Haley Ross VM Project #1 October 7, 2014
Comparison of Intermix and H&M Intermix and H&M had similar minimalistic aesthetics. Both stores had little to no added decorative elements or graphics. Both had limited color palettes and all of the walls were white. However I feel that there is a significant difference in the purpose of a minimalistic aesthetic in each store. I feel that H&M has a minimalistic aesthetic because the merchandise is fast-fashion, therefore, it would be impossible to keep up with corresponding visual merchandising. I also feel that the high volume of clothing being sold in the store is overwhelming, so any added visual stimulus would be too much for the eye. On the other hand, I feel that the Intermix aesthetic is very purposeful and thought out. The high quality clothing speaks for itself, so the focus should be on the merchandise. The store is also on the smaller side, so decoration is most likely minimal so that the customer does not feel cramped. Intermix and H&M were also similar in the fact that they both have open back windows. But I feel that these open back windows serve different purposes at each store. H&M has open back windows to bring customers inside because they were able to see the large quantity of merchandise being sold. There is a wide variety of styles of merchandise sold at H&M, so if a customer does not like what is on the mannequins in the window, they may see something else inside that they like through those open back windows. On the other hand, I feel that Intermix’s open back windows were chosen because it ties the whole store together. All of the merchandise pretty much seems to mesh well together, so it is appealing to see the whole store through the open back windows. I also feel that the open back windows make Intermix more inviting.
Intermix sells high end merchandise, so it might feel too exclusive for some customers, but having open back windows lets customers know they are welcome inside. I was not surprised by my findings. I already had predetermined expectations in my head of the standards for each store, and they upheld my research. I do not necessarily think H&M and Intermix are competing for the same customer mainly because of the difference in price range. Each stores specific price range tends to target a specific customer, but that does not mean that an Intermix customer doesn’t buy some of her clothing from H&M or vice versa. I do however think that Intermix has to compete with H&M to keep up on trends. H&M is such fast fashion and moves through trends so quickly that it is becoming difficult for higher end stores to keep up.