Archive for the ‘Display Props’ Category

Retail Details celebrates display props. Cheers!

Monday, October 25th, 2010

NOTE: Click here or go to “Display Contest” under PAGES in the sidebar of this blog  to read about the Retail Details Store Display Contest. We are still accepting entries through the end of November.

Loopy Mango, Retail Details blog, store display, display propsThere’s an eclectic little shop on Grand Street in New York City and they are quite well known for their interesting store display props. Loopy Mango  is a lifestyle and accessories boutique in SoHo which features a curated collection and ranges from designer and vintage clothing, shoes and jewelry to antiques, home goods and furniture. Here’s a picture of one of their recent store windows (below) that confirms my decision to bump this shop up on my “must see” list for my next visit to the city. The motorcycle is fun, but I love the irony of the bunny in the basket and the bird (pillow) in the cage. I can’t wait to visit the nearly 2000 square feet of pure loopiness.

Loopy Mango, Retail Details blog, 10-25-10

If you read this blog regularly, you know that I have been on a quest to visit shopping areas that consist of indy-owned businesses. I found such an area in Dallas and it’s called the Bishop Arts District. Located just a few miles from downtown, the area consists of several blocks, which the nearly 50 local merchants call “the BAD”. Since I am always on the lookout for unique displays, I would be remiss not to mention one of the stores I visited there, whose displays were outstanding: 

Indigo 1745, Retail Details blog, 10-25-10Indigo 1745 is a men’s and women’s boutique, specializing in premium denim and sportswear. Owner, Denise Manoy credits her husband with most of the visual merchandising ideas and creations, including the store name letters on the wall, as pictured here. If you look closely, the letters are made from frames, tiles, wood and foam core and adorned with textures of lace, paint and denim.

Poppy Arts, Retail Details blog, 10-25-10Is your packaging part of your holiday visual merchandising plan? Poppy Arts, in Columbia, MO, used their boxes as part of this window display. They added black ribbons and red poppies, along with their logo sticker on plain kraft boxes. The box bottoms serve as jewelry displays. Poppy began as a small, specialty art gallery and now represents over 200 artists.  

Rebekah Brooks store, Retail Details blog 10-25-10Red birds and holly berries, with a little bit of greenery, creates a holiday feel on these display shelves at the Rebekah Brooks  retail store in Northampton, MA. The shop sells handcrafted jewelry made in their studio in Western Massachusetts and they also sell unique gifts. Shown here are before and after pictures to exhibit how effective a few small, simple props can be.

NEWS: It is with great excitement that I announce that I have taken a job as a prop shopper for a new company called The Display Lab, opening soon. Nothing will change here at the Retail Details blog. I’ll still be writing, editing and choosing the pictures for Retail Details. I will continue to handle most of the social media and correspondence, but I will have help with some marketing and blog advertisers (two of the top sidebar ad spots are available, by the way). 

Join the visual merchandising conversations with the Retail Details blog on Facebook and Twitter, too.

You can submit your store display pictures to be considered for blog inclusion or email me at SwirlMarketing@Comcast.net

Stay display inspired!

Retail Details blog, Becky Tyre, Swirl Marketing~Becky

STORE DISPLAYS: Male Mannequin Favorites, Bracelet Displays, Merchandising Clear Glass Items, and A Big Dose of PINK

Friday, October 8th, 2010

NOTE: Click “Display Contest” under PAGES in the sidebar of this blog (on the right, over there>>>) to read about the Retail Details Store Display Contest and how to enter.

Retail Details, Store displays blog, Visual merchandising, My Suit
MY SUIT – New York, NY

In a made-to-measure men’s suit store, you expect to choose between single or double breasted, two buttons or three, pleated or flat front, buttons or cuff-links,  but at My Suit in New York City, you can choose the vest as shown on the orange or on the blue mannequin. WHAT? (insert sound effect *here* tires screeching to a halt). Brightly colored mannequins in a men’s tailor shop? Absolutely, if done correctly. The poses are the key to this mannequin success story at My Suit.  Maybe the Yankee’s won or the DOW is up, but these mannequins are pumped up and ready to celebrate amidst a world of navy, black and gray. It’s refreshing to see a modern store design in this fashion genre. Hat tip to the store designers and visual merchandisers! (Cue the theme from Rocky *here*).

Home decor stores, florists and gift shops struggle with clear glass containers and how to display them. A few ideas to consider:

2000 A.D. Concepts in Floral Art (left) in Atlanta, GA and The Miller House (right) in Stephens City, VA

Flowers, fruits and vegetables bring life to clear glass vases, bowls, cylinders, pitchers and other glass vessels whether they are part of your product mix or used as display props to enhance other merchandise. With apologies, in advance, to my friend J M.H. Schwanke over at UBloom, you can use fresh or faux fruit, flowers & veggies. Use fresh if you are able to monitor and change the display frequently or you can use paraffin oil to preserve the items if you are displaying them submerged. Another idea is to use obviously “fake” products like sparkly glass apples or cloth tomatoes. I am currently researching faux food display prop sources for the guys at The Display Lab. If you know of any good sources, please email me the link or contact info. Thanks!

Retail Details - At Mary's - Store display blog, October 2010

Which way is up? I look through a lot of pictures every week. You are all so kind to send them via email or link me to your facebook albums. I get so excited when I see the same prop in various settings and configurations. In this case, At Mary’s, a “much-more-than-just-gifts” shop in Bardstown, KY, features china inside a crown – or is it a cake plate? In good visual merchandising, there are no labels. Intended uses can be ignored. Be creative. Disregard “this side up” stickers.

Retail Details - Unique Expressions - Store display blog, October 2010 Fence posts, cut in various lengths make up these  jewelry displays at UniquExpressions in Pine Mountain, GA. It’s such a simple way to create texture and height in a display and I like that they are used vertically and horizontally. I especially appreciate the way the watch bands are featured more prominently as they are positioned around the posts.

Retail Details - Brussels Sprouts - Store display blog, October 2010
Brussels Sprouts – Newton, MA

Three mannequin forms. Three clothing colors. It’s not a display rule, but it is an effective technique as shown at Brussels Sprouts Kids in Newton, MA. Actually, there are numerous things “done right” in this display. Note that the are skirts are placed on both sides with pants in the middle. Note that the center form is taller. Note how the outerwear, both in black, bookends the display story.

Retail Details, Store displays blog, Visual merchandising, Painted Door

The Painted Door in Oklahoma City shows a little whimsy in this display of bracelets and watches. Besides, why display on two arms, when you can use eight?  This is a fun example of a full-round display, as well.

Retail Details - Amberella - Store display blog

 In honor of October being Breast Cancer Awareness Month, I’ve been waiting to share Amberella with my blog readers. Amberella Gallery and Boutique  in Philadelphia, PA takes their pink so seriously that they painted ALL their display items – furniture, fixtures, frames, forms and even the floor - PINK. Perhaps it’s not the right shade for everyone, but it certainly has impact. Gotta love a shop with personality!

As always, thanks for taking the time to read the Retail Details blog. I hope you will consider entering the current Retail Details New Year Store Display Contest  sponsored by Midwest CBK, Gully’s Discount Store Fixtures, Country Business Magazine, and The Display Lab. Finalists will be provided with props to keep and check out the great prizes, too.

Until next time… stay display inspired!

Retail Details blog, Becky Tyre, Swirl Marketing

 ~Becky

Retail Details Announces National Store Display Contest

Wednesday, September 15th, 2010

Call for entries:

Retail Details is having a two-part store display contest.

First prize is a $250.00 gift certificate at Gully’s Discount Store Fixtures, www.gullys.com

Second prize is a custom designed store display for your store, courtesy of The Display Lab.

5 finalists will compete for these prizes by creating a New Year’s display using props provided by Retail Details. All 5 finalists get to keep the props!

For more details, requirements and official submission rules, go to http://www.swirlmarketing.com/blog/retaildetails/display-contest/

Sponsors: Retail Details, CBK Midwest, The Display Lab, Gully’s Discount Store Fixtures

Contest starts 9-15-10, email your store display pictures to SwirlMarketing@comcast.net Phase one ends in November, finalists are judged during the second week of January 2011.

Stay display inspired!

Retail Details blog, Becky Tyre, Swirl Marketing~Becky

Fabulous fitting rooms and summer store displays

Sunday, July 11th, 2010

I’m looking at the summer gift show calendar and it looks like there’s no way to avoid the heat.  Dallas, Atlanta, Orlando, Los Angeles, Ft. Lauderdale, Las Vegas and with the recent heat in the northeast, it looks like New York City may not be any cooler. I can’t wait to visit some stores in Connecticut in October! For now, here are a few summer inspired displays:

Naples Soap Company, Retail Details blog, store displayWhen your original store is located in a beach town, especially in Southwest Florida, you can use star fish, sea grass, shells and sand as display props all year round. I love the mix of white glass vase-style containers and the natural-colored boxes. I’ll bet it smells good, too! The Naples Soap Company has expanded to Georgia, Massachusetts and most recently, South Carolina. It’s encouraging to see a retail business growing. 

Ants Display, Don Mechanic Showroom, Retail Details blog
Don Mechanic Showroom, Dallas Mart, Dallas TX

If you were at the gift show in Dallas last month, you likely saw this cute little picnic scene in the window at the Don Mechanic Showroom. It was right by the escalator and every day it made me smile. I was “prop shopping” for fall and holiday displays, but I’ll bet these ants were used in more than a few 4th of July retail window displays. I’m planning to peek in their Atlanta showroom next week and see what other fun display ideas I can find.

Retail Details blog, store window, visual merchandising, retail display ideas

This window is a follow-up to prior blogs where I featured bikes as visual merchandising props. One of my favorite features of using a bike prop is that it functions as a 2-sided display. I always appreciate a store window that is also an interior display. I understand that the store in this picture is no longer in business. I hope the wonderful old bike found a good retail home.

Fusion Home Fashion, Retail Details blog, belt display idea

I look for display inspirations wherever I go. Every once in a while, I get stopped in my tracks by a simple idea that I wish I could claim as my own. Belts are a challenge to display in a tidy and eye-catching way. Fusion Home Fashion solves that problem with this wall-mounted belt display currently in their store at the Legacy Shops in Plano, TX. They mounted basic cabinet door handles and spaced them so that the belts could be positioned to display five belts in a very interesting configuration. Note the sectioned shelf at the bottom and you have a very clever, effective display.

I’m adding these to my favorite fabulous fitting room file!
Confederacy Boutique, Retail Details blog, fitting rooms
Shop Confederacy – Hollywood, CA

 These vintage telephone booths serve as the fitting rooms at Shop Confederacy in Los Angeles, CA. Inspired by the 1940’s, each fitting room has an antique telephone that dials the front desk in case you need a different size. They also have a tea room you can book ahead for private fittings.

Lynn Steven Boutique, Retail Details blog, Fitting roomsThe Lynn Steven Boutique in Vancouver, British Columbia has a circular structure in the center of the store. When you get close, you can see

Lynn Steven Boutique, Retail Details blog, Fitting rooms

Lynn Steven Boutique - Vancouver, Canada

that the round walls are constructed by stacking used paperback books. The local architecture firm, McFarlane Green Biggar, have been widely recognized for this design and how it fits with a sustainable philosophy.

Thanks for taking the time to read the Retail Details store display blog. You can submit your unique store displays for consideration for use in upcoming blogs. Send them to the email address below.

Stay display inspired!

Retail Details blog, Becky Tyre, Swirl Marketing~Becky Tyre, Retail Details blog

SwirlMarketing(at)comcast.net