Now that winter market season is over, it’s time to get ready for spring and summer! As all the products you ordered begin arriving at your store, you might be wondering how on earth you’ll be able to merchandise it all. While it may seem overwhelming to think about, merchandising is so important and not always as complicated as you think.
If you don’t where to start, you’ve come to the right place. This post is filled with tips on how to create attractive displays that are full of personality and give shoppers ideas on how to use products in their own home or garden. Let’s get started!
Art Planters
This display of Art Planters and MatMates is one of my favorites and it’s not too complicated to set up. The giant flowers are made from colored garden hoses; that’s what makes this display stand out – it’s clever! I can’t tell you how many people stopped in their tracks when they saw this display. It’s creative, colorful, and eye-catching.
Tip: Flowers aren’t the only shapes you can make – try spelling out a word like “grow” or “plant” with colorful hoses.
HOW TO: You may want to start by drawing your design on the wall so you have a reference when you’re hanging up the hoses. The flowers are hung using hose clamps which were painted with a color close to that of the hose. For the center of the flower, use anything circular and colorful that you might have on hand – get creative! As for the fencing, don’t get hung up on finding the perfect white picket panels – try using chalk to draw fencing onto a dark wall.
This a great example of a well-balanced display with product at all levels – from the floor all the way up to the ceiling. If you don’t want to install any shelves, experiment with hanging Planters from the ceiling or affixing them to the wall. Then make sure you have some up off the floor where they won’t get missed, like we have on our two benches. Pop a few plants into some of your Art Planters, set the coordinating MatMates nearby, and your display is complete!
Kaleidoscope
Our new Kaleidoscope outdoor kinetic art makes a show-stopping display. With bright colors and subtle movement to create interest, this is one item shoppers won’t be able to pass up!
HOW TO: Putting together a Kaleidoscope display is so easy. Just choose a wall in your store and plan out where you’ll want each kinetic sculpture, then screw the brackets into the wall. The bracket system makes it easy to swap out sculptures and change things up. Just point a few fans on the Kaleidoscope sculptures and your display will come to life!
Tip: The best way to display Kaleidoscope is on a dark backdrop to help the product pop, and with enough critical mass to show the breadth of the line.
Merriment
This display of our new Merriment fairy garden line, designed by Mary Engelbreit, was one of the most talked about displays in our showroom. It caught the attention of many passersby and was the star of tons of photos. It wasn’t a piece of cake to put together, but it was so worth it. When you’re merchandising products that are this small, you have to go big with the display.
HOW TO: Our tree is made from an old round table and a sonotube concrete column form that is covered in artificial bark with accents of real moss to cover the seams. First, cut the sonotube in half and use one piece to cover the table base and secure the other piece on top of the table using L-brackets. Attach the bark and moss using industrial strength hot glue or another type of strong adhesive. After gluing the bark and moss onto the sonotube, wrap it tightly in wire while the glue dries. Once it’s dry, remove the wire and everything should remain in place.
Tip: If the table you’re using has legs that stretch out, make them into tree roots by covering each individually with moss and bark!
To add limbs to your tree, build a frame inside your sonotube with two-by-fours or other pieces of wood so you have a place to secure the limbs. Form the limbs using chicken wire and then cover them in the same moss and artificial bark used for the tree trunk.
Use the tabletop as your mini garden planting space and create a magical world around your tree. If you’d rather not plant one big garden, you could plant a bunch of container gardens. Just set them on your tabletop and use moss to cover any parts of the table that peek through. Trim the table edge with some pretty fabric, more bark, or moss. Finish it off by hanging wood slices from the tree limbs and set up a little scene on each one. You may want to hot glue the products to the wood slices so they don’t fall down or go missing.
There are a few different ways to create the top of your tree. In one of our showrooms, we used the top of a large artificial tree, but in our other showrooms we made treetops out of grapevine wreaths, fake leaves, and artificial foliage to create the illusion of a treetop. Have fun with it and get creative!
Merchandising can be a little daunting, but once you have an idea to work from it’s easy to let the creativity flow and see what works in your store. Before you know it, you’ll have a beautifully put together display that shoppers won’t be able to stop staring at. I hope these tips and ideas will be helpful as you get your shop ready for spring.
Let us know in the comments if you have any questions about our displays or want to share ideas of your own!
Retailers can login and shop our lines now at http://www.studio-m.com
Display Resources
Many people asked where we bought some of the resources for our displays, so I have included the info below!
Bulk Styrofoam (great for filling Art Planters and tons of other uses!)
Dallas Design Supply
http://www.dallasdesignsupply.com
2000 N Stemmons Fwy
Dallas, TX 75207
214-757-7715
Artificial Bark
Autograph Foliages
http://www.autographfoliages.com
3631 Perkins Ave
Cleveland, OH 44114
Office: 1-800-659-6151
Dallas Market Showroom: 214-752-7574
Mood Moss
Moss-4-U
http://www.moss4u.com
1492 Keyway Rd
Engelwood, FL 34223
941-662-5695
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