LA Sugar independent fashion retailer improvement recommendations

¶ … Business Report: One Independent Fahion Retailer

Just like its name suggests it, L.A. Sugar is the store which wants to attract London's inhabitants with a special taste for fashion like honey attracts bees. Its declared mission is to provide customers with the latest hip from the fashion industry. The characteristics of the merchandise on display allows for a description of the customers which the store targets. These are young adults aged 25 to 40, living in urban environments, with medium to high incomes, medium to superior education, with an active social life, who are fond of fashion and care about their look.

They want to be glamorous and have the financial resources which allow them to invest in the necessary clothes and accessories. In addition, they like to bring a personal touch to the designer clothes and the must have accessories of the season. Celebrities are also among the target customers of the LA Sugar store chain. It is expected for them to bring more clientele by demonstrating their interest in the brands merchandised by the store.

Students represent an important part of the targeted customers and are especially active during the period from February to April. Since the store's goal is to bring a Hollywood touch to the London fashion, they are most likely to use the LA Sugar items for special occasions such as proms and consequently be willing to invest an important amount of money.

As far as the merchandise is concerned, it includes everything from casual chic items to extremely elegant evening dresses. In addition, the store offers a wide range of accessories including shoes and bags. The collections are renewed on a monthly basis. This is a good marketing technique because it makes clients come back for more at least one time each month. There is no predilection for a particular brand. The sold items are made by a large number of designers and independent brands are to be found as well. The items are available in the following sizes: small, medium, large (no extra large).among the best sold items one can mention the so called "magic dress" which is sold for a moderate price of 90 pounds.

As far as the visual merchandising and the layout are concerned, it must be mentioned that there is a colour division of the store. The display changes every season and the store is redecorated every two or three months. This allows for the brand to contribute in a constant manner to its identity creation respecting characteristics such as youthfulness and playfulness. The window is changed on a weekly basis.

More than looking after the trends which are presented in the fashion magazines, LA Sugar gets inspiration from the stars. Inside the store there are photos of famous people from cinema actors to models wearing an item brought from the store chain itself. One recommendation which could be made in this regard is to update the photos more frequently, possibly showing the persons who are "hot" at the moment. This would be an efficient manner to attract the fashionistas and demonstrate the popularity of the store.

Another recommendation that could be made in order to improve the efficacy of the store's functioning regards its very location. On Carneby street basically everybody is a competitor. The store could move to Regent street where there is a larger flux of people passing every day. This would increase the possibility of sales and bring another client segment, the one represented by tourists.

A third recommendation that LA Sugar might take into consideration regards its pricing policy. The store is famous enough to attract clients and its policy regarding the renewal of the collections and the constantly changing interior and windows contributes to making clients loyal. However, this is not enough, considering that an important part of the targeted clients are represented by students. Taking these factors into consideration, LA Sugar might increase its sales periodically through offers such as "buy an item and get a 25% discount for the second one."

The main fashion icons which influence the fashion style promoted by the store include Paris Hilton, Eva Longoria, Cameron Diaz and Lindsay Lohan. All of them are often the heart of the parties and the clothes they are an important part for creating this "party girl" image. Party glam and youthfulness are key words when describing LA Sugar's identity so perhaps the interior design of the store should be considered from this perspective. Colours such as black and gold could be used in order to create an L.A. club like atmosphere.