Retailing

During a recent trip to the Supreme store I came across a couple of things.

Consumer Decision Making

What is so attracting or eye catching about Supreme and their products you might ask? Well one of the biggest reasons is that Supreme frequently collaborates with various artists, musicians, photographers as well as other brands like Levi's, Timberland, Nike, Comme des Garcon, etc. Depending on the seasons, Supreme will collaborate with certain brands. For example for the Fall/Winter seasons Supreme will collaborate with brands such as The North Face for jackets and coats or Timberland for boots. In the Spring/Summer seasons they will usually collaborate with brands like Comme des Garcon for sneakers and t shirts. For many a brand teaming up with another brand or a brand coming up with a centered theme would be normal. Even for the avid Supreme consumer this is something that is seen all the time. But for those that haven't ever heard of or do not shop at Supreme, these collaborations with various other brands and artists can open them up to becoming a consumer of Supreme. This of course leads to new potential clientele. These frequent collaborations are what keeps consumers coming back to continually purchase products. In turn customer satisfaction is met as well as the consumer decision making process.

Developing a Global Vision

Even though Supreme only has a brief 20 year history, they have expanded to an international brand. They have done so through global marketing and through their own global vision for the Supreme brand. Global marketing is marketing that targets markets throughout the world. Global vision is recognizing and reacting to international marketing opportunities, using effective global marketing strategies, and being aware of threats from foreign competitors in all markets. So far they have expanded from smaller markets in the U.S. to opening 7 other locations respectively in London and as well regions all over Japan. Through their global vision, Supreme saw an opportunity to push their brand beyond domestic boarders. Supreme's largest retailer to date so far is the shop in Los Angeles. It has 2 floors, a skate bowl, and a wall of skateboard decks at the front of the entrance. As for quality, Supreme supplies each and every one of its retail locations with quality clothing making sure to stay consistent. This is global marketing standardization at work. This is also exporting at work seeing that Supreme produces products in the U.S. and sends them overseas.

The Marketing Environment

Originally Supreme opened there doors to New Yorkers in 1994 in downtown SoHo. Since then they have opened 7 other locations around the globe. A store was opened in 2004 in Los Angeles, California. Other locations include London, 3 different stores in Tokyo (Harajuku, Shibuya, and Daikanyama), a location in Nagoya, a location in Osaka and a location in Fukuoka. Due to the new aged look and Supreme using the highest quality material possible for all clothing, Supreme has established itself as one of the better fashion outlets not only among the skate community but also throughout the fashion world. However, even though Supreme has a new aged look that is more popular amongst the younger audience, they also keep there products simple looking when it comes to the design and production of these products. This can not only be said about the products that Supreme offers, but this can also apply to the stores showroom.

From the photos shown, you can see the showroom of the New York City Supreme store. These pictures show the simplistic but new aged style that Supreme has as well as how their clothing affects the way the store presents itself and vice versa.

Because of this simplistic but new aged look, Supreme's target market is mostly a younger crowd from the ages of 14-25 or 26. They also target both male and female customers. These customers are known as generation Y.