John HeffernanAssignment 2 Location: Ballina & Crossmolina Co. Mayo Ireland

* due to the fact that I have misplaced my camera usb cable, I have photos take that I can’t add to this doc. I will give a quick description of the location & hopefully add at a later stage. I then thought of using links to Street View in Google Maps but the images go back to Sept 2009.

Ballina is a town in the West of Ireland with a population of approx 8,000 but as the largest town in the local area it would have a larger footfall due to local government offices etc. located there.

Crossmolina is a village approx 7 miles/11 km from Ballina and as a result is far smaller population of approx 1000.

Munnellys Centra Crossmolina This is the largest of the local grocery shops in Crossmolina which has a

carpark and designated parking for wheelchair & mothers Has two sliding doors at 90deg to each other, catering for carpark and street

customers Designed in Centra branded pastel colours and very bright and airy. Plays local talk radio, playing more loudly at cash registers presuming for

staffInsight & observation

Potential to create a window alcove if they could remove the wall between the two sliding doors which would bring in more light and reduce the requirement to use fluorescent light

Lines of shelves are very linear- what about shifting them 90 degrees for a change

Panada Ballina It is a coffee shop that also makes and displays wedding/specialty cakes- it

also displays art works from a local artist. With all the cake models and pictures on the wall, it is very cramped and the

dark wallpaper and furniture makes it very dark. There is no design in layout but it is quirky

Insight & observation Create a “carousel of art” from the ceiling which is the only unused space in

the public area Tables of four could be changed for a long table or a quirky designed cubby

holes to help jazz it up a bit PJH Ballina

It is a very small shop that sells in England would be called bric- brac. It is a shop that would sell everything that you would not find in more mainstream shops.

At present, predominantly selling Halloween stuff

As school pupils are on holidays, customers were of this age buying the last of Halloween tricks with pocket money

Insight & observation Create a little videos display showing youtube clips of how products work Have had to invite people to rummage through the large bins of merchandise –

involve a game element- find two different items with same price tag for a discount

Dunnes Store Ballina It is large national brand of large supermarket in Ireland. It is built to a set

design and branding. All aisles are in straight line which were getting clogged up with shopping

trolleys Layout would have been designed by the company for that store

Insight & observation Make the aisles in to a maze or a one way system similar to ikea. As they were beginning to stock Christmas decorations etc, they could have

brought in a post Halloween pre Christmas gimmick, dress a witch in Santa Claus outfit to break the monotony

Eason Ballina It is a chain bookstore that again is built to a set design and branding. All the divisions are clearly delineated, stationary separate from magazines

etc. No warm feeling if you wanted to whittle a hour browsing- you would have to

stand and wall shelves more like a library than a shop Insight & observation

Create a more comfortable location with more chairs similar to Borders or Barnes & Noble.

A childrens play area or decorated area

Hickson Store Crossmolina This shop is an old fashioned show store which is closer to 1880s than the

present day! It was once a style of shop common place in Ireland. I really regret not having photos for this piece. The shop is owned and run by an elderly gentleman who is more inclined to chat than sell shoes.

To the outsider, there is no organization to how merchandise is structured. Boxes are piled everywhere. But Dick knows where every box is located.

It caters for a more older clientele

Insight & observation Needs a little coffee or tea stand to give it a more “community” feel. The shop

reminds me of the barber shops in 1950’s USA where patrons seem to hang around all day reading paper etc.

Make it more a “Victorian” shopping experience