Holiday shopping is a yearly money sucker that consumers never fail to participate in. I recently went shopping for Christmas presents for my family and friends, and realized that after walking out of some stores, I left content and ready to keep shopping. Yet, other stores had the opposite effect on me, as I felt completely drained and discouraged. One store that gave me a particular sense of dissatisfaction: TJ Maxx.

There seemed to be a few reasons for this as I reflected on my shopping experience, and they varied from customer experience to physical effects: employee attitude, music being played, the lighting of the store, the amount of business, and organization of the store. All of these factors, I realized, related to the ambience the store created. I noticed that the places that left me wanting to go home and sleep for 5 hours instead of finish shopping my list had a combination of either monochromatic dull overhead lighting, a lack of eye-catching or stimulating displays, slow service, packed shelves, very average music, or other factors that created an atmosphere of neutrality and unpleasantness.TJ Maxx was one of the stores that I came out literally physically and mentally drained because of my shopping experience. First of all, nobody shopping there looked happy. The workers lacked an energy that would greatly uplift the store's ambience. Walking through the shelves, there was an overwhelming amount of things that were not necessarily in order within their respective categories. Dull walls with minimal, lacking displays filled the store. In the clothes section, there were scraping hangers and dull, yellow overhead lights. It's scientifically proven that these lights can suck your energy from you. I felt that in this store. Lastly, the music seemed like it was recorded in a recording studio 2 blocks away: low quality and annoying. On top of everything else, the line seemed to never end.

TJ Maxx recently pitched an ad campaign for 'Bring Back the Holidays', attempting to spread the emphasis on people and not things over the holiday season. TJ Maxx and their affiliated stores were also closed on Thanksgiving so as to give employees the day to spend with their families. That is something I greatly respect about the store. It makes me want to support them, however, TJ Maxx, Marshall's, and Home Goods are three stores that I dread visiting because of the unpleasant atmosphere.

To create a more appealing shopping atmosphere, I would suggest that the stores create a more appealing setup rather than strict shelves and dull lighting for a more fashionable, more intimate and friendly shopping experience. Holiday shopping can be a fun and rewarding experience, but stores can add certain design elements to retain more of the consumers who leave unsatisfied.