The Chronicles of The Male Shopaholic.....

Gone are the days when women are the only ones allowed to wear the label of "shopaholic". In today's society it is not surprising shocking to catch men playing the Oscar worthy role of the "shopaholic". Some may attribute this to the raise of the "Metro-sexual" guy or the decline macho guy but we just say; KEEP YOUR STYLE COCA! I read this article on "How men shop"(a must read for store owners) recently, and found it a little interesting. Here is a little excerpt from the article:

The DNR Survey: How Men Shop

By DAVID LIPKE

Sept. 29, 2008

Men are buying more of their own clothes—and are more interested in clothes and the shopping process than some might think—according to the results of DNR’s exclusive survey.

That’s the good news. But in many important respects, guys remain a challenging market for the men’s wear industry to target and service—with practicality, convenience, price, brand familiarity and comfort high on their priorities when it comes to making shopping decisions.

When they choose a store, the most important factor for men isn’t brand selection or even price: It’s a neat and orderly store, with 91 percent of survey respondents saying that is very or somewhat important. “From my days at Louis Boston, we used to call that housekeeping,” says designer Joseph Abboud, who markets his own Jaz collection and is also the creative director for Lord & Taylor’s Black Brown 1826 label. “The selling floor is the face of the store and it provides the first impression to the consumer. It tells a story without a word being spoken, so housekeeping is vital.”

Adds Candace Corlett, president of the consulting firm WSL Strategic Retail: “Guys don’t want to search all over the place. Men have a ‘Let’s just do this’ attitude. We know from our own research that women prefer browsing much more then men.”

While Corlett criticizes some of the housekeeping practices of department stores, that channel does boast a key draw for men: They like to shop a single location and get it over with. More than 80 percent of guys in the DNR survey say it’s very or somewhat important to be able to find everything they need in one store.

“Men are very practical. What that means for retailers is that you have to fulfill their needs then and there, when they are in the store. If you don’t have what they are looking for, they are not coming back later to look again,” says Ari Hoffman, CEO of Gant USA.

In fact, 80 percent of men in the DNR survey say it’s more important for their clothes to be practical than stylish; 87 percent of men say once they find a style they like, they stick with it; and just 55 percent of men say they choose clothes to show a unique sense of style. In contrast, 79 percent of women in a similar survey say they choose clothes that convey a unique sense of style, and 65 percent of women say they are always trying to evolve their personal style.


READ MORE HERE.....