Archive for the ‘Props’ Category

Three beds, some scales and a bar of soap

Wednesday, February 23rd, 2011

Fitts Company, Walla Walla, Retail Details blog, Visual merchandisingIf you are like me, your Mom told you to keep your shoes off the bed. I don’t think the rule applies to this retail display at Fitts and Company in Walla Walla, WA. Here are three displays where the retailers take advantage of the sleep space to show off more than linens. HiHo Home Market, in Gardiner in the Hudson Valley, NY, has numerous themed rooms and this bedroom contains an interesting product mix, combining old and new merchandise in a display built around a black and white theme. The Miller House, a home decor and interior design shop, features linens, books, fragrance sprays and flowers in a cozy bed display at the shop in Stephens City, VA.

Hiho Home Market, The Miller House, Retail Details blog, Visual merchandising, store display

Sweet Anthem Jewelry, Retail Details blog, Visual merchandising, store displayAt Sweet Anthem Jewelry in Salem, MA, painted driftwood serves as accessory displays for belts and jewelry. Natural elements are a popular display trend and this one is cleverly assembled.

Craftland, Retail Details blog, Visual merchandisingPink fabric is strategically placed beneath rectangles of plexiglass on this jewelry display table at Craftland Shop in Providence, RI. This is my favorite idea of the week and I appreciate the way they used varying sizes of plexiglass and staggered the sizes of the colored fabric, as well. Very effective technique. Numerous possibilities.

Home Design Studio, Columbus, TX, Retail Details blog, Visual merchandising, store displayDisplay tip: Note how this presentation has several bars of soap unwrapped within the display.  This makes it very clear what is in the lovely packaging and exhibits the fact that different colors are available. Thanks to Home Design Studio in Columbus, TX,  for sharing an example of this display technique.

Cake Vintage, Nashville, Retail Details blog, Visual merchandisingUnless you are new to the Retail Details blog, you likely know of my love of and obsession with visual merchandising props and there-fore explains my other job as a prop shopper and display designer for The Display Lab. One of my favorite props are scales. I like this hanging scale in a display at Cake Vintage in Nashville, Tennessee. There is something quite pleasant about mixing the industrial look of the scale with the delicate teacups and such “odd mixtures” catch a customer’s eye.

Patina Green, Retail Details blog, Visual merchandising, store displayIn a more traditional scenario, a scale displays vegetables at Patina Green Home and Market in McKinney, TX. I love how they mixed wire, wood and straw baskets, the usage of differing heights within the display and the consistent, appropriate signage. Well done!

Thanks for reading the Retail Details blog. I hope you will join me as we continue the conversation and share display ideas on Facebook (Retail Details Blog) and Twitter(@Retail_Details). I invite you to submit display pictures to be considered for blog inclusion. You can email pictures to SwirlMarketing(at)comcast(dot)net. Be sure to include your store location and website information. I visit hundreds of stores every year and may be in your area later in 2011. Retail Details loves to shop local!

Over the next few months, I will be having a few guest bloggers write for the Retail Details blog. Contact me if you’d like to be considered. I have two spots open at this time.

Stay display inspired!

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

Store displays & visual merchandising winners

Tuesday, January 25th, 2011

Last September, the Retail Details blog announced the Retail Details New Year Store Display Contest. Over 40 stores entered and in January, four stores were chosen as the finalists. As promised, here are all the finalist entry photos.

HiHo Home Market is a delightful family owned shop, filled with old and new furnishings and treasures. Located in the beautiful Hudson Valley in Gardiner, NY.  As their finalist entry, they chose a black, white and pink theme and added an elephant, which made the judges smile at the irony of the pink elephant connotation in a New Year’s “cheers” theme. The judges commented that they really liked the use of color in this display.

Dumbo wears the top hat

Celebration decals on glass

Happy New Year!

Chandelier and "celebrate" on glass

HiHo Home Market display for contest

 The Miller House is a  unique shop with the very best home décor, gifts and furniture. They feature traditional to transitional design for your home. Judges  especially liked the attention to detail (ie: champagne glasses with watches) and enjoyed the continuity of a NEW YEAR’S time-based theme for the entire display.

New year's mantel with chandelier and clocks

Decals on the pillow and the square white tray

Watches as napkin rings

The Miller House contest finalist entry

A. Dodson’s is not just a store — it’s a destination. You’ll find this shop unpredictable, quirky, and alluring. Just outside of Norfolk, Virginia.  A Dodson’s is the first place winner in the contest. 

Top hat and chandeliers

Clock face ;-)

Pearls!

A Dodson's finalist contest entry

Party!

 The second place winner is Greetings From Geralyn. It is a little shop with great cards, gourmet food, candy, gift wrap, and scrapbooking supplies in Asbury Park, NJ. They decorated their entire storefront for the contest.

Greetings From Geralyn contest entry

Incorporating the record tree into the New Year display

Greetings From Geralyn contest entry window

Thanks to all the stores who entered the contest, the businesses who sponsored the contest and prizes and the judges!

Stay display inspired!

Retail Details blog, Becky Tyre, Swirl Marketing~Becky

 

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