Store Design and Visual Merchandising - #5

Today was probably the best day I've had in London so far. We had to meet for class at 2:30 so I got up, read some Hunger Games, and took my time getting ready. As I was finishing, Mary came to our flat and asked if I wanted to go with her to a bakery that she had been talking about forever now. So of course I had to go see what it was all about. I went with her to the Hummingbird Bakery. I got a black bottom cupcake, which had chocolate cake, chocolate chips, and cheesecake inside! It was the best cupcake I've ever had. Even better than Gigi's at home. Then Mary and I took the tube to class.

We all met outside the M&M World. Mary, Kelsey, and I were early so we took pictures with the green and red M&M characters that were posing outside like at Disney World. Mary had on green today and I had on red so we got in the middle and took a matching picture with both of them. Even from the outside of the store, you can tell they have all things M&M inside. We walked in and the first thing we see is a structure of a double decker bus covered in the M&M theme. The whole store definitely had a "total environment" feel. There was a sign saying "4 floors of fun." Jose said we had 15 minutes to look around and to meet back at the front of the store. I only had 15 minutes to see 4 floors so I quickly walked around. Each floor is covered with M&M merchandise. I didn't even know they could make that many M&M items of everything from backpacks to boxer shorts. One floor had giant themed statues of each M&M. The green one was dressed up in a princess costume and the red one was dressed up in a Buckingham Palace guard costume. You could take pictures with each statue. My favorite was on the bottom floor where the M&Ms were walking across Abbey Road. This store offers an experience.

Then we walked to Leicester Square and Piccadilly Circus to look at souvenir shops. This area is "tourist central" in London. You can definitely tell from the hustle and bustle of tourists running around snapping pictures. This area feels so much more informal than the other areas. The stores are not very organized. They are packed full. You're almost overwhelmed walking in because there is so much to look at. However, they have these tiny stores with a lot of merchandise hoping you'll spend a lot of time in there looking around. They also have a lot of merchandise sitting out on the street trying to draw viewers in or to at least walk up. They often have sunglasses or scarves or things that tourists may have forgotten to bring with them and need at a moment's notice displayed outside. They also probably have British themed items on display with the flag everywhere. Tourists want souvenirs with the British flag on it so this is also a tactic to draw in traffic. I've even seen a full sequined dress with the union jack design on it.

After class, a group of us went to Selfridges for tea and golf. We played putt putt on the roof at 3:30. The holes were so cute. They were all cake themed. We took a bunch of pictures with them. Then we sat down to have a drink on the rooftop restaurant. I had fresh pear juice, which was so good. We also had a cheese plate that we shared. We picked the perfect day to do the golf and tea because we were told it was the nicest day of the year so far and after the day is over, summer will probably end and it'll become cold again. This was my favorite part of the trip so far.