New York, Paris, Milan

I have learned in my years in advertising that it is not uncommon to attach fancy titles like "New York" or "Paris" or "established 1888" to your brand so as to achieve a certain feel and perception in your desired audience. Of course, the credibility in naming your brand in such a way lies in your story and rationale behind it, whether it is real and true, or just a marketing ploy.

Recently, the store Club Marc New York has sprung up around town. They have a huge store in Vivocity and have opened one in Marina Square as well. I've never been enticed to enter the store, being biased against the red and black colour scheme of their logo and signage (very 80s). However, having run out of stores to browse yesterday, I wandered into the Marina Square outlet for a quick look.

At first glance, Club Marc seems polished and edgy, and with surprisingly low prices. If they were really from New York, those prices in USD would have been dirt cheap walmart buys. I was puzzled, a bit pleased, no harm having more cheap and good boutiques in town. The cheap sat well with me, but the good I had to disagree. Many clothes came in bright neon colours this season - lime green and psychaedelic pink (??) - and most of the ladies tops seemed a bit "short" in height. I had the impression they would end at my waist, and I certainly do not want to make my torso look shorter than it already is.

I decided to do my research. What store claims to be from the big apple when the tops looked like they were from HK, size wise, design wise. The Club Marc website was bad. The layout isn't great and the english throws you off a bit. Classic examples include " EVOLUTED TO A NEW FAST FASHION RETAILER" (isn't it evolved?) and "NEW FASHION STLYINGS" (what's a styling, and spelling error at that) -- Do feel free to surf to their website for more grammatical faux pas.

Another juicy tidbit i found out is that the website says the company was established in NYC in 1999 but alas, they have no stores in NYC at the moment, because they are "opening soon". They have an "R&D Center" in NYC though. What is there to R&D about for clothes? Their global HQ is in Singapore and all their stores are here. And they have a long list of countries on their store locator page but I'd bet all except one says "no stores at the moment". I guess the founder is very optimistic, looking to expand into every country in the world.

So...I gather this is a classic case of "fancy titling" in branding and image-building. After reading their website, I find a stronger resolve in me to not purchase anything from them or visit their store again. Such a pity, they turned out to be an empty shell with no substance, and no nice clothes.