The question posed to Home Accents Today's Designer Insight panelists this month is about store "yucks" — common decorating or merchandising mistakes that might prompt customers to shorten their visit, or turn right around and walk out of the store. The designers' responses indicate a healthy respect for the subjectivity of taste, and give evidence of the sharp eye each has developed for discerning the wows from the bow-wows.

It also reveals something about what these designers of interiors, products and showrooms look for (and hope not to find) in their own personal shopping experiences. As they discuss the attraction of a good window display or inviting storefront, and the loud color combinations and bad lighting that turns customers off, you'll find their advice interesting and, hopefully, useful.

Retailers have a unique shopping perspective as well. This past spring, I spent a couple of mornings at the High Point Market talking with some of them about their market shopping experiences. Most of the buyers I interviewed and lunched with were independent retailers, a few were designers, but all had arrived with a well-planned agenda that included calling on favorite vendors, investigating a few pre-advertised show specials, and discovery time for seeking out the new and different. So what about all the promotional stuff designed to woo buyers into the showroom — what makes them stop and shop?

The e-mails, invitations and fliers they received in advance of market were an important planning tool, serving as everything from a reminder that certain companies were still around to plugging a must-see product line or show special. Dana Bazzell and Laurie Rollins, Lulu's Home Trends Gallery, Murray, Ky., said they go through the entire stack of invitations they receive prior to market and use them to plan their trip, noting that pictures are especially effective when a company is announcing new products or specials.

A welcoming atmosphere is important, but only if it meets the buyer's definition of "welcoming." For most of the guys, that translates to "greet me, say hello, offer to help whether I want it or not." For the gals, it means hold back your salespeople until I've had five or 10 minutes to browse on my own.

If a showroom's sales team consists of "a bunch of guys standing around in dark suits just beyond the showroom entrance," most said they keep right on walking. Accessories retailer Denise Graham of The Lite House, Hanover, Pa., said "the dark suits are too intimidating and say 'too high-end' to me."

Marilyn Hansen of The Designers Furniture Gallery, Omaha, Neb., observed that most of the buying at the once predominantly male markets is now done by women "in comfortable shoes" for whom a feeling of trust is very important. "I walked into a showroom a few years ago and there were two guys who sat in their chairs the whole time smoking, never got up from their seats — almost like carnie guys instead of servicing reps," Hansen said. "I'm also wary of reps that push something they have hundreds of — do they do it to get rid of it or because it's a really neat thing my customers will want?"

The entertainment, parties and happy hours are appreciated but highest marks went to the free food providers, especially in High Point where a number of showrooms have full service cafes or dining facilities. As Jana Sanders of J. Sanders & Assoc., Dallas, noted, "There's enough food offered in the showrooms and buildings that it's easy to find three free meals a day, plus snacks." For Anthony Meek of Meek Interiors, West Hartford, Conn., the food provides the "fuel," and "definitely has some bearing on what and where you visit."

Some of the market promotions they've seen have inspired Bazzell and Rollins to try similar ideas in their store. "Water bottles with our store's name, candles, baking cookies, things that encourage you to stay and shop. The more you can get your customers to open up and talk, the more you get to know their needs and the better chance you have to develop a personal relationship."

As for the tote bags, Bazzell and Rollins said they raise their curiosity. Kathleen Whitcomb, Ambience Home & Garden, Lambertville, N.J., finds them useful. Meek thinks the bags are nice but gives them away to friends, including those with whom he stays for market. Pecaso's bags, usually distributed on the sidewalk, are a favorite of Hanover, Pa.'s Sandy Long even though she's never been in the Pecaso showroom (she doesn't sell chandeliers).

Graham will probably use hers while on the "Dream Vacation" she won from Paragon and Propac Images at the spring market. Out of 12,000 hotel keys mailed in advance of, and handed out during market, Graham's was one of two keys that opened the door to a roundtrip vacation at a destination of her choice.

Share your thoughts and shopping experiences — post a comment at homeaccentstoday.com, or log on to our new Designer Insight blog to read and discuss the designers' responses. As always, I welcome your comments and store news at susan.dickenson@reedbusiness.com.

To comment on this story, please write to me at susan.dickenson@reedbusiness.com or share your thoughts on my blog at homeaccentstoday.com.