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AdzNfitch
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read my profile
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Name: Wei-Hsun
Country: United States
State: New York
Birthday: 10/24/1985
Gender: Male
Interests: Music, tennis, Pool (up and coming hustler)
Expertise: procrastination...yea
Occupation: Student
Industry: Other
Message: message me
Member Since:
3/8/2003
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| Outside my window, the storm is passing, but the rain still lingers. Drip drop drip drop. Downstairs, my parents are chatting with our guests, a CFO from Boston and his wife whose countenance resembles that of a loving grandmother. Not age, but wisdom. "The Mercedes SL-500. That's boring. What you want is the Audi A8." I disagree and voice it but my opinion is swept away by the four allies at the table. As members of the same generation, they can relate. "California? Boring. Hawaii? Tidal wave." I once again raise my voice to disagree, not outright because that would be rude, but subtley, with a hint of a humor and a slight dash of indignance. The allies sweep in once again, protecting their own, and leaving me, a young urban professional who is too old to feign naivete and too young to commisserate, in the dust. I excuse myself to the bathroom. A piss and a handwash later, I find myself staring into my reflection. It was only yesterday when the man in the glass was a foot shorter. In a few years, I'll be one of the them. But not yet. I still have my dreams to live, my path to pave, my future to shape. I value being able to wear cargo shirts with a T-shirt, a privilege that I have seldom experienced during the 4 years of my life in New England. Sure, the occasional snow is pleasant, almost magical when combined with the right conditions and timing. But I am all too familiar with broken heaters, rosy cheeks, chattering teeth, and mittens that are one layer too thin. I prefer the occasional frosting, not the winter that has overstayed its welcome. That's why we have holidays. Three snowball fights, two chestnuts over an open fire, and one kiss with a stranger under the mistletoe later, I'm back on my plane to 75 degrees fahrenheit. Dare to dream. Here, alone in my room, with the cerulean gaze of the setting sun peeping through my shades, I find solace. For the first time today, I'm at peace.
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| In an era of niches, when exclusion is as vital as inclusion, Gap
has become an anachronism: a single chain, selling only its own brand,
with one point of view, chasing shoppers from birth to death.
“If you stand for everything in fashion today, you stand for
nothing,” said Paul R. Charron, the former chief executive of Liz
Claiborne, who is credited with revitalizing the clothing company by
purchasing fast-growing brands like Juicy Couture and Lucky Brand."
“If there is one thing you cannot be in the middle of the mall anymore,
it is all things to all people,” he added. “And that is what Gap has
been trying to do.”
http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070127/ZNYT01/701270347/1001/NEWS06
interesting read
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| OWWWWW my head hurts so much. Sometimes it sucks to be tall because you walk into pipes hanging from the ceiling...HARD. Cabot seriously needs to get rid of these danger zones or at least put up warning signs on the floor that say "LOOK UP." I am officially finished with finals but I'm bored out of my mind because all my friends are still studying for theirs. I could always go down to the river to hang out with people but I'm too lazy and it's too cold HAH, seems like I've put myself in quite a predicament. At least my parents are coming tomorrow so I can go places in a car. But yeah, it feels so weird to have this much free time and part of me still feels guilty that I'm not doing work or being productive, yeah I'm psycho or retarded or something .. who in the world is PAINED because they have too much free time.
I've spent a good deal of my time these days singing and watching American Idol. Yes I'm still trying to extend my range into tenor zone and yes I'm still straining and cracking my voice, you'd think I would have learned proper vocal mechanics after my voice class this semester. I've started collecting a list of "good karaoke songs" I will request next time I go, cuz in the past I always spend way too much time flipping through the billion songs in that binder and picking lame ones like "My body is a wonderland" or "A whole new world," then kick myself on the way home when I remember I should have requested "Wonderwall" and "Angels." Next time, I'll come prepared, mentally and physically.
I guess I could read but I don't want any more information jammed inside my head right now, and I don't have the patience. I think that's the big one, I can't just sit down for like 5 minutes without falling asleep from boredom, I need school to start again or some sort of schedule, or a JOB, y'know just a chunk of time allotted into each day that says I MUST BE DONE so that I can plan everything around that, sorta like a framework. I am SO tempted to install a computer game but I'll probably regret that, which brings me to my current form of procrastination, actually not really since that implies I'm delaying something when in fact theres nothing I need to do. So I guess this brings me to my current state of unproductivity: xangaing.
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| I think Abercrombie & Fitch has one of the best marketing strategies currently in the fashion/retail industry for the following reasons:
1) They know who their customers are and they don't try to be the "store for everyone." They promote a certain lifestyle and image that's shown from their models, their brand reps, the fragrance in the store, the lighting, and the fit of the clothes. True, abercrombie isn't for everyone, and it probably will rub a lot of people the wrong way, but retail chains that try to be everything for everyone usually end up failing. (Case in point - Gap/Banana Republic/Old Navy sales/performance are declining very rapidly because they try to hit every target segment.)
2) They revolutionize the shopping experience. Face it, in the next few years, there's an extreme likelihood that the percentage of shopping done online will increase dramatically, thereby decreasing the percentage of shopping in malls and in person. Problem - less advertising, less direct contact for retailers to "get you to buy something." Solution - promote the shopping experience by playing music, by playing with the lighting, offering the fragrance room spray, having good looking store reps. It's not just a store, it's an experience; much like how Starbucks isn't just a coffee shop, it's a place to relax from the hectic world, and catch up with friends.
3) Promote demand by exclusion. Sound business tactic - yes. Morally ethical - debatable. Abercrombie drives up demand by promoting the lifestyle of a small segment of the population known as the in-crowd (the popular, attractive, confident, social), that everyone at one point or another has wanted to be a part of (or is a part of). Because of this, when a consumer buys a sweater or polo, he's not just buying an article of clothing, he's buying into a brand image that allows him some level of identification with that image. That's why Abercrombie can charge such high margins on "casual" wear. Think brand campaign: casual luxury. This is also the reason why they've waited so long before extending their branches internationally. They wanted to create enough hype domestically so that once they open flagship stores in London or Tokyo, demand will skyrocket. They've already seen this happening in hotspot locations like Honolulu, HI (bridge between US and Japan) where sales have shot up in past years.
How long will their success last - who knows. Not me. But right now, they're going to keep continuing what they're doing because it works.
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| http://photos-260.ak.facebook.com/ip002/v47/250/43/25504219/n25504219_31533260_7888.jpg
http://www.eng.usf.edu/~dionson/ezzay/
LOLOLOL
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