Archive for the ‘Store Windows’ Category

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Simple summer props – Retail Details Blog

Friday, July 23rd, 2010

It’s been a while since I featured a menswear display, so I’ll start with an excellent example. At Wm. King Clothiers in Bristol, Tennessee, they take a classic approach with their merchandising. It works! This display is perfectly propped and precisely posed.

Wm. King Clothiers - Bristol, TN

Screens come in a variety of  fabrications and sizes and are useful as window props and interior displays. This one fits nicely in this summer window at Kathleen Sommers in San Antonio, Texas. Screens are extremely versatile in visual merchandising. The designs on this screen can easily be used later as hooks for handbags, hats, scarves and can even be used to display jewelry.

Kathleen Sommers - San Antonio, TX

Adding flowers, produce boxes and mason jars gives this store window a farmers market feel.  At Kennedy & Kate in Bainbridge Island, WA, they rolled up tank tops and grouped them by color in aluminum tubs.

Kennedy & Kate - Bainbridge Island, WA

I appreciate window backdrops that don’t totally block the light. At Ella & Rae’s Summer Boutique in Cape May, New Jersey, they use a rattan window blind. They added star fish to give the window a beachy feel.

Ella & Rae's Summer Boutique - Cape May, NJ

Using grass on the base of the store window display is a nice touch for spring and summer displays. At Azura Boutique in Peoria, Illinois, they also placed some foliage in the head area of their body forms which enhances the light fabrics of the summer apparel.

Azura Boutique - Peoria, IL

Gift store displays are frequently created by grouping similar colors or choosing a theme.  Marcie-N-Me in Mobile, Alabama, chose a crab theme for a summer display of food serving pieces that included mixing wood, pewter, plastic and pottery.

Marcie 'n Me - Mobile, AL

I’m a fan of bike displays – in case you haven’t noticed. Apparently, my brother noticed and took this picture while on vacation in Tennessee last week.  Social Graces in the Hillsboro Village area of Nashville, created this picnic scene in their window and I especially like their use of monogram notes to spell out the word “summer” in the spokes.

Social Graces - Nashville, TN

Thanks for all your comments and emails. 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

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Posted in Display Ideas, Retail Display, Store Displays, Store Windows, Summer displays, Uncategorized, Unique Displays, visual merchandising | 2 Comments »

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

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Posted in Alternative Displays, Boutique Display, Display Ideas, Display Props, Retail Display, Spring displays, Store Displays, Store Windows, Summer displays, Uncategorized, belt display, visual merchandising | 6 Comments »

Sneak peek from Dallas – store display ideas

Monday, June 28th, 2010

I’m preparing to head home from the Total Home and Gift Show at the Dallas Market Center. The show appeared to be well attended and I was able to find LOTS of display ideas and props. I’ll be sharing my “finds” during the next few weeks.

While in Dallas, I spent an afternoon with two retailers from Louisiana and Alabama. Looking to redo their store decor and windows for the holidays, we found some great options. Step aside blue and silver snowman; it just may be a peppermint candy cane Christmas.

I had the pleasure of meeting J Schwanke of U Bloom and JTV fame. We walked the aisles of the Int’l. Floral and Gift Center, checking out the showroom window displays. You may want to purchase a few chartreuse accent pieces to stay current with color trends and use them to give your displays a “pop” of color to attract attention. J gives a great tour. I highly recommend that you check out his speaking engagements  at upcoming markets and conventions.

 The OneCoast/Snap Retail showroom remodel turned out great! It was one of the busiest gift showrooms and gets the vote for my show favorite this time. However, there are many that earn a close second award.

I was able to skip one day at the mart and enjoy some Dallas retail shopping instead. I fell in love with the eclectic shops in the Bishop Arts District. Indigo 1745 gets my vote for best retail displays during this trip. (Pictures to follow soon).

Unable to leave any town without shoe shopping, I visited the DSW in Frisco. It is the largest shoe store I have ever been in! They are currently remodeling and I can tell it’s going to be a beautiful store. Shout out to Justin, who helped me pick out the most wonderful black boots. I know it’s June and 100 degrees outside, but I just could not resist.

Goodbye, Dallas. Hello, Florida. I’m setting up appointments for the Atlanta gift show if anyone needs to go prop shopping next month.

Stay display inspired!

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

Becky(at)SwirlMarketing(dot)com

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Posted in Christmas Displays, Display Props, Floral display, Holiday Displays, Store Windows, Uncategorized, visual merchandising | 2 Comments »

Taming the Tulle and Inspired Store Displays

Thursday, May 27th, 2010
Alice Supply Co. - Retail Details blog 5-27-10

Alice Supply Company

It takes alot to get from my blog photo files to my pinboard. After all, my job is to look at hundreds of pictures everyday. I reserve one side of my pinboard for WOW pictures and the other for items that inspire store display ideas. This mannequin picture has been on the WOW side for weeks. Taken at the New York Int’l Gift Fair, it’s from the Alice Supply Company booth.  The products, which include common household items that have been given a personality, are cute, fun and colorful and generally easy to show. This display takes it to the next level by creating a top out of a garden hose and a skirt of dust pans. Once again, trade shows prove to be a great place for visual merchandising ideas. 

Vintage, antique and thrift stores have a selection of salt and pepper shakers. Unless you are a collector, you probably seldom notice them.  

Retail Details blog, Relish, store display

RELISH - Healdsburg, CA

That’s about to change! At Relish in Healdsburg, CA, the bottles are filled with pearls, sparkly star beads and shiny buttons. Elegant. Inspired. Upcycled. They even come with printed “pearls of wisdom”. 

Retail Details blog, Swiss Flower and Gift, store display

Swiss Flower and Gift Cottage - Wheat Ridge, CO

Floral shops have the luxury of having beautiful merchandise that essentially becomes it’s own display. You may think that merchandising in a floral shop is easy, but it has it’s challenges. For instance, how to display boutonnieres and corsages, other than in those clear “take-out” type boxes.  At Swiss Flower and Gift Cottage, in Wheat Ridge, CO, they utilize a few props. Problem solved! 

Retail Details blog, Cupcake, Petit Lavish, store display

(Left) Lavish - Crested Butte, CO and (Right)Cupcake - Santa Rosa, CA

Tutus. Now here’s a fashion trend that I did not see coming. But, it’s here and they are a mess… to display, that is. I found these pictures of two displays that seem to tame the tulle. Lavish in Crested Butte, CO, features one skirt on a hanger and rolls the others, neatly hanging them on what could easily be a towel rack. On the right, a quilt rack seems to be the ideal size to become a designated tutu fixture at Cupcake in Santa Rosa, CA.

Retail Details blog, Green Oak Antiques, Rochester, store display

Green Oak Antiques - Rochester, IN

When Green Oak Antiques, of Rochester, Indiana, received a large shipment of  a new line of plaques, they didn’t want to place them in a cabinet or on a busy wall. They had a bunch of fence pieces, already painted white, so they nailed them to the wall, placed a bench below and voila  a feature display!

Pantone’s color of the year for 2010 is turquoise. Stark white display pieces are ideal to spotlight this color in a spring window display.

Retail Details blog, Lilac Bijoux, store display

Lilac Bijoux - Annapolis, MD

For these store windows, above, the ladies at Lilac Bijoux in Annapolis, MD, chose clothing with the turquoise color in common. They added accessories that match and suspended large paper flowers to complete the spring motif.

Retail Details blog, Sabella Couture, store display

Sabella Couture - Boston, MA

Ideally, your store windows also look good from the inside of your shop. This is not so easy to do. If you have a backdrop, you can create an additional in-store display on the back of it. When you don’t have a backdrop, you may choose props that are two-sided or round help to create an attractive interior display. Sabella Couture, in Boston, MA, uses paper lanterns, parasols and flowers to achieve this.

Inspiration display of the week:

Retail Details blog, Bits & Pieces, Richmond, store displays
Bits & Pieces Boutique – Richmond, VA

These two window displays were from last fall and holiday season at Bits & Pieces Boutique in Richmond, VA. When looking for display props, it helps to plan ahead in case you need to locate and assemble items into displays as creative as these mannequins with chandeliers on their heads.  I particularly like the gourds that almost look like flames in the fall picture on the left. Such lighting fixtures are not hard to find, especially since you do not need them to actually work. With a little spray paint and some decorative crystals, you could create similar chandeliers to fit most any theme. The trick to successful prop shopping is to plan ahead and to always be looking for display pieces, wherever you go.

Next month, I’ll be prop shopping with some retailers at the Dallas Total Home & Gift show.  I’m sure I’ll have lots of ideas to share on the blog. I hope the Retail Details blog inspires you to create great displays. Thanks to all the retailers and showrooms who continue to send me so many display pictures to share.

Stay display inspired!

Retail Details blog, Becky Tyre, Swirl Marketing~Becky

Click “comments“, below, to leave a message about the blog or email me: SwirlMarketing(at)Comcast.net  This is the email to submit pictures for blog consideration, as well. You can also visit the Retail Details Facebook Page.

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Posted in Children's Store Displays, Display Ideas, Display Props, Holiday Displays, Holiday Windows, Props, Retail Blog, Retail Display, Spring displays, Store Displays, Store Fixtures, Store Windows, Uncategorized, Unique Displays, visual merchandising | 6 Comments »

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