Retail Displays With A Cherry on Top...

Last week I was in Eastern Washington, resetting the merchandise displays at Hogue Cellars Winery. After completing them, Karen & I made a stop at the Chukar Cherries factory store, located in Prosser. (Years ago, when I had my little store, a darling woman named Barb painted fabulous chicken artwork for me ... and her hubby designed the Chukar Cherries logo. I don't know why I remember that, but I do!) For the uninitiated, a Chukar is a bird. I have no idea what they have to do with the fruit and nut and chocolate creations that this company makes, but go here to find out: http://www.chukar.com/.

I walked in the door of the warehouse store, and stopped dead in my tracks. Karen nearly plowed into the back of me! 'WOW factor' doesn't even come close to describing the effect this place has.

It's not in the expense or the size of the place, for it's small and pretty basic. Nope, it's the consummate attention to detail in every aspect of presenting the brand image of Chukar Cherries. These people really GET IT!!!!

A panorama of half of the shop is shown above. Clean, simple fixtures are used. Containers are in red - the signature color. Small items are presented in groups, logos are prominent on every shelf.

Two large wood tables sitting in the center of the small space hold feature items: jars of jams & jellies, and tins of chocolate-covered nuts. (This stuff is SOOOOOO addictive...) Samples are out for easy tasting & choosing.

Notice that on top of the shelving are empty baskets, displayed with attention to detail but easy to reach for putting together a custom gift basket. Ready-made gift baskets are on the shelves, too. Signage? Everywhere, but not obtrusive.

I was struck by the effective simplicity of the design here, by the prominence of the brand image, and the obvious ideas that this would provide for shops carrying these products - or other small items that need to be corralled. A similar singular shelf unit in any store, merchandised in this way, will sell a huge amount of product over the holidays. Whether it's Chukar Cherries food products, or soaps, or candles, or logo items, clean, concise presentation will enhance the products, your store image, and your customers' shopping experience.

To the lovely young lady who looked at me as if I was an alien when I asked if I could take photos: Thank you for asking 'the big shots' in the back room!!! (They said yes!) And you are ALL doing a terrific job with this shop. I mean, I am really impressed. WOW! I've seen your Pike Place Market booth and major trade show displays. But I didn't expect to find that level of attention to detail in Prosser... Bravo!

Retail is SO Unbalanced...

Things that make me laugh: A great sense of humor in retail display designs.

I nearly fell off my chair when I ran across that photo above on http://www.visualstore.com/. It's a shot of a window display in a Missoni boutique in Milan, Italy. Sharp humorists, those Italian display divas! I love this.

Also, one of the dorkiest 80's (or was it 90's??? The fashion is 80's!) films made - but since it's all about visual merchandising, well, I love it. 'Mannequin' with Andrew McCarthy, Kim Cattrall (pre-Samantha), and Meschach Taylor as 'Hollywoooooooood' is on TV, and I'm being a total couch potato while watching it. What else to do on a rainy Northwest Sunday?!

It's research, really it is.....

Do You Know This Woman?!

(Well, I'd type in the rest of her name up there if Blogger would let me...)

This is Sue Kirby. If you don't know who she is, let me introduce you!

Sue is a public speaker extrordinaire. Her infectious smile and bubbly laugh combine with a quick wit and some of the most hilarious stories you've ever heard - keeping audiences rolling in the aisles. Sue speaks at trade shows, business associations, women's organizations, and church retreats across the country. Her subjects range from uplifting, heartfelt observations of life as a woman to incredibly creative ideas for succeeding in business.

This latter subject is how I met Sue, who was speaking at West coast retail gift shows. I was bowled over by her spunky attitude, and before I knew it, I was hired to present seminars on the subject of retail merchandising on the same stage as Sue. Talk about a lucky break!!! I've been blessed to work with her, watch her, listen to her, learn from her, 'warm up her crowd' and come up with funny introductions for her, and be inspired by her incredible spirit for over five years now. She moved from Oregon to Washington recently, and now lives just an hour away from me. We are both so busy that we never see one another except at the gift shows, though.

Tuesday, we are meeting for lunch, and a brainstorming session of mammoth proportions. We've got something up our sleeves, and it may just turn out to be our best idea yet! But even if it never goes anywhere, our time laughing together will be the real bonus... I am so blessed to have this generous and fun woman as a business associate and friend.

Check out Sue's web site at www.suekirby.com for more info on this amazing woman! And if you are attending a gift show, check out the seminar listing to see if Sue is speaking - and get in there!!!!

Switchin' It Up

It's fall....time to shake things up in retail.
This is a shot of the newly-revamped Columbia Winery retail shop, one of my clients.

We didn't do this just because we wanted to rearrange every fixture & product in the shop, though. Some things have been happening lately to change the demographic of the shopper here. (For instance, the Spirit of Washington Wine Train stopped running, which brought an average of 200 customers per evening and 600 per weekend day right to the winery doors for tastings. That's a LOT of customers lost.) So the powers that be decided it was a good a time as any to shake things up and try something new. The photo up above shows a new use for the area across from the tasting bar: a 'bistro' area where guests can sit and sip. No food is served, and wine is still only by taste, not a glassful, but starting next week there will be live music events on Tuesday evenings - with food. Great idea!

The photo below shows how this area was used in the past....kind of a 'corridor' to the restrooms & event rooms. (When 200 to 300 people at a time are disembarking a train, do you know where they go first? Uh huh. The restrooms. There had to be a straight path!) The wall units held all of the logo clothing.

Here's what it looks like NOW:

Clothing next to tables where wine is being consumed? Not a good idea. We moved it.....

To the area that used to be books....

I swear I folded shirts for two hours. Felt like I worked at the Gap. (Actually, it reminded me of one of my jobs in high school: Store & Window displays for Jeans West Men's Clothiers in So Cal. Three stores, three malls, LOTS of clothes.) I really like the logo wear here - looks much more organized and the lighting is better. (Yes, that's actually a fireplace. It's never used so we covered it with the table.) The photo below is of the right side of the shop - cash wrap in the background, and the logo wall is located to the right just out of view.

At the back of the shop, there was an area that was formerly closed in on two sides by built-in wine racks. It was called 'the Library' and held rare vintages of wine. Then they ran out of rare vintages, and it became known as the 'Empty Wine Rack area'. Not good. Here's a before shot:

A few weeks ago, some enthusiastic staff members ripped out the old wine racks. This week, I moved our 'Kitchen' area - featuring food products, spices, cheese plates, etc. - into this space.

It is visible from the tasting bar, so when people are tasting wine and talking about what foods to pair it with, they can see the food area and be drawn to it. Below is a long shot of the new kitchen area, taken from the left front of the shop. The tasting bar is on the upper left, out of view.

Another long bank of built-in wine racks was across the whole back wall on the right side:

These have been there for ....oh, twenty years??? UGH. These offer great storage for wine in a cellar, but not in a retail setting. You can't see the labels! SO, out they went at the hands of the aforementioned staff members. We moved some freestanding units onto the wall and now the area looks like this:

Located in front of this are two giant cubby units that hold wine stock (not pictured). The table you see in the foreground here sits in between those units. Spacious, open, easily accessible & shoppable were the goals for this whole redesign, and we nailed it.

Through all of the changes, an interesting turn of events is happening....yes, they lost several thousand customers a week because of the train ceasing operation here. However, the wine shop & tasting bar have been BUSIER during weekdays and absolutely SLAMMED on weekends because people (locals, wine club members, etc.) have figured out that now they can get great service, terrific products, and NOT have to deal with the train crowds in the shop. Stuff is selling like hotcakes! And the people coming in now are spending more per transaction than the train customers were - so sales are actually UP over last year this quarter. This past week, while I have been cleaning, shoving, pushing, dragging, climbing, hanging, stacking, and folding, the shop was as busy as it usually is during the busy holidays. A few powers that be are amazed by this!

What do I always say? Change is good!!!!!!

Soar With Us!

If you read my previous post on Women Take Wing! Inc. , you already know about this new resource for women entrepreneurs on the web. (If not, go there now to find out!) I am happy to announce that you can now join us as a member, as our online applications went live this morning. Go here to find out more - just hover on the nav bar word 'Join' and more info will pop up for you to peruse!

Fall Inspiration

Awhile back, I asked for some ideas of subjects that you, my friends, would like to read about here. Bacchus suggested home decor ideas that make use of some of the techniques, tips, & tricks that we use in retail display. (I say 'we' as Bacchus is also afflicted with Retail Display Syndrome, a little-known disease causing sufferers to perform such bizarre acts as straightening displays in stores that have not hired you to do so. It's quite an embarassing thing to be stricken with, so I tend to be kind to those who have it and cross my path. I feel your pain. Literally.)

So, here at the close of our summer season (boo hoo cry wail pout blubber and whine, there, I'm done now), I thought I'd pull out photos of last year's autumn decor here at my Cottage. Let's see what visual merchandising tips I can pull out of my proverbial hat, shall we?

Point one: start with a theme. Mine is pumpkins, because I have a lot of them. I've got glass, ceramic, wood, fabric, plastic, styrofoam, paper, dough, clay, terra cotta, real gourds, and more. They spend far too many months packed in foam and cardboard, just waiting for their day in the spotlight, so I give it to them for three months a year.

With a theme, I can coordinate all of the display areas in all of my rooms easily: every area has to have some pumpkins. And I'm big on natural elements: bleached leaves, faded roses, foliage & florals in pumpkin colors. Add a few 'hard surface' elements: glass, silver, and wood containers. Point two: Plan a few areas that you can place these in. Mine are the front porch, front entry, library table, mantel, buffet, dining table, and kitchen window. From small to large, each of these will hold the same theme, colors, and elements to spread the season's 'story' all thru my house. It needn't be every single table, shelf, area - sometimes, less is more. (I can't beleive I said that).

The mantel holds an asymetrical arrangement. It's narrow, so I have to be creative. I didn't want to do a central arrangement or both sides, as these colors are so vibrant it would have been overwhelming. So, I practiced restraint - something extremely hard for someone who suffers from Retail Display Syndrome to do. You see, in retail visual merchandising we normally do everything very BIG and very theatrical. In a home, you have to dial it back a bit or it will make you dizzy.

On my big long pine dining table, I grouped more of the same elements casually. I wanted the whole scheme to look sort of 'unstudied', just left there as I discovered it on a walk or some such story. I always include candles in my big tall clear glass vases....they add light, movement, life to my displays. And I do add stuff all thru the season. So, point three would be to keep your displays organic. Move things, add things, rearrange things. Keep it interesting.

Here, I've added a hanging straw purse filled with rust-colored silk roses to the old door that serves as a peg rack by my front door. It's just an old peely-painted farmhouse door that I love, with brass hooks across the top, leaning against the wall. I change stuff on it all the time. It's a neat 3-D artwork piece - I could have hung a painting here, but this is more tactile and fun. Point four is this: sometimes the best art on a wall isn't art at all. It's something that you can alter, add to , and change with small touches. In the foreground, you can see more glass vases and fall leaves on the 'Library' table in the living room. I dont' overload this table because we often eat here and definitely do a lot of reading, computer-ing and working here. Point five is that you sometimes have to scale back designs in order to preserve the true function of a space. I could place some big fancy leafy branches here, but I still have to be able to sit and have light to sketch or read.

The photo up at the top of this post is of the area just ouside the front door - I place decorative elements here to create a welcoming vignette. Again, I use all of the natural elements and pumpkins to set the stage. From the first step up onto my covered front porch all the way thru the house, it's the same story. Now, I do that for two reasons: one, it's how I work. I'm obsessive that way. And two, my house is small. I mean, really small. It's a 1924 Cottage, not even 1000 square feet. So I can't have too much going on, and I definitely can't have too many different things going on....I'd lose my marbles staring at it all. So I follow point six and keep it coordinated, simple, and use color to pull your eye thru the space.

I'll be working on this year's fall decor in my house this week. I hope you will have fun creating something seasonal in your own home, whether it's a vase holding a branch of gorgeous leaves, or stems of amber grasses, or a bowl of acorns. (All of which are free, by the way - and that's my final tip today!)