Spring Fling

It's still cold, gray, wet, and miserable....and winter isn't about to let go yet.
But are you offering your customers a healthy dose of Spring Inspiration?
You should be!

Pull out all the stops and bring a blooming garden into your store or showroom. Grasses, flowers, natural elements like cherry blossom-bedecked branches and moss will give your store a shot of energy in more ways than one. Even silk flowers added to a display bring a sense of life and movement into it. (Make 'em messy, tho...bend the stems wildly, pull a few petals off of a tulip and scatter them on the table beneath the vase....make it realistic!)

Mix up merchandise you have had a while with a few pieces of new stuff in 'the' hot color of the season (gold, hot magenta, robin's egg blue - still - and earthy greens, by the way!), or a new color of linens & candles, perhaps. Use props that tie in with spring: terra cotta pots, a garden fence or trellis, topiaries, a wheelbarrow. Here's an idea for you: Simply cover a table with burlap, pile up terra cotta pots, add a large silk potted tulip and then place all white ceramic dishes & serving pieces on the pot stacks as risers, do a placesetting and lay a garden spade alongside it - instead of a a fork & spoon. Place a garden trellis behind the display, whether it is in the center of your store or against a wall. Whimsy, imagination, and a simple color scheme can make fast work of a new display. (Wish I had a photo of this idea to show you!!!) Portmeirion china would be perfect for a display like this - playing off of the floral images on the dishes.

Offer tablescapes that evoke lovely afternoon luncheons and teas on a sunny day...even if there is four feet of snow outside! Escapism and entertainment is what shopping is all about, so give it to 'em! Color, inspiration, and freshness are what people are looking for at this point in the year.

Get creative, put on some snappy music (I prefer big band or classic 40's crooners, but that's just me!), turn on ALL of the lights, and start spiffin' up. It's a proven science that when you are working, rearranging, restyling your store, you charge up the atmosphere with good energy - and customers respond to that with enthusiasm!