area 51

Area 51 is a boutique middle market store selling numerous brands, both online and in several stores around New Zealand including the Area 51 store on Cuba Street, which we visited. The store was surrounded by glass on two sides making the store bright against the remaining two white walls. It had a boutique feel and modern decor, including a central rack with items displayed on top of it. The store features 28 middle to high end brands including Huffer, Ksubi, Stolen Girlfriend's Club, Standard Issue and Sass & Bide. The target market would be young professionals and people (both male and female) late teen to late twenties with money.

Photos area51store.co.nz

Prices range from $30.00 to $885.00 between all of the brands. Because there was such an extensive variation in brands, sizes were varied. E.g. Several pairs of jeans were sizes 27, 28, 29 versus 6, 8 and 10. Just like Ruby, only several sizes were on display and they ranged from size 6 to size 10. 

Area 51's layout was open and ordered, with women's apparel on one side and men's apparel on the other. The garments were organised by brand which made it easy to find specific items or price points. The store was smaller than Glassons, however considering that it did not have nearly the amount of clothing that Glassons does, it seemed much more spacious and open.

I feel that the types of clothing found in Area 51 are the kinds that I am suppose to be emulating in this project. The clothing has far surpassed the quality and style of low end stores, meeting the needs of consumers who care about current trends as well as quality. But it has not become unaffordable to many people, such as high end stores tend to be. The clothing was a very high quality. The fabric, tailoring and cut looked very professional, however there were still several loose threads to be found. A pair of jeans in a similar style to some found at Glassons, was a much higher quality than that of low end stores. It's colouring was more unique and the style looked more appropriately fitted for each individual size. The fabric was also very smooth and was obviously a much higher quality than that of similar cheaper garments.