby (to the point where they are spending far too much money on it then they should) it can still be a very good thing to have when some form of stress relief is badly needed. The details that stood out to me included the following:

-The author saying she was “transported from the noisy city sidewalk facing the bus station to a world of perfect order” whenever she stepped inside the doll house store because of the emotions of satisfaction and peace of mind that were displayed.

-The quote “Many of the other customers in the store were grown women, which gave this occupation some heightened sense of importance. I knew that my dollhouse was a toy, but in a way it seemed more like a portal to adulthood” shows how the author had to almost fight with herself to justify the hobby.

-the way the author describes her little sister’s lack of interest in keeping a pristine miniature when she says “she ruined the dollhouse by conducting an experiment to see how long it would take different liquids to get from the top of the staircase to the front hall. (To this day, a stained trail of maple syrup, olive oil and Kool-Aid remains.)” certainly evokes some vivid mental imagery.

You lean on the aging wooden fence and take a deep breath, the comforting scent of a hardwood fire tickles your nostrils. The mournful wail of a train horn reflects back off the distant hillsides like a ghostly remnant of the past that refuses to leave, while for a second drowning out the muffled sounds of the diminutive black cows chewing their cud. As the echoes fade, near silence resumes. Time slips by and the sun’s warm rays shining through the leaves gives way to the grey of an evening shower, and as the cows make for their respective places in the dusty, cobweb infested barn, the almost rhythmic percussion of the rain dancing on the tin roof peacefully overpowers the normal sounds of the evening.

This is Home.

This place of tranquility can be found on the edge of a very small central Massachusetts town, a town that can feel as if it has been forgotten by time’s natural “progress”. Although the village was bisected by busy Route 2 in the early 1970’s, the entire town seems to have forgotten its obligatory need to age. A walk around town will treat you to some of the most picturesque colonial era farms and houses, as well as a treasure trove of early American history and agriculture. This is a town reminiscent of a Norman Rockwell painting, where all the houses and businesses around the green are painted in the old-time pastel shades of the last two centuries, not because the historical commission created bylaws, but because all of the townspeople want the town to serve as a time machine, to be able to take people away from the fast-paced world around us. And this is exactly what it does for me.

This isn’t my town, but it has become my home. For three years I have been dating a young woman who has lived here her entire life. There hasn’t once been a time we have gone out to eat or have gone grocery shopping when someone she knows (or more often, someone who knows her mother) hasn’t stopped us to talk for a while. This sense of community serves to emphasize the feeling of being home.

The unforgiving jaws of time and progress cannot always be avoided however. The farms are slowly disappearing, a row crop of new houses now rises from the dirt where corn once grew. With this the town will change, and I fear for what it may become. As the population increases, the sense of true community will dissipate, people will begin to pass by one another on the street without even a wave. The priorities of the town’s government will undoubtedly change, leaving behind the values and pride of a small town, and unfortunately, all of this is simply time leaving its scars.

It is very clear that you love your home country. You were really able to emphasize how friendly and happy the people of Dhaka are, even in a busy and crowded environment. However, all that being said, I am afraid you may have strayed from the guidelines of the assignment in some areas. For example, in your introductory paragraph, as well as in your second paragraph, it is nice that you set the scene by telling of the size, population and some attractions in Bangladesh, however this caused it to feel more like reading a list of facts. I wouldn’t necessarily say you should take these things out of your essay, but if they remain, I would like to know more about what they mean to you, how these things make Bangladesh feel like home to you. Additionally, you start to paint a picture of the importance of food in the local culture, describing the street vendors in Dhaka, mentioning the smell of food in the air when walking to and from school. This could be an opportunity to expand a little further to include more sensory details. What exactly did the different foods smell and taste like, and how did they attract your attention on the street? Finally, I quite enjoyed how you organized your writing, it has a very “a day in the life of…” feel, which makes it easier to imagine one’s self being there.