I Do Windows

Welcome Back!

Arcadia — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 21:41:35 +0000

Hi All,

I’ve been feeling so guilty because I haven’t posted in a while, especially since I’ve acquired quite a few new subscribers! I haven’t abandoned my blog , in fact I should be back to posting soon, as my new visual merchandising class began last week (I have 50 eager students – I’m sooo excited).

My assistant AND accountant have been on an extended vacation since the holidays, so I’ve been left to fend for myself, in my business and classes, and it’s been a tad bit overwhelming. I didn’t realize how much I relied on my help until I lost it.

I hope you are all are doing well! Thanks as always for supporting my blog and hanging in there with me!

Ciao-Ciao,

Arcadia

Blog Love: Modelizing: the art of window shopping

Arcadia — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 00:22:10 +0000

Here’s another new blog I’m addicted to perusing: Modelizing: the art of window shopping. What I like about Julia Chesky’s site is that there’s very little text with lots of great photos, and as visual merchandisers we all know a picture is worth a thousand words! If she does add commentary to her posting, then it’s her honest opinion on whether she likes it or not! She takes all the photos herself of storefronts in NYC. Most of her shots are up close and show the details of the display.

Give yourself lots of time to browse through her site, I promise you won’t be disappointed!

(image via: Modelizing: the art of window shopping)

H+M’s floor plan

Arcadia — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 23:55:09 +0000

The December 2011 issue of Lucky magazine features this one page article. I feature it here because it somewhat relates to what I posted earlier on Planograms and it also tells on some of the secrets that merchandisers use to entice shoppers. Instead of trying to paraphrase the whole article I scanned it here:

Planograms

Arcadia — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 22:32:58 +0000

Planograms – learn this term! I’ve been wanting to do a post on planograms for a long time now, but for some reason it kept slipping my mind. I’ve been feeling incredibly guilty and foolish for not covering this topic in-depth in class. EVERY visual merchandiser should know what planograms are and how important they are in our line of work.

Planograms are a visual tool retailers use to show in detail where everything will go. It’s the diagram or layout of the selling floor. They can be simple or very complex. They can be done by a hand-sketch or with a software program (the most common, nowadays). Sometimes they are even provided to the retailer by the vendor. They show you exactly how they want a wall, for instance, to be merchandised. If you are a retailer who does not use planograms then make this your New Year’s resolution!

Planograms are effective because:

You have better control of inventory
Your staff knows where and how to replenish merchandise
You can visually layout merchandise in a way that’s easier for the customer
You can plan your product adjacencies
Selling space isn’t wasted

Some retailers may already be using something of the sort and just didn’t know the technical name for it, but nonetheless all merchandisers know the importance of planograms. Chain stores use them for consistency throughout their stores and independent stores use them to maximize their selling space.

Besides giving you the picture of how the selling space will look they also give you the details on the number of facings and the depth. The facings are the number of units for that particular item (or SKU) and the depth is the number of units stocked one behind the other.

Planograms are the lifeblood of grocery stores and big box chain stores, and looking at all of the merchandise they stock, you can see why. Grocery stores use planograms to optimize shelf space and control inventory:

Clothing retailers tend to focus more on presentation and visual appeal when using planograms:

There are many software programs and services out there to help you learn more and get started if your store is big enough and you choose to subcontract this service:

Happy Planning!

Findings from around the web: Man 1924, Christian Louboutin, C. Wonder

Arcadia — Sun, 06 Nov 2011 23:19:54 +0000

Here are some interesting things I found while perusing the web:

These first photos are from the store Man 1924 in Madrid, the photos are taken by Scott Schuman of The Satorialist. I think the store owner does a great job of layering the clothes with different textures and fabrics. I especially like how they display the pants, much simpler than pulling them on the bust-form. Dressing bust-forms is far more difficult than mannequins, because you have to create the shape and volume so the clothes don’t lay flat.

Here’s a cool video recently released by Barney’s, it gives you a quick behind the scenes peek on how the Christian Louboutin window’s were created.

Christian Louboutin: Celebrating 20 Years and the Launch of the Book from BARNEY’S NY/ Michelle Chu on Vimeo.

Have you heard or seen the new store C. Wonder? Entrepreneur Chris Burch, and force behind the Tory Burch brand, has branched out and opened his own lifestyle store! C. Wonder takes store ambience to a new level. Each sales associate comes equipped with a iPad for purchases, and you can change the music and lighting in your dressing room!

Here are two types of visuals used to help solidify and brand the image, a cool bus and a beautiful wall mural:

The use of bold and bright colors makes this store look like a really fun place to shop!

The cashwrap does not look like your traditional register area – love it!

I have to admit it looks like Tory Burch meets Kate Spade. Do you agree?

Great merchandising, this it what your dream closet would look like!

Lots of WOW factor without being too over the top and in your face! Notice that the store design is simple with a few architectural touches here and there; what is drawing your eye in is the use of color everywhere!

The light fixtures are teapots!

(images via: smallshopstudio.com)

What are you finding around the web?

Shoe Display

Arcadia — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 16:00:47 +0000

I like how these photographs show you how to display shoes on a wall with a few lineal pieces of molding.

I would suggest you use picture rail molding, since it doesn’t sit flat to the wall. Picture rail molding is also designed to have items hung from it. Stay away from door and window casing.

(images via Song of Style)

Welcome and Thank You

Arcadia — Sat, 15 Oct 2011 22:22:15 +0000

I want to say thank you to all my subscribers! I started this blog as a way for my students to keep track of what we discussed in class and now it has blossomed into something bigger, thanks to all of you. I’m so grateful and I sincerely hope you find the information I post here informative.

Some of you have written me with questions around research papers you are doing for school, and I am more than happy to answer your questions and help in any way I can.

Thanks for reading!

Arcadia M.

The Legendary Martin M Pegler

Arcadia — Sat, 15 Oct 2011 22:03:14 +0000

If there is one name we as visual merchandisers should all know it’s Martin M. Pegler. I’m an avid fan and user of his many textbooks and was pleasantly shocked when one day he wrote me with some comments on my student’s work, I had posted on this site! ”Mr. Pegler knew of my little site”, I thought to myself, WOW! I of course wrote back and since then we had been emailing each other back and forth, as I asked him if I could profile him for this site.

He has written or edited over 80 books all related to display and design, and does not suffer from writer’s block. I know this because I asked, as I sometimes suffer from this , I’m excited to hear he’s working on a new book around the subject of being green and display work.

Mr. Pegler is an inductee in the Visual Merchandising/Display Industries Hall of fame and has received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Professionals for Advancement of Visual Education (PAVE), He has also been a professor at the Fashion Institute of Technology and is a popular lecturer in the US, Europe, and Asia. He is a wealth of knowledge and is so generous in sharing it!

When I asked how can a display person apply their talents in other areas he said, “In my textbooks I write about the numerous areas where a good display person could blossom out, like event planning, staging fashion shows, point of purchase, or stylist for TV – it is endless what one can do with a creative talent, imagination, and the hands to do things with. Just say I can do it – and go ahead and do it!”

Some students are completely fixated on getting a degree in display and some on getting display experience, where should their focus be – the education or experience?
“EDUCATION is most important! Whether you go to school, take courses, or just devour history, culture, art, architecture and all the rest of the seven lively arts. To be a really good display person you really should know all about the history of art, architecture and costume. They are all related to the changing, but un-changing fashions; there is always something a little retro in them. By all means GET EDUCATED and KEEP LEARNING; absorb the arts and culture around you and behind you. Though I was a college professor for over thirty years; I must acknowledge that some of the BEST display people I knew were self-educated. They had this burning need to learn. If we as educators, can instill that need and love to learn, we have done our job. If it is possible to continue in a formal education, take it! It will help one focus on the areas they should learn about.

What have you learned over your lifetime that you would like to share with the younger generation?
“What I have learned over the many years I have been a part of this industry, is that you never can know enough! As I said before – things change – but you can always find something from the past in the new. Keep your mind open to what is new, absorb – let it become part of you. Use your own brain as a computer, store everything in the “My Documents” of the mind. It will never let you down.”

With the popularity of e-commerce how can the visual display person continue to entice shoppers to come into the stores? “E-commerce is flat and up till now, two-dimensional. Displays are three-dimensional and can have a far greater appeal. It is up to today’s display people to harness all the available technology and create something exciting and vital. We must stop them as they walk in the street with attention-getting, eye-pleasing, sensory and emotional displays. You can’t as yet do all that on the computer screen!”

What are some of the common mistakes new store owners make when setting up their floor plan and how can they avoid them? ”I think many retailers are not taking advantage of what good window displays can do for them, in helping them to stand out from the crowd. Good displays are an all-important opening statement, and announcements that also tell the shopper who and what the retailer is and stands for. It is BRANDING!! – and is much cheaper than other forms of advertising.”

I’m currently reading Mr. Pegler’s latest book Visual Merchandising and Display – Sixth Edition, it’s published by Fairchild Books, and as Mr. Pegler says, I’m learning so much. This book is over 400 pages, and encompasses everything you could ever want to know about visuals. I think it’s an excellent book for the beginner but the seasoned pros will find a lot of new information as well. I have quite the mini library of display books, but if you are a student who can only afford to purchase one book , then make it this one. 31 chapters is a lot of studying to do , with review questions and discussions at the end of each chapter. Store planners and interior designers who work in retail spaces should really add this book to their library as well.

I would like to thank Mr. Pegler for taking the time to answer my questions, for sharing his knowledge, and for being so patient with me, you are truly a legend.

RIP Steve Jobs

Arcadia — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 02:22:40 +0000

You were a true visionary and will be greatly missed.

Louis Vuitton Store Opening

Arcadia — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 00:06:01 +0000

Not much to say as I think the photos speak for themselves. I was wasting time in between correcting assignments when I came across these photos. They were taken from Chiara Ferragni’s blog, The Blonde Salad. Her blog is fashion site where she posts photos of her “outfits of the day”, I tried to bypass those and just show you the awesome mannequin stylings of the Louis Vuitton store opening in Montenapoleone, Italy:

That’s Chiara in the middle, this photo would have been so much funnier had she put her bag over her head too!

Where have we seen this before?

I would love to see this store in person!

(images via: The Blonde Salad)