"LOL I'm hearing you! I guess if you want to see something different at the market you need to lead the way... perhaps you have some 'man-stuff' you could sell?"
Firstly you need to understand that I had just woken up when I read this comment, and when I saw 'man-stuff' I started laughing!! Because... What exactly is man-stuff? Is it lumps of rope? Is it aftershave? Is it work boots, wallets, belts, fishing gear, train sets, navy blue singlets, hard hats, 100% full fat meat pies with lashings of 100% full sugar and salt content tomato sauce - washed down with non-diet Coke with no pretty slices of lemon or lime stuffed in the top? Geez! What a mouth full! So what exactly is man-stuff and where do we find it?
The Conjuring - The movie we saw.
Yesterday my wife and I went out to lunch before seeing a movie, and while we were having lunch, I was telling her about my last post and the comments received. The cinema that we were going to is located within a fairly large shopping centre. So after lunch we both made a point of looking at some of the stores, that sell both male and female products as we made our way to the cinema. Now I wasn't on a - fact finding - I'm making a documentary - mission lol I just wanted to see how the mall stores, in comparison to the markets, advertise - display their products. Some surprised me and some did not. Now this isn't a 'oh woe is me/males' post at all! lol I have some numbers below because I have a question for you at the end! :o)
We didn't enter these stores, these numbers are purely based on their window displays. David Jones window display was evenly split 50/50, which did not surprise me. Cotton On (clothing store) was also split 50/50, which did surprise me. Williams The Shoeman and Mathers Shoes were both three quarters women's shoes and one quarter men's shoes, Athletes Foot was three quarters women's shoes and one quarter children's shoes. Just Jeans was 100% women's wear, yet Jeans West was 50/50. Best and Less was three quarters women's wear and one quarter children's wear. The Body Shop was 100% women's products. Big W doesn't have a window display, but the first items to be seen through the door were women's clothes.
My wife was actually quite shocked by how little these unisex stores advertised - marketed towards male shoppers. She said that she had actually never noticed this before. Now we all know that aside from the unisex stores, most stores are aimed at women ie clothes, perfumes, shoes, handbags, make-up, etc. I also read a study recently that stated that the average male will spend approximately 25 minutes in a shopping centre. He will walk in, buy what he needs and leave, or become incredibly bored and leave, where women on the other hand can happily browse for approximately 2 hours.
So is this because men aren't interested in shopping? Or because there isn't actually anything of interest being sold, so browsing isn't an option? Is it a case of what came first? The chicken or the egg? Do males really dislike shopping? Or are females just easier to sell to?
I know of males who are keen fishermen, I also know of males who fly remote controlled aeroplane's, I know males who build model towns and build train sets around the towns, I know of males who surf. None of the large shopping centres in my area cater to any of these hobbies. Yet there are stores that cater towards scrap-booking, stationary, knitting, sewing etc. Yes, I know that I have stereotyped here and that both genders can have interests in each others hobbies. What I'm looking at is the majority gender of these hobbies.
I would like to hear from my readers, ask your husband, partner, son, father etc if shopping centres catered more towards them, and their interests, would they be more likely to spend time there? If you are a male reader, what would shopping centres need to do or sell, to hold your interest for longer than 25 minutes?
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