If there is one word that expresses the mood of Autumn, it is 'Harvest'. And that leads to Abundance - a very important concept in retail visual merchandising.Your goal is to attract your customer's eye with a display that is full of product. Product to discover, to look at, to investigate, and to purchase. (Don't forget your signage!!!)The best displays have a 'lifestyle' or 'feature' area, where a grouping of products creates a mood, a theme, etc. An adjacent table or shelf unit holds LOTS of those products - all neatly corralled or lined up, easy for a customer to grab n' go. (Like in the Taco Bell commercials - "You're GOOD TO GO!"!) It is very important that both the 'feature' area AND the 'stock' area are always filled with product. Neat, clean, but FULL. If you have a low amount of the items and can't fill it up, you need to build a smaller display and get a smaller fixture to put the stock on. Or you need to bring in some additional products, and cross-merchandise it into your theme.
This concept can apply to a robust, voluptuous old-world style display, as shown in the photo at top, or in a sleek, contemporary display, as shown in the photo above. It matters not whether you build it in a geometric grid form or a freeflowing arc. It matters not whether the fabric is draped in great swaths across the table, or hung vertically from above. Any display of product, any theme, any style, in any store will benefit from having additional product easily available immediately adjacent to it.I mean, I just loooove creating those lifestyle tableaux of spilling items and draped fabrics and artfully placed floral accents. I really do. It's like a still life painting come to life. (Which, I know, kind of negates the term 'still life'...but anyway....) But the most glorious, opulent display won't sell your products on it's own. It needs to be partnered with accessibility. Because very few people will reach into what looks to be a 'perfect' display and take an item. I think they have flashbacks to when their mommies took them into stores, and held their hands and said "Don't Touch Anything!", I really do. They just don't want to mess it up. Even if they really, really want that item. So make it easy for them...and for your sales staff. The bonus is, it's also MUCH easier to re-stock products in this format.One final note: There is a retail science concept that goes something like this: "Make them think that there is a very limited supply of something, and they'll be inclined to purchase it NOW instead of thinking 'There are so many, there is no hurry. I'll come back for it later'." You are basically presenting merchandise with the idea that it is a 'limited offer'. And in some cases, this is exactly what you should do. Don't put out two dozen of THE hot item...ahem, THX Elmo!...put out six. Your customers will not think twice, they will grab n' go. They don't want to lose out.An abundance of product, ideas, and inspiration will reap you a harvest of benefits this season....(Photos copyright DWK 2006, courtesy of Columbia Winery)
What is the main pet peeve of holiday decorating?
Wire Ornament Hangers. (Cue Joan Crawford...."NO MORE WIRE HANGERS!!!!") And tho they are nasty little buggers, we've all been using them for generations, with the same complaints:They stick in your tree, your carpeting, your furniture, your hair, and your pet's hair. They render themselves invisible - except on the tree where they SHOULD!
They poke your fingers, your toesies, and can really mess up the inner workings of your vaccuum. (Yes, even a Dyson.) I get pretty frustrated with 'em, since I decorate from October through December. So a few years ago, Karen and I started using chenille stems as ornament hangers. (Um, we used to calls these little items 'pipe cleaners'....not really sure why the name changed in craft stores) Buy them in white for a flocked tree, green for the rest, snip 'em in half, and bend it like...Beckham? Hmmmn. No. Bend it like a loop or a hook or however you want - hook the ornament on and then twist it onto a branch of the tree, garland, wreath, etc. It's virtually invisible, and it won't fall off even if kitty (or the kiddies) decide to play soccer with it. They work SO well for clustering ornaments, it isn't even funny...on top of the branch, under the branch, along the mantel...easy as pie. Plus, when it comes time to un-decorate, you can easily remove them without punctures or hazards on your floors - if they drop, you can SEE them! This application isn't limited to the holidays - for fall decor, use brown ones to attach leaves & flowers to vine wreaths. In spring, use white or pale green, depending on your decor items. Another fabulous solution is a new product invented here in the Northwest. Two savvy women came up with a very modern approach to 'ornament suspension' - check out Kleer-Eze Ornament Hangers and get a look at their invention. I discovered them at the Seattle Gift Show, and think they are simply Brilliant!Always good to render a pet peeve a thing of the past, isn't it?Okay, well, at least one of the TWO main pet peeves...but I'm still not sure how to keep 100% of the needles on the tree and not on the floor. Sorry...
Everyone asks me "Where do you get ideas for displays?"...
Usually, the product itself offers a great starting point. Sometimes, however, I am not particularly 'inspired'.
Not that the product is to blame.... for instance, in the photos above, you see a collection of colorful ceramic ware. It's great stuff - SO great, in fact, that it is in stock every season at Columbia Winery. It's a mainstay of the shop, and new colors rotate in a few times a year. Some seasons, I'll separate colors and pair them with other ceramics & cross-merchandise with more products. When combined as they are above, I can create several different looks/themes: one we did in the shop this summer was a 'Fiesta!' theme, tied into the wine club summer party event. Lots of tissue paper flowers and some sangria mixes brought south-of-the-border flavor to the display. For fall, we needed to do something fresh - and when I saw the cover of the new Wine Spectator magazine, I knew how I wanted to update the display. By rotating in some new colors, switching out the fixtures, using harvest baskets as props, and incorporating food products along with the ceramics & wine, the display has a completely different feel than it did earlier in summer.A pine hutch and harvest table, another low pine table, and a rolling butcher block island create a 'kitchen' feel. Colorful children's chairs and wood bowls help add levels of interest and continue the color scheme of primaries. Beautiful Vietri ceramics in the shapes of vegetables are a standout focal point at the front of the display - as is the Wine Spectator magazine in a harvest basket. Finished off with linens, food products, aprons, and of course wine, the basic bright ceramics become gourmet fare. We actually have a few hanging herb racks ordered that did not arrive from the vendor in time for me to use them - but when they come in, I'll add them above the display with some fake herb bundles tied to them. It's easy to come up with a theme....just look around, and get cookin'!All photos copyright 2006 DWK, courtesy of Columbia Winery
Most anniversaries are celebrations of joyous moments.
This is not one of those.
September 11 brings us face to face each year with issues of the greatest importance, remembrance of lost lives, memories of horrendous images and emotions. And yet remembering these things is something we all share, a common bond, and it makes us one Nation for a moment in time - as it did that day five years ago. Our differences are not quite as important as our similarities:
We are Americans.
Fly your flag today...in remembrance of our fallen citizens, of their families who were forced to sacrifice their loved ones, and of that moment when we all realized that being America means more than we ever thought it would.
September 11, 2001. We will never forget.
Have you heard of Pandora? No no no not the box thing! The online music service!
A friend told me about it and I am soooo hooked. Working on the computer isn't exactly my favorite thing to do, (except blogging, of course!) but now when I have to, I can have awesome music playing!
Here's the deal: Go to Pandora, sign up (free), and then type in the name of an artist or song that you love. From that ONE entry, Pandora will build a playlist that contains other songs that fit the profile of the one you entered - 'jazz, sultry, slow beat, female vocalist'. Voila - it's a 'Madeline Peyroux/Billie Holiday/Rosemary Clooney' radio station right there on your computer!
I love it! I've got about six different profiles set up, so whatever mood I am in, I can click on it and hear music that matches my mood. Beach Boys. Harry Connick, Jr. Classical piano. Big band. And, yeah, okay, I'll admit it: Dixie Chicks & Faith. Nothin' like some rowdy music on a slow gray rainy Monday morning...and a latte, of course!
Looking for something to add a special effects WOW to your holiday displays? How about snow that won't melt? NO, I'm not talking about fiber batting or plastic chips or even skeins of soft angora wool. I'm talkin' virtually REAL snow!
Check out Sno-Wonder. It's a product originally created for special effects in the film industry - and it deserves an Oscar!
You get a white baking-soda-looking powder in a pouch, then stir in cold water. It looks a bit like white soup for a few minutes...and then suddenly it congeals as you are stirring it, and you have crystals that expand into what looks & feels like real snow! This stuff is wet, cold, white, fluffy, and the ultimate in Trompe L'Oeil! (That's 'fool the eye' in French). It will last for WEEKS - and if you are in a particularly dry environment, just mist it with water every few days and it will stay plump and perfect!
I've used it in my seminars, displays, and decor since I discovered it two years ago at the SFIGF, and highly recommend it. Especially for 'brain teasers' like THIS....
It's September first, so in my book it's now officially acceptable to start with the Holiday mayhem.
(Hey, I may work in the retail industry, but I simply cannot bring myself to jump into the Holidays until AFTER Summer!!!) 
These photos are of a fun and inexpensive display treatment - Bubble Wrap Curtains!
I saw these in a home decor shop in Leavenworth, Washington last year, and was just so amused with them. The shop was as traditional as they come, no funky stuff at all, and yet the display designer had created these whimsical accents to the decor - and BOY did it stand out!
It's a great example of how simple materials can be transformed into a show stopper of a display!
(So, tell me...what can YOU do with newspaper, bubble wrap, or styro peanuts?)
.0.jpg)
.1.jpg)
.4.jpg)
I saw these in a home decor shop in Leavenworth, Washington last year, and was just so amused with them. The shop was as traditional as they come, no funky stuff at all, and yet the display designer had created these whimsical accents to the decor - and BOY did it stand out!