Wreaking Retail Havok in Prosser!

Ah, yes, your friendly Decorating & Display Diva has touched down like a tornado again, happily rearranging spaces from here to kingdom come and wreaking havok across the land! As one of my crew members & traveling companions said, "I'm 'Wreak', that one's 'and', & Deb is 'Havok' personified!" ;o) Love ya, girls....

I am anxious to share the redesign of Hogue Cellars with you all....but I have 250 photos and it is NOT easy choosing the right ones to illustrate Before/After concepts! If I tried to include them ALL, I'd have a blog post worthy of Tolstoy. I could call it "The War and Peace of Retail Design", I guess...but you'd be bored and Blogger would implode. SO, I will have to tackle this in phases.

Take a look at that sketch of Hogue Cellars retail shop & tasting bar. Front door is mid-right, tasting bar is lower left. Cashwrap is the 'C' and 'I' shaped counters in the upper center. Just about everything else shown is shelving, cabinets, slatwall, etc - built-in units. Got your bearings? OK! This post will include shots of the upper right quadrant.

When you walked into Hogue BEFORE Deb and her marvelous 'Decorating & Display Diva's Crew' wreaked havok, here is what you saw when you turned right:

It's not horrifying or anything, it's just not the best it can be.
A few minor changes, and here is what it looks like NOW:

Clean, Crisp, Well-stocked. Organized. Upscale. The best it can be!
Now, the details:

Before & After
Side by side, you can see the differences in the slatwall arrangement.
This area formerly held food & wine accessories on a wire rack, and logo apparel on slatwall. We removed the rack, and the food, and focused this area completely on logo and wine accessories -some of which ARE logo. Before, there was one item in each style of shirt & cap out here - big no-no. 'One-sies' look like they are leftovers, end-of-line merchandise. Customers won't buy it because they think you have had it forever and ran out of other sizes. We filled it up with all four styles of shirt in all four sizes (they hang S-M-L-X) and it looks like brand new, fresh merchandise. Did you even see the caps in the before shot? Nope. Now there are multiples, easy to see & grab. The accessories are corralled into baskets that fit into shelf units. (Each pulls out like a drawer for ease in stocking, no wasting time stacking on a shelf. Expedite the process for your staff!!!) Now it's shoppable.

Moving to the next wall (top of map), we saw this before:

Again, having just one of an item out on shelves is detrimental to it's sales potential. One box each of six varieties of crackers, one of each varietal of wine....nuh uh. It looks like leftovers, spoiled and soiled. The thing was, there were boxes and boxes and shelves FULL of these products out in the retail storage area. My trusty helpers loaded up and hauled it all in, I organized it into categories and arranged it onto the shelves (pasta, sweets, savories, spices, oils, fish, etc.). Books sell best when you can see the covers. (OF COURSE we have all been told "Don't judge a book by it's cover" - but we still DO it!!!) The previous arrangement of over 30 cookbooks was removed and those books that were alike (not many) were placed into displays by color, theme, content, etc. Books sell much better when cross-merchandised.
And here is the result:

On the left you see a counter area. I actually used the exact same merchandise that they already had there, I just added more of it and propped it in a way that was interesting. In the before shot, you can see that it was flat, on a checkered tablecloth - which was a cute idea, but I went for a more 'Williams-Sonoma' look than Papa Luigi's restaurant. Bushel baskets hold lots of pasta, the ceramic bowls hold sauces, and the colanders and cookbooks add interest:

A few employees looked at the display the next morning and asked "Is this new? Did we have sauces before?" This kind of reaction is typical!!! Sometimes you have to shake it up to see it. And as of today, that wall-hung candleabra is gone, along with all of the backstock, along with a bunch of other merchandise. It's 'flying out the door', I am told.

;o) Gotta' love that!

Next time, we'll continue moving around the shop counter-clockwise....

Earth Day

So, Earth Day has once again come and gone. Before the big day, everyone from Oprah to Arnold was touting about going GREEN. There were green issues of popular magazines like Domino and Vanity Fair. As the day approached, my husband and I began to get excited. "Maybe people are finally waking up and getting it," I said. "The small efforts really do make a difference." Earth Day came and went, but after the rhetoric, it seems as though we are back to business as usual. The green splash has reduced to ripples on the community surface. I feel compelled to critique the lack of follow-through from these "leaders" of the community.
The lackadaisical attitude isn't just in Hollywood; Tampa has more that its fair share. I do have to say that I give Kudos to Mayor Pam Iorio, who has traded in her luxury sedan for a more eco friendly Honda hybrid, but is it enough?
We attended the Earth Day celebration at Lowry Park and I was impressed with a few booths, but the city's showing was very--rehearsed. I was looking for literature on recycling and information on what steps the city of Tampa was taking towards becoming more eco-friendly. Where is the solar power info? Why can't we recycle cardboard in the city? Where can I learn to make a rain barrel and is there an incentive for these home improvements? I had questions that I needed answers to. When I saw the solid waste recycling tent and other city recycling booths I bagan searching the tables for literature that would quench my thirst for information. Unfortunately, I left the booths more frustrated and thirsty than I came. Sure I had a nifty mouse pad made of tires, but no one there could tell me which plastics we recycle here and which we can't. The only hard information the tables had were how children could make paper hats from paper, and that was in the leaflet from 2003. I began seeing that all of the literature was from around 2003--have we not changed anything or even felt that change is important? We are not the only people who want to make Tampa a Green city and a leader in the state, so why does it feel like all of the momentum is just slipping away?
Tell me what you think.

Shop 'Till You Drop!

I was over in Eastern Washington at the beginning of the week, installing the new decor & displays at Hogue Cellars. It turned out....well, FABulous, if I DO say so myself! I promise I'll post photos as soon as I get a minute - I'm busy working on the final visual plan for summer displays at Columbia Winery, which I install next week.

And today, in the mail, I received that packet above.

First thing I thought was WHAT?????? SPRING GIFT SHOW ALREADY?????!!!!

Time flies when you're having fun, I tell ya. I'll have just enough time to get back from a trip to Texas, catch an event with SARK, and then I'll be heading down to the design center to shop the show. Then there is a 'women in retail' business conference, a bridal shower, and yet another winery retail shop design all packed into the month of MAY alone. Whew!

I do have to comment on the graphic design of the show brochure....man, that is just inspiring. I love it. It will remain on one of my inspiration boards long after the show! Stunning. (Ooooooh, I hope maybe they have shopping bags or totes with that motif on it, too!) I'm looking forward to seeing lots of new holiday decor merchandise. Whoops, getting ahead of myself there.....

Better get back to summer merchandise display planning. Photos as soon as I can!

I'm Gonna Wine A Bit.....

I've been busy for the past few months working on a redesign of a winery located in Eastern Washington. It's Hogue Cellars, a marvelous winery founded by brothers Mike & Gary Hogue - and this year, it celebrates it's 25th Anniversary! Now owned by Constellation Brands, it was time to update the VIP Event Room and retail shop to reflect the growth and evolution of the brand over the years. After I helped with some color & material choices, the retail manager Jennifer handled coordinating the contractors to remodel the event room. Next week, I will head over with a crew of three to install the decorative elements, furnishings, and products in the VIP Room and retail shop. In the meantime, here's a peek at my planning process: Stylesheets.

The 'masthead' stylesheet is like a prologue to a book or film: it sets the stage for our story. I've included the logo, words from the winery website, and images that reflect the mood and style that are driving my design concepts. This is how I 'see' Hogue's brand image.

The plan for the VIP Tasting & Event Room....sage green walls, deep sage green chenille drapery panels, walnut wood floors & window blinds, two great rugs in browns & sage greens & golds, and furniture in walnut and painted finishes. The colors were chosen to evoke the landscape outside - the fabulous terrior of the wine country in Eastern Washington. Terrior (Tehr WAH) is French for 'Pride of Place' - all of the characteristics of a wine begin with where the grapes are grown. A winery is the same....it's characteristics should reflect the surrounding terrain, light, colors, style, and mood. It should be a visual representation of the wine's story.

The room will have a warm, enveloping, welcoming 'vibe', a comfortable and relaxing place to enjoy fine wine, great food, and good company. Warm colors, textures, rich woods, and classic furniture pieces are included. Many of the furnishings are easy to move around, like the two eight-foot-long dining tables, three bistro sets, and portable bar, making this space flexible for many different types of events & gatherings as well as daily private tastings.

Then it's on to the retail shop. Illustrating the display style to be used, this stylesheet shows a cross-merchandise method, and explains that seasonal themes will be incorporated into vignettes of products. Mixing wine, food, glassware, ceramics, dinnerware, linens, books, and natural elements (flowers, greens, etc.) will impart a 'lifestyle' image to the merchandise and the shop as a whole. We'll still have shelves full of glassware and wine accessories and tshirts, but they will be adjacent to tables & wine racks filled with products in a more inspiring, artistic way - to catch the eye and motivate the customer to buy the products in order to replicate the look at home.

The products IN those displays will be an ever-changing mix of the following three styles, because they fit the style of the winery image, the architecture, the surrounding landscape...

Rustic
Contemporary
Classic
Another thing to take into account with this plan is that the retail shop is small, and so each season, both Jen and buyer Lisa will order merchandise that all works together color-wise. Not that everything has to be the same color, but the tonalities and hues need to be 'friendly' with one another, because you will see everything at once when you walk in. It's the principle of 'adjacencies' : making sure that things don't clash when they occupy the same visual space.

So, that's the plan... and I'm excited about seeing it all come together next week! I'll share before/after photos, too.

I want to ask you something. Have you ever done this for YOUR store? Even if you've been in business thirty years (or maybe especially if you've been in business that long), it's imperative to be able to define your style, tell your 'story', and present your own branded image thru your products, displays, color choices, etc. Perhaps by creating a stylesheet, or even making a list or two, you can begin to refine your image. We have to do this every few years personally, right? Change our hair, our makeup, our clothing size (O heavens!), and update our color choices to fit the current season. Well, your business visual image needs an update every once in awhile, too! Heck, even McDonalds is redesigning their restaurants....yes, even the big brands have to work hard to stay enticing to customers. I encourage you to take a new, fresh look at where you want to go and how you want to present yourself as a business for the next five years. If you're stuck, drop me a line and let's see if I can't help you via this wonderful internet!

(And might I suggest a lovely glass of Hogue Cellars cabernet sauvignon to inspire you?) Cheers!

Homeland

My 5th great grandfather was George Mason, after whom George Mason University was named. He was a gentleman farmer, a businessman, a contemporary of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Benjamin Franklin. He was a founding father of our nation's government, writing the Virginia Bill of Rights that was incorporated, in part and in theory, into the United States Bill of Rights. He was a proud Virginian... and though I have never visited there, I hold Virginia in a special place in my heart as the 'land of my forefathers'. My great uncle recently celebrated his 100th birthday with family in Charlottesville; I have two dear friends who live outside of Williamsburg and in Centreville. It is, in a strange way, the home I have never lived in. My heart goes out to all who are affected by the events at Virginia Tech yesterday. My prayers are with those who are suffering...God Bless You All. Though the media delves and the forensic teams test, we may never know why this happened. It is incomprehensible.

I know that our founding fathers would be dismayed that America is not the utopia they envisioned, not the haven of safety and security they espoused, not the example of freedom in action that they framed in our Constitution. We are far from perfect, we still have pain and suffering and death and war, and we still have injustice. No one at Virginia Tech deserved to die yesterday. No one deserved to lose a loved one. No one deserves to experience the horrible desperation that the shooter himself must have been living in to decide to commit such an awful, despondent, evil act. We are Americans. We have a history of fighting for our freedoms, for our survival, for a better life and a brighter future. But this......killing for the sake of killing. This is not the Land of the Free and Home of the Brave that my ancestor dreamed of, of that I am certain.

Room With A View

I'm not sure if I would be a very productive employee if I spent all day staring at a scene like that one, but I can tell you that it sure would beat the gray-carpeted interiors of most cubicles I've encountered.

Maybe it's just that I'm not really big on being restricted to any one area for very long? I remember years ago attending a career seminar, which was for the purpose of determining our 'Dream Job'. Attendees were asked to write a description of our own personal 'Job From Hell'. Not hard for this girl at all: Office in a high rise, assigned to a cubicle, prosaic boring metal furniture, sitting & working on a computer all day. Flourescent lights, no windows, no plants, no views of anything. Hot stale air. Muzak on the sound system. Boss from 1950's era. No room for creative thinking or actually for thinking of any kind. Just follow the directions and do as you are told. Hooooooooly Toledo. Dear ol' Deb would have lasted .oooo2 seconds in that job! I am blessed that tho there have been some abysmal jobs in my life, (fast food; working the childrens' toy department at Christmas; and a great visual job with a horrid manager), I managed to escape the particular personal pergatory I descibed in my assignment.

There is a website that sells large-scale graphics that adorn cubicle & office walls: check it out at http://www.cubicledecor.com/ . Amazing and very creative stuff! Scenes include nature and landscapes as well as space, cityscapes, sports, films...limitless, really. Some poor bored person must have thought up this idea whilst being held captive inside a corporate office! I hope now she works on a laptop from a chair like the one pictured above.....

If you absolutely positively HAVE to be in a cubicle for any length of time, I'd say turn it into a room with a view... of anything other than gray carpeted walls. And if you live in the NorthWest, and work in a cubicle, here is a perfect solution for ya:

No matter what time of day it is, or what the weather is doing (LOL), "The Mountain" is ALWAYS "Out"! (Ya gotta be a local to understand that one.....)

PS: Hover your cursor over that link above. See that cool little box that appears and previews the website? It's available for use on YOUR blog or website at www.SnaP.com. Free. Enjoy! (And yes, you can hover on THAT link, too!!!!)

Spinning a Yarn.....

'Spinning a Yarn'.....Actually, that title is so right on the money, it's scary: My long-time friend Catherine is launching a new business venture - she raises & breeds goats, shears them, and processes the wool by dyeing and spinning it into yarn, and then uses it to create some of the most incredible textile art I have ever seen. And she can tell a heckufa' story, too, so you can take that 'Yarn-spinning' comment any way you want to!

Cath asked me to assist her in putting together a display that would perform two functions: Educate viewers in the art of her craft, and sell her finished products. (Tip One: ALWAYS have an objective for each display. Think of it as a 'Mini Mission Statement' that will help keep you on track.) After spending a few hours at her farm being privy to her process, she and I mapped out a plan for the space and then she began gathering and creating things to build the display with. A month later, we met at the location and assembled the display according to my design plan. Below is a shot of the display case...

Below is a shot of the center of the display: it features a photo of Cath's home studio, some textile fibers, and a card that says "The Transformation of Raw Wool Into Wearable Art" - just for those who need a little extra help. (Tip Two: Never assume that your objective is clear to others. State it plainly if it is applicable - as this is for educational purposes.) Placing this info and photo in the center made use of some 'spare' space, and also serves to capture the attention of the viewer right off - did you know people usually look at the CENTER of a piece of art or a display first? (Unlike looking at the upper left first, like when looking at a book or paper). Interesting, huh?

I patted my friend on the back for the stellar staging job she did in her studio space for this photo - she says she learned from me. Thanks!
The following photos are of the display area, from left to right:

Note that the background is neutral - fabric that matches the walls. In this case, it really makes the colorful textiles AND the sculptural props stand out. (Tip Three: if your product is colorful, use a neutral background. If your product is neutral in tone, use a colorful background. Opposites add energy.) We laid out the display chronologically, showing the steps of the process in order. Cath created numbered signs that correlate to actions & tools used for each process. And she has some stellar antique pieces that beautifully tell the story. (Tip Four: Props should relate to the merchandise being featured in order to help you illustrate your objective.)

This is a closer view - note the photos and small items placed to draw the eye upward: angled items, textiles and fabrics showing movement, as well as the numbered cards, keep the viewer's eye moving in the direction you WANT it to. (Tip Five: Placement is a science - study fine art, still lifes, even theatre stage design to see how it subtly but effectively directs your view.)

I love the photo here - it's of 'Daisy', Cath's 1955 Chambers stove that she uses for the dye process. 'Daisy' is the charming centerpiece of a very warm farmhouse kitchen. The fibers are shown in many of the unique, one-of-a-kind dyelots that are more magic than science. Those colors will never be repeated. The pot just makes the photo come to life. (Tip Six: Pull elements from packaging, art, signage, photos, logos, etc. in your displays and repeat them for effect.)

On the right side of the display, the process continues. Betcha' noticed that FAB.U.LOUS mannequin, didn't you?! Let me tell you about her - her name is....ahem....Paris. (NO, not THAT Paris.) You see, mademoiselle Paris is an original 1920's French lingerie mannequin (OOOOOOO La La!), and she was found languishing in a flea market in her native land. After an adventuresome trip to the New World (wherein she may or may not have lost her lower appendages - which have been replaced by an adjustable microphone stand), she finds herself restored to her former glory and now models only the very finest in handcrafted textiles. And check out that shawl she has on...... (Tip Seven: If it's fabulous, it will attact attention. If it's fabulous and cheap, terrific. If it's fabulous and expensive, BUY IT ANYWAY! You will never regret a purchase like this treasure.)

(I'm not allowed to tell you where the props were found and what she paid for them. Let's just say that she saved enough on every prop in this display to buy Miss Paris.)

Here is a shot of one of Cath's fabulous purses (one she was actually using and emptied out so I could put it in the display!). She chose this bowl for the finished yarn & 'started project' because of the great color. It was a bit small when we placed it here, so I added the bandanna to make the color impact larger in this white space. (Tip Eight: Make the most of scale - if an item is too small, duplicate it or add to it's 'visual weight' by increasing the space it takes up. Add a base, add a mirror behind it to reflect it's own image - thereby doubling it - or add something like this in a coordinating color under it.This will help to keep balance within the display.) I need to give a nod to Miss Sarah, a piano student and young friend of Cath's who joined us as our assistant for the day. She whipped up that 'in-process project' in a matter of minutes! Amazing job, Sarah!

Here is a close-up of several of Catherine's bags in various styles. Again, because the yarns are so unique in color and texture, every item created is a one-of-a-kind original. (Tip Nine: When showing a lot of products, color coordinate them to tell a definite story within a limited palette. These are all warm colors - while they do not match, they all have golden undertones to keep the eye flowing from one to another.)

So, you want to get your hands on a 'Foothills Farm Fiber' Catherine Lowell original? Here's how to find her:

Blog: http://FoothillsFarmFiber.blogspot.com Email: FoothillsFarmFiber@yahoo.com

(Tip Ten: ALWAYS, always include contact info, pricing, location, use, and other pertinent information in your displays. And stick a buncha biz cards outside a display case like this if you can, so it's easy for people to grab one. If you can't do that, place the info on a nice big sign in the display so those who are tech savvy can snap a shot of it with their phone cameras. ;o) )