My Excellent Adventure in Columbus

I had heard, of course, that LimitedBrands had its own shuttle service leaving from and returning to Teeterboro a couple of times a day, but last week I had my chance to fly Air Victoria. Terrific and convenient and liberating (I got to keep my shoes on checking in, as but one example) as this part of the adventure was, it really paled in comparison to the store checks I was hosted through at Easton Town Center, outside Columbus, a visual cross between Rodeo Drive and Main Street Southampton. The nice folks at LimitedBrands wanted me to tour its various stores as wonderfully expressed at Easton. So, Victoria Secret, Bath & Body Works, C.O. Bigelow and Henri Bendel's here we come.

Over the years, I've often talked with marketers from designer brands like Tommy and Ralph and complained to them about the dissonance (read: nose bleed) the consumer experiences between the high gloss of fashion advertising in pages of The New York Times’ Fashion of the Times, Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar and others of that clay-coated ilk and the relatively disturbing reality of seeing the same trade mark on extra-extra-large sweatshirts being worn in airports and malls. It’s just extremely hard to reconcile the two images – and thus the brand image suffers. The designers are loathe to walk away from sales; the public is getting larger; the fashion press persists in showing the wares in other-worldly perfection.


You may then imagine my excitement to walk into the Victoria Secret and realize that no acknowledgement was being made of the incredible expanding girth of American women. This is a place staffed by, photographed of and mannequin displayed for sizes two to six. There is a not a single cue that I could see that suggests there’s something in here for plus-size women. (There may be stocked large sizes someplace, but the vibe is surely sexy stuff for sexy size 6s.)

Now the net effect of this is a purity of the vision that is thrilling. Yes, they sell flannel pajamas here, but you’d never know it if that’s what you’re looking for. However, the context makes even the flannel pajamas they do sell seem sexy to those who belong in and to the brand.

I remember at one point working on re-imagining Jiffy Lube to appeal to women and one consumer told me, “Look, a woman in a Jiffy Lube feels exactly like a man in a Victoria’s Secret: You know you don’t belong here; you know you don’t even know the vocabulary of what to ask for; you know you’re almost certainly going to be laughed at by the sales person.” I’m not a man, but I knew I wasn’t the Victoria Secret woman, either. And that edit does not bother me. I admire the discipline.

As I pushed forward to the discovery of each “room” within the store, it revealed itself almost as a striptease, if you will. Moving closer and closer to the cash wrap area, we moved from casual t-shirts and panties to the far more provocative wares for, hmmm, “intimate occasions” and then to the bathing and body lotions that don’t compete for the shopper’s Victoria Secret spend so much as complete it. The “Pink” store within the store seems a portal of entry into the brand conversation for the college-bound and dormitory denizen. All in all, not “my” place – but a great space and brand execution.

Next, we went to Bath & Body Works, which was a fine experience, but not one that was particularly motivating. All good stuff, artfully arrayed, but I think not ultimately rising to “gotta have it” momentum. Still, I could see how for hostess gifts and for those folks who define themselves by scent (and there are a lot of them), a treasure trove.

C.O. Bigelow, inspired by the fusty, dusty outpost on lower Sixth Avenue, is I think a problem area. The lovechild of Kiehl’s and L’Occitane – with a spa in the backroom. I had a particularly hard time wrapping my head around the spa, but I suppose with patience, over time you could train people to think of it as the “go-to” location for massage and facials, etc. But it seemed more of a wander-around kind of place, a “just-looking” moment, rather than a destination. All those apothecary bottles. Enough. We’ll see if this retail execution doesn’t get some more tweaking or perhaps consolidates into the “Pink”-like room of BBW.

But, pretty soon I came upon the real surprise and delight of my visit: Henri Bendel’s, which I’d known too from its Manhattan (Fifth Avenue) location as an exciting, confusing, specialty store with lots of designers you couldn’t pronounce and had only seen referred to in the pages of Vogue. This iteration of Bendel’s is focused and fabulous. One look around and you know you’re in cool, feminine accessories world. One walk around and you move beyond perusing the handbags and into consideration of buying a handbag – and how cool that price is not the main visual celebration in the store. The price tag is tucked in the bag and easy enough to get to, but the lack of screaming prices forces you to consider each bag – and then move to the discovery of the price of the one(s) you like. The second walk around and consciousness of other accessories begins to leak in: Driving gloves, bracelets, key rings, belts…it all begins to make sense.

If I had had more time, I definitely would have made the third loop through the store and then bought. As it was, we were heading back to the HQ, so I made a mental note to go on the website and buy a bag and driving gloves as a birthday present for a great friend of mine (and mother of Mattie’s BFF). The next day, I indeed went on-line and found a page on the site that was as exciting and telegraphic as a page from Lucky: 10 must haves. There was the bag and the gloves. I ordered. I was really quite entranced by the brand and the vision of the glitzy Bendel’s box that the gifts would arrive in for my friend.

The next day a message on my voice mail: No bag and no gloves. Augh. Talk about a nose bleed: I was good and irritated. I had crossed this task off my list and now it was back and not just via an out-of-stock email message, but after several “order confirmation” emails, the dread phone call. I got over myself after a bit and called Stephanie at the Bendel’s store on 57th Street! It was kind of exciting really: It was not a customer service rep in Columbus or New Delhi. It was a real person with a real name at the flagship store – and she answered the phone. Although her message had been distressing, she was able and eager to assure me that she’d checked around all the stores in the country and found a suitable replacement (same bag, different color) with driving gloves to complement it. Whoosh! Happy again. And quite taken by the human contact, after all.

So, bottom line: A great shopportunity. And, if you’re ever anywhere near Columbus, make the cabby take you to Easton Town Center.