Very interesting! I haven't heard of this before, but now that I think about it, it makes sense.

That's amazing. I’m trying to think of a store that gives me the strongest feelings of gruen transfer. How about you?

Macy's gives me this exact feeling! I don't know what it is compared to Nordstrom, but I always end up leaving because I feel like I can't find anything and I just feel like I'm wandering around aimlessly. Fascinating term.

There was a show on Australian TV called this about advertising, which I really enjoyed.
http://www.abc.net.au/tv/gruentransfer/

edit: just realised that is in the Wikipedia ref too.

Oneirix- I feel exactly the same way in Macy's! It's like I suddenly turn into a zombie walking through that store.

I feel the same way about Macy's too. And Forever 21. F21 is the worst for me. Unless I know what I'm looking for, 5 minutes later I just want to give up and walk out.

Very interesting phenomenon, thanks for the post LOP!

Hmmm, so interesting! As someone who is taking alot of marketing classes, I am fascinated by how retailers frame a customer's experience - everything from store layout lighting, music, scent etc. In this case, I don't know if Oneirix & Vani's experiences are Gruen transfer examples since the intention is to KEEP you in the store and make you buy a whole bunch of other stuff rather than just the one or two items that you want.

I would say that IKEA has this effect on me - I go in looking for a toilet brush and I am caught in their maze and leave with $100+ of stuff every time!

Heh, shana, you are right. My experience at Macy's is part confusion, part lack of time. But I have most all the "symptoms" of Gruen transfer when I am at F21. Honestly, my eyes glaze over, dunno about jaw slackening BUT it has the absolute reverse effect on my ability to make a purchase. Even if I wanted to make an impulse purchase, I never know where to start. I feel like I need 5 hours to inspect everything in that store.

This is exactly how I feel when I walk into the Macy's flagship.

Ha- I love the description of the "slower walking pace and glazed eyes". It makes me think of a mall full of zombies!

Luckily they are not so big on malls here in the UK. I love shopping on actual streets! I have felt like this on occasion in malls in the past, though. Never in any of the cities were I lived though, only when traveling. I wonder if it only works the first few times you're in a mall, and the "power" diminishes once you know the layout/where you're going?

Hmm, that's a good point Shana. Maybe Macy's is attempting a Gruen transfer and it only works on some people? The store CLEARLY has a widespread appeal! I always walk in thinking I'll find what I want only to be disappointed and annoyed a few minutes later. Their website has a similar feeling for me.

It's so interesting to see that Niva, Maya and queenie all feel the same way with Macy's! Any hypotheses?

And Shana, Ikea is the perfect example of a true Gruen transfer as I understand it. It's amazing that the tactic is so deliberate and yet so effective.

Just as a clarification, I only feel that way in the HUGE Macys in NYC. And it does not fulfill its intended effect at all. I feel so nauseated and overwhelmed that I have to leave long before I even think about buying anything.

I used to like our local Macys till it merged with Hechts. Another store that puts me off is Lord & Taylor. A lot of their merchandise is very similar to Nordstroms and it is well organized but I hesitate to shop there because of its cold vibe.

I am with Shana on Ikea. Grocery stores have a similar effect on me. Another favorite is the Container Store.

Poor Macys :0(

I get like that in Abercrombie & Fitch. I can’t bear the music, or the smell of their perfume.

Angie, I'm not sure that's technically Gruen transfer, but I feel the same way! I'm only just 26 but A&F never fails to make me feel like a square old lady. Last time we were in NYC my BF and I went in to the 5th Ave. store (he's been looking for a pair of slim cargos forever, and we thought we might as well try) and had to leave within 3 minutes. He spent the rest of the day complaining about how he "smelled like Abercrombie!" I don't understand how anyone could enjoy shopping in that environment- it's so dark you can't even see the clothes.

I find the Metro Centre in the UK very disorientating. You sort of have one main circle in the centre with many smaller circles off of that. I always get lost, or I see the same shops six times and never reach the shop I intended to visit. Once you finally emerge into the cold light of day (ladened with many bags), a little battered from the experience, you're in the wrong car park and spend the next 30 minutes trying to find the car.

Forever 21, H&M, Zara, and New York & Co do it to me; I get too overwhelmed by the layout and chaos and just give up. Kind of like how I react in many resale shops.

But the chaos of Macys first floor just makes me beeline for the directory and get organized and oriented. :)

I hate the layouts for F21!

Hah, Ele! I guess we're little old ladies at heart :0)

I’m also not into Carrefour or Costco. I have heart palpitations even thinking about them. I do well in a Macys though.

I guess it depends. Costco is overwhelming, but I have a plan of action when I shop there, and don't leave my intended path. I actually shop it like it's Ikea. I go down every row even if I don't need something there. I also go on weekday afternoons. Saturday? Never.
Our Macys isn't very big, so it's not too bad. We do have a Dillards in one of our malls that's crazy to navigate. Plus, the ceilings are lower and that bugs me. The San Antonio store is that way, too. I just can't shop there because I feel so stifled. Stuff isn't organized, either.
The Dallas JCrew was a madhouse with tables and racks in the middle of walkways. I didn't care to look, really.
My husband feels that stores like Marshalls and TJMaxx are like this - close rows, small aisles, and stuff just spread out everywhere. I don't mind. I like the hunt. :)
I'm with Angie on A+F. I hate that store, personally, but their polos fit my husband very well, so I just order them online. I hate that it's so dark in there. Unfortunately, our American Eagle is similar - loud and crazy. :(

I won't even go into A&F- too dark! My kids always ask why that store is so dark when we walk by. I tell them they think if it's that dark, you won't be able to read the price tags LOL

This explains a large mall that was built in our area a few years ago. Every few feet it seems that the carpeting pattern changes to a different big loud style. Clashing pattern and color everywhere on floor, walls and ceiling and a layout of aisles that is truly a maze plus blaring music made for numerous complaints of "What were they thinking!?" when it opened. The mall has failed and doesn't have much left in it even though that area is steadily growing with housing.
F21 definitely gives me the glazed-eye, slack-jaw feeling.

UGH Angie & Ele, you are certainly NOT little old ladies; I'm the perfect age demographic for A&F and I HATE that store. I never go in it by choice. I like dance music, but theirs is awful, and who wants to shop to that?

LOL chewy...

You know, after doing my research on Anthro, I suspect they have Gruen transfer down to an art form...such that it doesn't make you frustrated or sick, but actually makes you MORE comfortable...dangerously comfortable!

The layout is arranged so that the customer can shop "freeform" rather than following a pre-planned path, and it must work because customers linger at Anthropologie stores much longer than most. I wonder if that is part of the reason I want to work there? It seems so much warmer to me than most stores.

There is one store that has the most god awful lighting. I can't remember what it is now. I just remember it made me feel ill, and everyone LOOKED ill because the lighting was so bad.

Agree on all of those juniors stores. I am proud to say that I have never entered an Abercrombie store in my life. Nothing about it appealed to me as a teen and nothing about it appeals to me today. Forever 21 is frustrating but worth it sometimes. Going back to Macy's, the juniors floor of the flagship is the WORST. I need sunglasses and earplugs to make it out alive.

Oh Maya, you should definitely use this topic and your conclusions on Anthro in your interview!

Hah...I have this at A&F for sure, my daughter worked there in high school, I couldn't keep a thought in my head while in there, and I felt confused...scrambled my brains with the music :(

There are several malls I've been in that have that effect on me! I walk in and get immediately lost and confused. I end up walking in circles, missing the arm of the mall I was intending to find. The mall near my house in San Diego was the absolute WORST. I went there all the time and in 5 years I never knew where I was. All the elevators were labelled differently and every level had different extensions. I swear it was intentionally designed to confuse. I always parked in the same spot, entered/exited through the same doors and only went to specific stores. I memorized the locations of bathrooms and food court. And if I ever veered off this path, I would get lost. And I am not one to get lost easily. If it wasn't so close to my house, I would never have gone there....

Very interesting!

Is there a name for the phenomenon in which department stores make you get off the escalator and walk all the way around the floor to continue up the next escalator? I assume they do it to get you to look at merchandise that you wouldn't normally consider.

This is turning into a hilarious thread. Laura, I think that’s *exactly* what department stores have in mind. Clever them.

Good to know I am not alone with my feelings on A&F. Interesting! I’ve been into a Costco twice and will hopefully never need to go in again. Ever.

I don't mind Ikea at all. I think it's fun as long as it's NOT over the weekend.