Sell me a dream, not a dress

I'LL NEVER forget the first time I stepped into a Muji shop in Japan. It was in the early 1990s and the world had been waiting for the quintessential minimalist shop that sold clothes, stationery, home wear, storage boxes, screwdriver sets, bicycles - you name it, everything that you needed in your life presented in a pared-down and neutral design that would never date.

The stores themselves all looked like lofts decorated by Calvin Klein and spritzed with Issey Miyake cologne. Everything was serene, colourless and uncluttered, and all I remember thinking was: When can I move in?

Years later, I was in New York at the height of the shabby chic era and, walking through the doors of Anthropologie in Soho, I felt exactly the same way.

This time I fell for the store's eccentric mix of fashion and jewellery, countrified table-wear, pottery and gardening clutter.

There was a lot of floral fabric, I recall, and a huge variety of merchandise. I came home with some crystal door knobs that to this day remind me of that delicious feeling that swept over me in the store.

I really didn't want to leave, I spent about an hour sitting on the floor reading cookbooks and, again, I wanted to ask the shop assistant: When can I move in?

It's been some time, but I had a similarly emotional response again this week, when I battled to walk out of the new Poetry store that has opened up in the Rosebank Mall.

I even struck up a conversation with a total stranger over a delicious-smelling hand lotion, and she told me about her grandchildren.

Brought to us by the same folk that sell K-Way fleeces and stainless steel flasks at Cape Union Mart, Poetry is an inspired retail concept that began its roll-out at the end of last year.

It was probably the worst timing for the launch of a new brand - given the economic meltdown that was heading our way - but judging from the activity in the store, business can't be looking all that bad.

Like Muji and Anthropologie, Poetry has captured the mood of the moment - and is selling a lifestyle more than a dress, a blouse, a candle, a scarf or a piece of pottery.

There's a lot of cotton, leather and cashmere around. The colours are organic, rich and feminine, the fragrances are natural.

The shop feels like a great big comfortable barn, and if there had been a fire burning in the corner I would have settled in for the afternoon.

Isn't a little bit of uncomplicated home comfort what we all crave right now?

The pay station is on a farmhouse table in the middle of the store and the staff are warm, smiling and eager to help.

In short, Poetry is like an oasis in a retail environment where many have lost touch with the simple art of customer seduction.

It is often suggested that in the global marketplace where there's very little to differentiate one shop from another in terms of their merchandise, it comes down to the lifestyle that you offer your customers. This determines whether they'll be buying or not.

Designers like Ralph Lauren and Tom Ford are the leaders in this line of thinking, inviting you into their stylish lifestyle rather than simply opening a shop door.

Because if you want a new leather jacket for winter, there are a couple on offer around town with not very much in it when it comes to price.

You're likely to buy the jacket from the shop that makes you feel happiest. Right now my money is on Poetry.

When can I move in?