In 2013 and 2015, Vue Magazine readers voted The Briefing Room as the Best Men’s Clothing Store in Edmonton. They offer top quality products from the best designer brands around the globe, and boast incredible customer service.
The impressive part? The Briefing Room received this recognition without carrying jeans, dress clothes, or really much of any outerwear. Sure, they offer a smattering of the basic man-accessories – shaving products, ties, socks, and wallets – but it is their unparalleled selection of men’s underwear that put them on the map.
It all started when owner Steve Townsend saw a men’s only store in Vancouver. He decided a
comfortable underwear shopping experience and product variety were things Edmonton men were completely missing out on, and they didn’t even know it. Women had stores like Victoria’s Secret and LaSenza, but there had yet to be a male’s equivalent introduced. The initial consumer reactions to TBR wasn’t as strong with older generations, but the idea seems to have resonated strongly with young males.
The millennial mind-set has many oft remarked upon quirks, not the least of which being the openness regarding our nether-regions. As far as I know, topics like underwear were considered very nearly taboo during my parents’ generation. Lucky for us, that trend seems to have died somewhere between then and now, possibly laid to rest along with acid wash jeans and the mullet. Today, slipping into men’s underwear is as much of a fashion statement as it is a foray into insightful debates regarding comfort and convenience. With revolutionary brands like MyPakage and Saxx introducing compartmentalized under-drawers, not to mention the advances in material and cut, every day in modern men’s underwear is an unparalleled experience. All this became possible because men’s underwear stopped being socially off-limits! Some of this world’s most brilliant minds heard the malcontented and downtrodden man’s cries of discomfort, and set out to pioneer a new product, and a new perspective! With all this in mind, it would seem the timing for opening such a unique store was optimal, capitalizing on a product category that has been trending upwards in sales and innovation since Marky Mark (Wahlberg) and the Funky Bunch made underwear cool in the mid-90’s. 
I've added these pictures to demonstrate how cool underwear is, and to pay homage to the pioneer who started us down this path of underwear as a fashion. And... now that my Wahlberg fandom has been noted, it's time to move back to more relevant material.
TBR opened on Whyte Ave in September of 2012. Whatever their reasons for choosing this particular location, it would seem they struck gold. Still a very niche market with a presumably young-ish target audience, TBR benefits from the enormous amount of foot traffic generated by the bars, restaurants, and other boutique stores along this “striving start-ups” district. Their selection is unrivaled, but what's more impressive is their success and level of engagement with such a sensitive and private topic/product.
TBR opened on Whyte Ave in September of 2012. Whatever their reasons for choosing this particular location, it would seem they struck gold. Still a very niche market with a presumably young-ish target audience, TBR benefits from the enormous amount of foot traffic generated by the bars, restaurants, and other boutique stores along this “striving start-ups” district. Their selection is unrivaled, but what's more impressive is their success and level of engagement with such a sensitive and private topic/product.
Whether calculated or not, I’ve never been approached by an employee while I was shopping skivvies in a big-box store. Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad I was left alone. I’ve never actually seen a Bay employee and thought, “Hey, that guy probably knows all the underwear specs… Why don’t I ask him which ones are ideal for keeping me dry while offering ‘the boys’ maximum support”. Basically, I don’t want to talk underwear in the Bay. That being said, a store that specializes in underwear should probably know how to approach a guy and talk logistics without being too weird. It might sound strange, but TBR nails it. Somehow, you feel perfectly at home while chatting with a total stranger about housing your most private area. It doesn’t end there though. Obviously, hygienic standards restrict the level of interaction we can have with in-store underwear, but TBR gets us as close as possible without actually violating any sanitary or public health norms. Everything is removed from the box for ultimate transparency, as we can touch and view the products without relying on the well-endowed cover model to mislead us about what we’re getting.
The Briefing Room is not a discount clothing store. It carries predominantly products with comparatively steep prices to the category norm, but price is not a component of value; it simply captures value. At TBR, the value proposition is more than the just the product: it effectively incorporates the perceived value of greater selection, a more refined experience, and the convenience of being located where its target likes to shop. TBR has crafted “a unique experience at a compelling price” (Murray, 2013), but if you don’t believe me, check it out for yourself.
10151 82 Avenue NW, Edmonton
Additional References:
Murray, Kyle B. (2013) The Retail Value Proposition
Tidak ada komentar:
Posting Komentar