H&M. Brent Cross Shopping Center.

This has got to be the best H&M that i have visited so far. 

It is over Two floors with ladies fashions on level two and mens at the back of level One with Ladies at the front of the floor. 

Children's has its own shop all to its self in the shopping centre.

It is the most easiest to shop, with well placed fixtures, tables and mannequin groups, allowing plenty of room to move around and the fixtures are not over stocked, allowing customers to easily search the products.

The only thing missing are signs to direct you to the escalators as they are sightly hidden on either side of the floor (one on the right going down and the one on the left up.) The walls have back and white images on them, what would look good here is a neon arrow on the first floor pointing down and one on the ground pointing up.

The mens wear section is very small in this store which is a shame.

It is a bit of a tradition to put mens wear on the first floor or at the back of the store but it would be good to see a change and have it at the front, especially if your store is in a shopping centre and has an entrance on two floors, a catchy look if you do one half mens and the other half ladies. leading in with mans suits and ladies party dress, a centre mannequin group. in the summer, summer wear. 

This i think would give a different look to other stores.

Store Vistited 10th November 2014

H&M Southend-On-Sea.

This shop is in the original sight of Woolworths Which was at the same premises form 1914-2009
In 2010 TJ Hughes took over the premises, In 2011 They closed leaving the 4 story building to be taken over by H&M in 2012.

The shop is spread over 2 floors roughly 20,000 Sq. feet. With ladies fashions, accessories, foot wear and lingerie  on the ground floor and mens and kids on the second.
Its a well laid out shop with few mannequin groups. each section is layer out differently using rails, walls, fixtures and tables.
At a distance the shop looks tidy and shapable, with plenty of space to move around (unlike the Islington brunch where the fixtures are placed so close together that you cant move around confutable).
But it dose seam to be a H&M trait to overfill the fixtures so that you can not shop properly.

As you go up the stairs or escalators to the first floor you enter mens wear. (The first floor dose not have any windows so it relies on artificial light.) Even with the strong lighting , due to the clothes being dark, it dose make this part of the floor seam a lot darker then it is, but at the same time it dose make it cosy and a relaxed shopping experience. Unlike women’s wear this area is all easier to shop as the fixtures and walls are not over stocked. Children’s wear is very much like women’s wear, with boys and girls and baby separated by the use of different fixtures in each area and decided by walls and rails.





Shop Vist On 5th November 2014.

H&M Islington, N1 Center

This branch of H&M is my local is my local store. Before the store opened I went for an interview for a job at the store. Going in to the store now a part of me is glad I didn't get the job.

The shop opened in 2011 and is spread over two floors, with two dressed windows on each floor with mannequins and signage. Each  window is always dressed neatly and tiredly, changed every week to two weeks.
As you enter there is a mannequin group  with tables and hanging rails. As you pass through the store to the left there is another mannequin group, tables and rails. All the fixtures are well positioned leaving plenty of space to for moving around, the general location of each department is good.
Signage is minimal. Price points only and the odd sale section marked by a sale banner.

The store has recently had a new lay out implemented which has may the shop look very fresh. They have cut down the size of the accessories department and shoes. Where these departments were, they were at the back of the store surrounding the entrance of the fitting rooms, now there is a mannequins group and table looking a lot my tidyer.
Before this the main down side to the store was the product handling, or the lack of it. With fixture arms and wall arms crammed to capacity leaving no space to shop for size or style as they tend to put three or more  style or different outfits per arm. On some of the D bars you can may even find clothes put on all three bars. As a result you tend to a lot of items dumped on to the end of the units, on top, or over the arms making the place look very unsightly. As there are no sizes on the hangers you have to look at the tags with no space to mover the items some of the items end up on the floor or hanging off the hangers waiting to fall. 
The men's and children's departments are on the second floor. These department always look immaculate. the men's department normal has a  large rug by the fitting rooms or some times it it out buy the entrance of the second floor (which leads out side),  you can always tell that is cleaned on a daily as the whole area smells of shack and vax. this is a liitle over powering and a little off putting.
I have always loved the H&M band, and I am no size 8  any more. Yet in most shops I’m a 10 or 12 but in H&M I am apparently an 14 and in some cases 18. Last summer I found a dress that did not know what size it wanted to be. Showing that checking stock while putting it out and while putting the items in size order when tidying is not checked.

It is very rear to find a staff member on the shop floor tidying. it’s a shame as the place when it has been tired as it has for this new lay out looks new and fresh. 
I just hope that they can keep up the standards of this new look as it works well giving more space to clothes and letting it be a lot more tidier making it a pleasure to shop in there again.

September Thursday 18th 2014
Yesterday (17th-9-2014) I took a shopping trip, one of the shops visited was H&M. The last visit was only a very quick. Yesterday I got time to properly wonder around and try to enjoy the new experience. Even though there was a lot of staff around tiding and re merchandising, the spacing in-between fixtures, and fixtures and  walls, is really tight in some places they have circler rails up against walls and mirrors. in most places there is less then half a meter to move in between fixtures. 
Its understandable as they seam to have more stock, the lay out is not practical, and seams as not a lot of though has gone in to it and that they have just pushed all the fixtures in to one area out of view on the main sight lines in to the store from the doors and windows.