A Ladies’ Man

If there’s a garment district in Mazatlán it’s in Centro Historico with the epicenter for ladies lingerie at the intersection of Azueta and Melchor Ocampo.

 

 

 

Garage 33 is a surfer/skate board place. Fashion conscious dudes shop here. But look harder. Keeping with the theme at his neighbours, this young man’s shop also has a bin with ladies panties and another for bras.

Panties for US$1.00 – Bras for US$4.00

Cheap panties and bras. What are they doing in a shop for guys??

José has owned Garage 33 for more than 15 years. To be successful José needs to know his customer and how to market to his customer. He understands many people are shy when it comes to buying items like hemorrhoid cream or condoms. Marketing consultants tell us these buyers camouflage their purchase by tossing in a loaf of bread, a jug of milk; whatever they think will take the cashier’s attention away from the only thing they really want.

If personal care items can cause embarrassment think about a young male’s reaction when buying ladies undergarments, especially if he’s the one who wants to wear them.

Consider how much easier it is for him to go into a men’s shop; grab surfer shorts or a T-shirt and then throw in a pair of pink panties.

What if I got this all-wrong?

What if José’s marketing is an example of the classic “bait and switch”– young man looking for inexpensive ladies undies walks into the store but ends up buying more expensive surfer dude clothing?

Who knows? But you can’t argue with 15 years of success.

José runs with the slogan, “ropa que refleja tu vibra” (clothing that reflects your vibe.) I’m confident it’s a good vibration.