Housing the things that matter to men (from clothes to apparels; gadgets to collectibles), General is not for everyone; it’s for every man.
General is on a league of its own. It taps into style masters of the male variety, pooling together the best items for men from premiere brands around the world.
“What makes General different is that it does not piggyback on a brand name initially intended for women (which later extended its identity to cater to men). From the get go, General was conceptualized for men alone, those who are not afraid to shop for the best of the best,” said Randy Marasigan, brand manager of General.
The first General store opened at the Bonifacio High Street in Taguig in November. In less than two months, the store has begun attracting a steady flow of repeat customers.
Perhaps it’s the masculine look of the store that continues to attract attention. It’s a good mix of industrial and modern with a bit of renaissance thrown into it. The store has an old London look and feel, with some walls left intentionally unpainted to make it appear more raw and vintage.
“We want them to feel relaxed when they walk into the shop. We want our shoppers to feel like they’re just at home, looking through their own closets,” he said.
Another thing that sets General apart is its curatorship program. Much like how traditional museums have curators that attend to their respective collections, General will feature one every three or four months which will effectively change the look of the whole store every time.
“Right now, we have some of the artwork of Robert Alejandro, a respected sketch artist, photographer and travel blogger. We have several of his actual sketches in the store of when he was travelling around the world,” said Marasigan.
A curator can be a person, a company or an institution, so long as the candidate has a rich history and storied background. It’s a program that the people behind General want to perfect as it’s something different for the local market.
For Marasigan, there is a huge market—that has been unmet—for several years for a male-centric store such as General.
“Our target market is the self-made men, those who are aged 35 to 50. But we are not leaving behind the younger guys as we have several youthful brands in the store as well,” he said.
Aside from apparel and clothes, shoppers can expect to see luggages, wallets, shoes, pens, flashlights, watches, Swiss knives, chargers, even lock sets—things that pique the interest of the male human mind.
“We have several exclusive brands that can only be found in General but we’ll definitely have more in the coming weeks,” he said.
As for the misconception that women shop more than men, he views it in another way.
“While we carry items for men, it’s not only the men who shop. Many of our customers are the wives and girlfriends looking for something for their respective better halves, or mothers looking for gifts for their children,” he said.
Plus, he said, men are surgical shoppers—those who go to a store knowing what they want; as opposed to women who are more prone into store-hopping before they settle on an item. This type of loyalty to a brand should work well in the long run for General.
He also mentioned how many men fall under the category of being “metrosexual” while there are those who are still a bit more conservative in their style. Either way, General have the things that both these categories need. Generals even have items leaning on the sports wear, too.
Marasigan said: “Our goal was always to be the one-stop shop for men. And we promise not to disappoint our shoppers when they walk inside our store. It’s about time that men have their own dedicated store.”
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*** Acknowledgment: This article was published on the Philippine Daily Inquirer last December 14, 2012. The article was edited slightly for TWIST. Photos by Eugene Araneta. ***
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