Once Around the Store

I love doing these once around the place posts - gets me moving and looking at what needs to be done. Today I am here at the store and snapping some pictures before I go about changing the displays and changing out some display shelving. It helps to have something to reference so that when I decide I can't stand what I just did I can always fall back on the old plan and do an update instead of major overhaul.

It seems to me to always be a major undertaking to try to compose a display. I know that all the retail gurus say that in-store signage is a must, but I somehow manage to ignore it. I know that I shouldn't, and this time I am committed to doing something about it. Instead of just making nice looking vignettes, I am going to actually put the maxim to the test.

So, this is what we look like right now - before! The next post should have some subtle changes as well as some dynamic ones complete with signage. Of course, I will be taking a small holiday in between, so maybe that will impact what you see when you return as well as my attempts at first-class merchandising!!

It's been a long, long time

Here we are at the end of the month - and it seems as if it were just beginning. Actually, it was just beginning and then Gustav and Ike blew through town and turned us every which way. This has been a really short month for the retail scene - store closing for the week-end on August 29th and not opening again until September 15th! That kind of schedule will ruin the bottom line, you can be sure. And to top it off, it has taken us the rest of the month just to find all the things we put up to save them from the storms! I stood at the front of the store and tried to remember all the things that had been ruined during Katrina and exactly why. Broken windows brought the wind, rain, and then the intolerable heat and humidity. So, I went about frantically putting everything in drawers, up high and at the back of shelves, and as far away from the windows as possible. It made sense then, but now as I try to remember what went where, I can't fathom what I must have been imagining! We had no damages, no broken windows, and only a few days without power and telephones and computers.
Today and last Friday I spent my time trying to re-invent the practice of display design. I moved everything from one side of the store to the other, then from front to back, and then everything made a few more moves. Am I pleased with the result? It looks just about right, but you are never done with this fun part of the job. And if you do it just right, some one will purchase the integral parts of your "work" and then you get to start all over again. To call this work is just not honest!