Ethnographic Observation of McArthurGlen Designer Outlet (Vancouver)

Ethnographic Observation of McArthurGlen Designer Outlet (Vancouver)

McArthurGlen Vancouver, the outdoor outlet that opened on July 9, 2015, located close to Vancouver International Airport, attracts thousands of traffic each day. It is the first designer outlet to open in the Vancouver area that incorporates the European style architecture, with its buildings design and design resembling the historical European style. This plays a big role in influencing shoppers behaviour. The physical design of a place can influence shoppers depending on the history and meaning it conveys (Low, 2016).  The outlet has approximately 80 retail stores and restaurants and is a shopping destination for a lot of people. It has lots of parking space and a variety of coffee and food spots which attract people of all genders and ages. There are also pedestrian paths and piazzas where people can take strolls and walk their pets. While I observed the proportions between male and female shoppers to be fairly equal, there was a big difference in how the two genders went about their business in the outlet. While females engage in shopping more frequently, walking around the mall and hanging out with friends, males are more like accompaniers mostly resting on benches and watching the kids, or just follow behind their female counterparts and using their phones. It is important to note that the use of gender binary in this ethnographic research is not intended to discriminate against people with different gender identities, but it would be impossible to survey every single individual I encountered to acquire that knowledge, therefore, for the sake of my research question, the binary categorization will be adopted.

To better understand how the arrangement of stores in the outlet influences the behaviour of men and women, I have divided the outlet map into five zones, each is a piazza where I spent the majority of time conducting the observation. Considering the arrangements of stores is crucial in studying behaviour. According to, behaviours manifest in how people use urban spaces and in the products and services they consume form different stores and outlets (Certeau, 1984). Zone A (Photo 1) consists of Coach, Polo Ralph Lauren, Club Monaco and J Crew Factory; Zone B comprises mostly of fashion boutiques, namely, Michael Kors, Armani, Sandro, Kate Spade New York, etc.; Areas between Zone C and D are anchored by Banana Republic Factory Outlet, Gap Factory, Levi’s, as well as the majority of athletic wear stores in this outlet – Nike, Under Armour, Vans, Sketchers; restaurants are also located alongside Zone D and towards the Eastside; last but not least, Zone E represents the newest expansion of the outlet mall, opened in August 2019, introducing Starbucks (one of the two cafés in the entire project), Aritzia, Stuart Weitzman, Jimmy Choo and Designer Warehouse.

The Presence of female shoppers can be seen in most, if not all retail stores in McArthurGlen Outlet. Some are accompanied by their significant others while others are consisted of only females, with the few exceptions of solo shoppers. Of all five zones, Zone B and E in particular accumulated the greatest amount of female appearance. Due to Covid-19 measures in effect, stores are strictly enforcing the maximum number of people allowed in the store, therefore line-ups are commonly formed in front of the more popular stores. I observed three line-ups that were comprised of predominantly female – Kate Spade New York (2), Michael Kors (3) and Stuart Weitzman. Kokoe, a female interviewee, responded that she spends most of the time browsing between Zone B and E. When prompted to name some of her favourite stores, all of which are located in between the aforementioned zones (Maje, Sandro, Aritizia, Designer Warehouse).

In comparison to female patrons, male shoppers can also be spotted in most stores and piazzas, though they were mostly accompanied by their partners with very few clusters of male-only groups. I have observed the greatest male traffic in both Zone C and D and E, with some lining up to enter stores such as: Under Armour, Nike, Adidas, The North Face and Jack & Jones (4). Interestingly, males preferred sitting on the benches in all the pizzas, some were paying attention to their phones (5), others were looking after their kids, and very few were chatting with friends (6). Males did not browse around shops and those who went there to shop went straight ahead and did the purchase. It’s like they had already made up their minds of the items they were going to buy and in which shops. The few who window-shopped did not spend much time doing so and the time spent between different shops was minimal. In most cases, male shoppers who accompanied their female partners seemed to be assisting their partners in doing the shopping.

The female shoppers, on the other hand, browsed a lot and did not seem to be in any sort of a hurry. In clothing stores, they took their time to look at almost every single piece of clothing and item as they did their shopping. They also engaged the shop attendants more and generally spent more time inside shops than males. Females enjoyed moving around the mall more than the males and enjoyed taking lots of pictures especially when they were in clusters of female only. My observation aligns with the study by Anselmsson which concluded that men tend to reduce the complexities and time spent shopping while women like spending more time shopping and browsing (Anselmsson, 2006)   The males enjoyed hanging out at drinks shops and bars and preferred less movement around the mall.

I got the opportunity to approach Joseph, a father who was sitting on the bench with his son in (7), who said both of them got tired from walking and were taking a short break while the mother kept browsing. As the interview with Joseph progressed, I shifted our conversation to his appraisal of the mall. Overall, his impression of the mall is fairly nice, with some minor gripes. He enjoys the outdoor-ness of it which provides a perfect balance of shopping and sunshine in the summer, though it gets way too cold in the winter to walk around in. He also appreciates the ample benches and sitting areas the mall has. He complained about sometimes not having a place to rest with his son while visiting other shopping malls. “The place is really nice, but I wish there were more varieties of stores here to choose from like electronics and bookstores,” Said Joseph. “I also think that adding more restaurant stands to the mall would be a nice touch, preferably a bar, one with a patio,” he added.

Kokoe, my female interviewee, who is in her early 20s (personally requested to not disclose her exact age), had a more critical review of the mall. She recently moved from Toronto to Vancouver about a year ago, when comparing McArthurGlen outlet to some of the other malls in the Toronto area that she has been to in the past, she thinks the selection of fashion brands is limited and often finds it difficult to shop for apparels in her size. “I like the outdoor-ness of the mall, but it often rains here and this affects my shopping experience. I wish there could, therefore, be free umbrellas like in the East Coast,” Said Kokoe. There are still plenty of positive comments to say about the mall, especially the ginormous parking lot. She appreciates the fact that it is pleasantly easy to find parking here, even during weekends. Her favourite part of the new expansion is the additions of Aritzia and Starbucks, she agreed that the two are strong appeals to the female market. Furthermore, she pointed out that she usually heads straight to the fashion boutiques in Zone B after parking her car, her routine seems to align with my observation as well.

While irrelevant to the interest of this ethnographic observation and was mentioned neither by the female interviewee nor the male counterpart, Joseph’s son, Nathan, disclosed that the aeroplanes flying closely over the top of the mall was his favourite. Otherwise, he does not care about the selection of the brands available in the mall.

References

Anselmsson, J. (2006). Sources of customer satisfaction with shopping malls: a comparative study of different customer segments. International Review of Retail, Distribution and Consumer Research, 16(1), 115-138.

Certeau, M. J. E. (1988). The practice of everyday life.

Low, S. M. (2006). Spatializing Culture: The Social Construction of Public Space in Costa Rica. Theorizing the City: The New Urban Anthropology Reader.