Scotch & Soda

I was lured into Scotch & Soda due to its gold lettering in contrast to its black store front. Scotch & Soda is a couture retailer which has multiple locations around the world. I visited the store located in the heart of Amsterdam’s shopping district on Berenstraat 15. Following my visit to the store my research revealed that this retailer also has a beautiful online store. The online store is streamline and easy to navigate. It equally reflects and enhanced the beauty of the of the Amsterdam location I visited.

The interior design of Scotch & Soda appeals to a classic, yet edgy vibe. It is clear that the intentional audience is a hip crowd due to the fun “top hits” music playing on the speakers. All of the employees working in the store were also very young, attractive and dressed very well. When I entered the store multiple employees welcomed me inside. However, this attention was very short lived. After the initial welcome, the employees did not interact with me at all. I noticed that many of the employees were standing in the same place the entire time, staring at the wall blankly. When I wanted to try on an item it took me a few minutes to locate an employee to ask if could use a dressing room. Once I found an employee to ask she literally just said “yes.” This was an awkward situation due to the structure of the dressing rooms. The dressing rooms were just curtains hung in a circle from the ceiling. It was very difficult to close the curtains without help from a person on the outside. I had to help a few customers before me to close the curtains from the outside, otherwise there is a gap and exposing you to the rest of the store.

I also found it odd that my items were not counted prior to my entering and exiting the dressing room. In the United States, items are checked as a buffer to catch shoplifters. However, in Europe they have a much higher level of trust and see it unnecessary in many retailers.

Everything on the inside of the store was organized based on what could be worn together. Each rack consisted of a few outfit pairing options. This made it very pleasurable to shop because I knew by choosing garments from the same rack would result in a well-coordinated ensemble. Many of the shirts even had matching necklaces attached to their tags.

Scotch & Soda sells men’s and women’s clothing. The men’s department was located on the ground floor and the women’s department was located upstairs. This was initially very surprising to me. In the United States women’s clothing is usually the main focus of a retailer and the men’s section is usually in the back corner of the building. However, in this case the men’s section was front and center.

From Tuesday through Saturday the store is open from 10AM until 7PM. On Sunday and Monday the store opens at noon and closes at 6PM. There was no sale section of the store when I visited.

#Fashion