Forever 21 and Charlotte Russe are the two biggest fast fashion stores. Both of these stores have some similarities but they also have some differences between the. Both Forever 21 and Charlotte Russe sell trendy fast fashion clothing and both stores are highly popular. The audience of both stores are similar as well. Forever 21 and Charlotte Russe generate a lot of preteens, teens and young adult customers. Both of these fast fashion stores are highly advertised on social media and in commercials. Now, I'm going to talk about the similarities and differences inside both stores.
1. Layout
The layout of a store is extremely important. They layout determines where the clothes will go and how the entire store would be set up.The layout in Forever 21 is quite different from the layout in Charlotte Russe. The layout in Forever 21 is not very organized. But, the floor space is open. Forever 21 has women's men's and plus size clothing. Forever 21 has different sections for each of their target customer. The men's section seems the most organized and well put together. The women's area always seem a little bit disorganized and the plus size section needs a lot of work. Charlotte Russe is somewhat a different store. Charlotte Russe seems to be always organized. The floor space is very open, just like Forever 21. But, Charlotte Russe has their clothing more organized and sorted properly. Since Charlotte Russe only has women and plus size clothing, it gives the store so much more space.
2. Lighting/Music
Lighting is very important, when it comes to a store. You have to make sure that your target audience can actually see your clothing to purchase it The store's lighting has to be right for you, as the store owner and the customers. Forever 21 seems to be somewhat dark, when you first entire the store. But, Forever 21 has lighting around all three areas (men's, women's and plus size). There is some lighting around the dressing room, area, but not much. When you first enter Charlotte Russe, it is very bright. You notice all of the clothing, when you first walk into the store. The lighting in the dressing room area is very bright and there is lighting inside all of the dressing rooms as well. Music is another important thing to have inside your store. Especially when your target customers are teens and young adults. Both, Forever 21 and Charlotte Russe has good music inside their stores.
3. Visuals
Visuals are extremely important inside and outside of your store. Visuals are what attracts the target customers inside the store. Visuals contain posters, mannequins and how the clothing is arranged. Forever 21 has great visuals. They have mannequins inside the store and also, inside the window displays. Forever 21 has posters of models in their clothing, all around the store. Charlotte Russe doesn't have good visuals. Even though, Charlotte Russe has mannequins inside the window displays. Charlotte Ruuse has no mannequins around the sore. Charlotte Ruuse has some posters displayed around the store, but not many.
I wanted to talk about the Visual Merchandising of Forever 21 and Charlotte Russe because I want to be a fashion Visual Merchandiser. Thank you for reading my article this week. My article next week will be able shoes and the top shoe designers.