I was able to spend some time at the Nike Employee Store this week, and in doing so I was able to spend a lot of my time watching people do their business in a Nike store. I spent a few hours in the store and so I was able to watch a number of people come and go, but I was able to watch several people spend a similar amount of time in there that I did.
The first person I was keeping an eye on was a lady who was pushing her child around in a stroller. Her child couldn’t have been more than a few months old, so I felt a little bad for her having a young child in such a crowded place. Her attire really reminded me of someone who lives in Eugene. She was wearing a long sun dress, a head band, and a plain t shirt. The key for me was the Chocos. In my opinion, it demonstrated that she has a kind of a free spirited nature. Seeming like she was from Eugene, she looked like someone who is an organics person. I would say that my assumptions say that I believe that some people in Eugene have a distinct style that I can recognize.
The second person I was able to observe for a while was an older man who spent at least two hours looking for a pair of shoes. He was wearing pretty basic clothing, khaki shorts, a collared shirt, and tennis shoes. His hair was well-kept and looked like a clean person. I believe that by dressing the way he does, he’s trying to show that he is comfortably successful, but at the same time he isn’t trying to make a show of it. Nothing that he was wearing was really flashy, but by the way he carried himself, it made me think that he was pretty well off. I think that for my own beliefs, it shows that I take notice of the way someone handles themselves. The man walked around looking confident, just enjoying his time at the store. The combination of his demeanor and dress made me associate him with comfort and success.
The third person I encountered was certainly the most well-dressed and presentable of the three. She was an older woman, probably in her 50’s, wearing a professional suit and pearl necklace and her hair well done. In my opinion she is clearly doing well for herself, and she values looking professional and presenting herself as such. I think that she has a high value in showing her success. I assume she comes from a successful family and her background is in business or financing. I think that my beliefs from the second person are supported by what I took from observing the third woman. She was wearing a business suit so I associated her with success and money.
I really enjoyed your post on this week’s topic. I also ended up observing two females and one male for this particular course exercise. I think it is interesting that even if you weren’t born and raised in Eugene, like you noted in your first observation, its not that hard to tell that a person is a local from the Eugene area based on what they are wearing because this community has a very distinct style. I agree that people in Eugene seem to be a lot more environmental-friendly and express it by the way that they dress.
The Nike employee store is a great place to people watch so good choice. It’s interesting to me that the second person’s dress and demeanor made you associate him with success. That makes me think of Sanders’ piece and how a person’s physical appearance affects his or her identity. The first person definitely sounds like she was found Eugene by the way she dresses, although there are a good amount of people in Portland who dress like that. Something I to think about is which of these three people might have a body alteration, whether it be a tattoo or piercing? Good post this week!
I found your post to be very interesting. First of all, I loved that you observed shoppers at the Nike store. It’s such a great way to see different types of people all with one common interest: Nike. I especially was engaged by your example of the second man who took two hours to make a selection on his shoe purchase. I think, as you discussed in your post, it shows the attention to detail that this man must have in many other aspects of his life. I relate to this a lot because this is very similar to my decision making process because I like to take my time with things and make sure I have fully thought them through before I commit to something, such as a new purchase.