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:
When 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.
- 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.
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.
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.
- 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.
The 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 - 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!
~Becky Tyre, Retail Details blog
Likely inspired by nature and the use of sustainable materials, these cardboard animal mounts are fun and I think they make great display pieces. I first saw these on the Facebook page of 
received numerous responses about the clear plastic head form filled with shredded paper. Patty from San Diego sent me this picture of a similar one which appears to be decoupaged.
Old doors get new life at Revolution Shop and A Details Shop, pictured above. In Charlotte, NC, 
At 
backdrops or suspended with clear fishing line. Shown here, 
Scarlett, formerly in Montreal, QC, suspended their record albums, which created some movement in the display window.
Street Chic Boutique in Northbrook, IL, stacked colorful hat box suitcases in their window and perched a seated mannequin on top. Of note is how this display looks good from the back as well. That can be a challenge with store windows.
In that same vein, 
