Cabela's Case Study
I was tasked with evaluating a themed experience so I headed to Cabela's in Noblesville, IN to take a closer look at how they themed their stores.
Cabela's is a store designed to furnish the needs of the outdoors lovers. Here you can get camping equipment, hunting gear, fishing gear, Outdoors clothing and footwear, power sports, and much more. They have the entire store themed to a modern rustic outdoorsy log cabin. Inside there are various taxidermy animals, a large fish tank with fresh water fish, and all types of themed signage. Also they are in close relation to Bass Pro Shop which is themed similarly.
The target audience is definitely outdoorsy type people who enjoy things like camping and hiking. The age range is pretty broad because outdoor activities can be enjoyed by many. The store wants the guests to feel that they are whisked away into a more rural setting and away from the city. They use a very earthy color pallet with greens, tans, and browns. Inside there is old country and western music play that helps set the mood. As far as finding your way around it is very self explanatory. There are signs that show what is in that area and then of course all the animals with the signage. They act as weenies in a way which can be very helpful for someone asking where something is. For example "The hiking boots are by the black bears."
The story to me in a round about way is almost like a safari. I was finding myself trying to find more animals around the store as I was looking around. It was fun. I feel like they are trying to make it immersive with the log cabin look, with a large fire place, cool mason work, animals, live fish, and themed music. I still feel they could add more if they wanted. Possibly having the employees dressed more for the area the are trying to create rather than a standard button up shirt. The type of design Cabela's utilizes to me is a mix of immersive and popular design. It is a pretty good mix of both which I feel is appropriate for this type of establishment. With it being a large store with a lot to look at their is most definitely a large throughput. This experience makes money from people buying goods from the store.
One thing that I think could be changed is the ceiling of the store. It is just a typical white large store ceiling, I feel they could of made it look like wood or something the mimic the outside more. Another thing was that I feel like in some areas the merchandise seemed cluttered and not as organized in positioning as other parts of the store.
Overall Cabela's did a decent job of reaching their target audience and making an interesting and fun place to shop. Even if your not the camping outdoorsy type it is still a cool place to go check out.
