Birmingham Store Visit

3rd March 2011

We made a trip to Birmingham to visit the store as we found out at the Nottingham store was as franchise and not actually owned by Lacoste.

During our visit we looked around the store, observed consumers and spoke to the store manage about the brand.

Ian, the store manager, classed Lacoste as "Contemporary Classic", he went on to discus the different Lacoste consumer and how their is a big difference between the UK and the European / US consumer. He said that the European / US consumer saw the brand as a high end and luxury whereas the image of the brand has been tainted in th UK due to the tracksuit culture in the north of the country.

He said that their average customer is between 20-35 and very brand conscious. When defining competitors he mentioned Ralph Lauren but said these days everyone is a competitor.

When we asked about their working ethos Ian told us that as staff they do not push for a purchase and try to create a relaxing experience for the customer.

We are also now in communication with Ian via email.

Sarah and Alex