American Girl Place, part 2: Exhibits

In my first post on American Girl Place in Chicago, I showed the smart ways they orient customers to store offerings. In this post, I'll show you how they use museum techniques to add depth and a feeling of authenticity to their dolls and related products.

On the lower level of the store is the theater, showing a live musical production. The musical has also been made into a feature film by Warner Brothers. They include an exhibit, including the costumes, to take girls behind the scenes of the production.

Next up are vignettes, staged exactly like museum dioramas, telling the backstory on several of the dolls from each era. This Native American doll's story is set in 1764. "Kaya" is a Nez Perce Native American doll.

"Josefina Montoya's" story is set in New Mexico in 1824.

Pioneer "Kirsten Larson" lives in Minnesota in 1854.

Each of these dolls comes with a line of books, clothing, and other merchandise. This grounding in museum-style exhibits, however, adds a whole new layer of authenticity to their stories, making it seem even more like they might have been real girls.

Tip of the day: Adding rich layers to quality offerings enhances the value of your entire experience. How can you add story to your experience?

Technorati Tags: customer experience, customer service, American Girl Place , museum exhibit, Chicago, consultant

American Girl Place, part 1

The highlight of my trip to Chicago in May, aside from my book launch, was seeing American Girl Place in person. Thanks to Fast Company for turning me on to this amazing customer experience. (Listen to their podcast here.) I'll be writing several posts about it, as the experience was so rich in customer experience concepts.

The building exterior is simply, clearly, and strongly themed. This first flagship store opened in 1998.

The first thing you see upon entering is the concierge desk on the right. This acts as an advance organizer for what the store offers, including the theater show, the photo studio, and the doll hair styling salon.

An updateable special events board in the entry foyer plants the seeds for a return visit.

The coat and package check, a nice service in chilly Chicago, also undoubtedly increases stay time.

Another unique service they provide is the doll hospital. You check in your injured doll and they send her off to be fixed up.

Tip of the day: Clearly orienting customers to your offerings sets up the experience they can choose to have. Offering special services that show you care about customers' needs and comfort allow them to spend more time with you.

Technorati Tags: customer experience, customer service, Chicago, American Girl Place, consultant