Spring 2009
Five Steps to Fab!
by
Patti Harbin
Patti Harbin is the owner of In-Courage in San Antonio, TX. She also serves on GIFT SHOP's advisory board. Visual merchandiser, Ron Winstead, helps Harbin with her displays. Winstead has had experience doing visual merchandising for large retailers like Neiman Marcus.
Below are five display ideas... click each inspiration to view.
This pretty little display unit was bought for a mere $75 from a business closing sale. Like us, you can choose to keep the unit's color neutral so it can be re-purposed for displays all year round.
Place items in groups of 3 or 5. Odd numbers are best for display. Keep the groupings centered on a theme; you don't have to tell the whole story with one grouping in your display. Always place taller items in the center graduating down to the outer edges of the shelf. Be careful not to overcrowd shelves.
The drawers in the display are used to showcase smaller items. The back of the drawer is perfect for storing extra product. Note how a product (the golden egg) is taken out of its packaging to show what it really is: a bank.
This table was purchased from IKEA for $20.00 in their Damaged Items section. Use a basic piece like this to stagger the display. This adds extra interest and allows for more products to be shown. Take advantage of storage space underneath to store boxes of product that are in the display so they can be easily accessed to refresh merchandise.
The final picture shows the bright and cheery net effect. Note how baskets are used to display loose or grab bag items. This allows customers to linger at the display thereby inviting sales. Every space in the display is used effectively without creating clutter.
Editor's Note: If it is a touch too late to work this Easter display into your store, you can still borrow on the principles to create displays all year long. Incidentally, Patti saw Ron shopping at her store once, struck up a conversation with him and found out his visual merchandising skills were hers to work with for the store. Here's another perfect reason why it's a good idea to make time to "know your customers."
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