Interior textiles have been a part of the everyday life of humans for hundreds of years, especially for women whom the creation of textiles has been a usual feature. Archeological findings from the 16th century B.C. show that tools for spinning and weaving for home usage were a part of every household. This was common until the 19th century, when the industrialization in Europe took off and the first textile industries began to establish. This was the beginning of big changes to the modern man’s lifestyle and the way we consume interior textiles. As mass produced products have taken over the market, a counter-reaction among consumers have emerged. The consumers feel a bigger need for unique products, products that feel meaningful for themselves or in any other way increases the perceived value. This has led to a growing trend for DIY-activities (Do-It-Yourself). While the sales of DIY-related products and interior design products increases, statistics shows a decrease in the sales of textile meter fabrics, which is a raw material aimed to be used for interior design and DIY-projects. It can be identified by the way that businesses are selling textile meter fabrics that the strategies haven’t changed very much in the recent decades. Therefore, it is questionable whether the meter fabric assortment is on its way to extinction or if the offer needs to change to better suit the customers’ requirements. This study has focused on what elements of the textile meter fabric offer could be changed in a store in Germany. An analysis of a selective sample of the German customer and how they use textile meter fabrics has been made, but also on how they perceive the offer in store and what they wish to be changed in the textile meter fabrics department. The interviews were conducted in an anonymous store in Frankfurt, Germany. The empirical findings have been put in relation with studies of DIY-motivations and shopping experience. An interview with a sales leader of one of the leading stores of home textiles in Germany, including meter fabrics, has been done in order to put the customers’ answers in relation to how the store work with increasing the DIY-motivations towards the customers. The study has resulted in insights about the stores lacking ability to provide the customers with enough motivation for DIY-projects in regards to textile meter fabrics. A disconnection between the vision of the store and the customers’ perception of the offer has been discovered, where the possibilities of improvement are vast. The study also shows that a majority of the interviewed German males show little or no interest in both DIY and textile meter fabrics.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:hb-10643 |
| Date | January 2016 |
| Creators | Petersson, Emil, Strandman, Julia |
| Publisher | Högskolan i Borås, Akademin för textil, teknik och ekonomi, Högskolan i Borås, Akademin för textil, teknik och ekonomi |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | Swedish |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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