My second assignment on identifying opportunities for Stanford's Crash Course on Creativity: https://venture-lab.org/creativity/index.

1. My Travels to Istanbul
--------
Robin Teigland
Stanford Crash Course in Creativity
Assignment 2
October 30, 2012

2. Assignment 2
Are You Paying Attention?
1. Go to at least 6 different stores. They can be at the same
shopping center or different locations. Spend at least 15
minutes in each store making OBSERVATIONS using the lab
guide for reference. Take photos to capture your
observations.
2. Create a presentation that captures your INSIGHTS and
HIDDEN OPPORTUNITIES. What types of things had you
missed before? What were your biggest surprises? Are there
opportunities hidden in plain sight?
https://venture-lab.org/creativity/index

3. A day as a traveler
For my assignment, I spent a day exploring
stores in an upscale neighborhood in
Istanbul, Turkey and comparing these to the
stores in an equivalent area in my hometown of
Stockholm, Sweden and in other cities such as
San Francisco, USA.
I found several opportunities, but here I will only
present one – for neighborhood grocery stores.

4. Neighborhood grocery stores in Istanbul

5. Going to the local grocery is a chore.
• The atmosphere is like a warehouse.
– The stores are overcrowded with produce crammed onto non-descript shelves.
– The floor plan is very cramped and makes you want to move through it as quickly as
possible.
– The stores are very generic in that you cannot tell one from the other.
• The product offering is very commoditized.
– All the aisles look the same in terms of produce.
– The products are primarily Turkish with few international products other than those
by US FMCG companies, e.g., Coca-Cola, Procter & Gamble.
– The fresh produce is very limited and the deli only offers what you could buy from
the shelves, except that you could order a specified amount.
• Customer service is limited.
– In some stores, the customers are well-known by the storekeeper and receive
friendly service.
– However, in the larger stores, the staff is almost invisible and do not greet the
customers. In some cases, it even seemed as if they hid from their customers.

7. Hidden Opportunity?
Is it possible to turn
shopping at the
neighborhood grocery store
in Istanbul
into an experience
for all the five senses?

8. Tantalizing your senses?
Examples from neighborhood grocery stores in USA

9. And not to forget – something for our ears
Examples from neighborhood grocery stores in USA

10. Is there an unmet need for ready-made meals?
Examples from neighborhood grocery stores in USA

11. What do the locals say?
In our local stores, the aisles are so
narrow – it is almost like a fight to get
through them.
One thing that I miss, and a lot of others who
have lived abroad and return to Turkey, is an
international selection of products that I can
just get at a nearby store.
When I come home tired from
work, I would like to have good
quality pre-made food that is not
this crappy frozen stuff.

12. Hidden Opportunity?
Is it possible to turn
shopping at the
neighborhood grocery store
into an experience
for all the five senses?
YES!!
YES!!
YES!!