ART Conference attendees 'makeover' Charleston retailers

Susan Dickenson, Retail Editor -- Home Accents Today, 9/1/2008

work on a window display continues at Morris Sokol

Above, work in progress at Morris Sokol

Four Charleston retailers agreed to let attendees at last month's ART (Accessories Resource Team) Conference spend one afternoon making over their storefront window displays. The event, which took place during business hours, was the designated team activity and competition for this year's annual conference, themed “Southern Inspiration” and held Aug. 21-24 at Charleston Place Hotel.

The team competition is one of several activities designed to inspire, motivate and build relationships among the accessory industry attendees. This year it was led by Paul Thompson, vice president of visual merchandising and trends for Onecoast, and Patty Bouley, an international design and color authority and spokesperson.

Activity directors Patty Bouley and Paul Thompson.

As a member of the press, I had the privilege of shadowing Paul and Patty as they made their rounds among the five teams, each of which divided itself into two groups: (1) the merchandising half of the team that worked on site to create a window display using only the stock available on the floor, and (2) the marketing half that went back to the hotel to develop a marketing plan for the store.

Paul had done quite a bit of advance work, meeting with each retailer to get a sense of the store's personality, product and to preview the workspace. Therefore, he was able to provide the teams with a description, suggestions and the shop owner's requirements beforehand.

As the five teams gathered to select the marketers and merchandisers among them, Paul, Patty and I, along with Onecoast President Ted Teele, the conference photographer, headed out to ART Executive Director Sharon Davis's SUV. Sharon drove our little group from shop to shop to check out the works-in-progress.

What follows is a recap, but not before setting the stage with some of the “overheard” comments:

“I would have SO had that room done by now.”
“Just goes to show many shopkeepers need another set of eyes from the outside.”
“We actually made friends.”
“Wow. I can't believe how competitive the marketing groups got.”
“I couldn't tell if that was a smile or a snarl.”
“The judges argued the entire time.”
“They really need to think about dividing the floor into quadrants.”
“Do you think they realize how many ART Award-winners are working on their windows?”
“This is the funnest day I've ever had.”
“It is nothing short of amazing how much was done in the 1 ½ hours they had.”

One of the marketing teams develops its promotional strategy.

Judging took place later that night by an unnamed pair of Charleston designers Sharon had enlisted for the task. When it came to selecting a winner, the two judges each named a different store, and both refused to budge. Therefore, two stores tied for first place: Vieuxtemps, Objets De Charme, at 180 King St., and Ellington, at 473 King St.

Vieuxtemps is an elegant bridal registry shop that also carries antique and reproduction furniture and accessories. Before Vieuxtemps team got started, Paul shared the following instructions and suggestions with them:

One window must feature tabletop/bridal registry
Second window must feature furniture and accessories
Items can be hung from the walls as needed
Provide as much visibility through the window into the store as possible
Incorporate the handmade ceramics designed and produced by the store owner

The ART makeover group discusses design plans for the front entry area.

The ART makeover group assigned to Mountains to the Sea Collection discusses design plans for the front entry area.

Ellington carries a combination of women's clothing alongside original and reproduction mid-century furniture and accessories. Paul's suggestions:

Incorporate the various furniture items into the windows as base units to highlight the fashions and other accessories
Try to make the windows more accessible from inside the store
Remember that a bench can also be used as a side table or coffee table

The resulting displays were interesting, intriguing and tasteful, with lots of levels, textures and shine. One of the ART retailer attendees was so impressed with the Vieuxtemps owner's handmade ceramics that she placed an order to be shipped to her own store in New York City. And although Ellington's window was a favorite for many of the ART Conference attendees as well as one of the judges, the same couldn't be said of Ellington's owner, who did not like it at all, a reminder that everyone has his or her own ideal when it comes to presenting a store's personality.

One half of the winning window displays at Vieuxtemps, Objets de Charme, located on King Street in Charleston.

Morris Sokol Furniture at 510 King St, the largest store, also had the most window space to deal with. Therefore, Paul sent two of the teams to do two different window displays for the store, as follows: “Since the store caters to the coastal set and they have a pool/patio section, I would suggest one of the window displays be a southern/tropical furniture grouping with accessories, and the other display a more contemporary furniture grouping to highlight various styles and the many accessories that this store sells.”

But even with two teams, the window space was so large that a smaller 6x10-foot work area on either side of the entrance was taped off for the two displays. Paul's suggestions and instructions for the Morris Sokol teams:

Seating areas with furniture is preferred over beds and bedding presentations
Don't use really big case goods in these areas — they block the view from the windows into the store and are also very difficult to move
Use floor coverings/rugs if available to define and accent the spaces in question
Using a healthy volume of products in the display areas is important to the feature and the sales turn of the accessory category in the store

Mountains to the Sea Collection at 160 East Bay Street, an art gallery/gift shop/home store appeared to be happiest with the results – the staff even brought in wine and cheese at the end of the day to celebrate. Mountains to the Sea had a series of rooms with a great variety of products, including a lot of original art work. The front entry of the store had an area approximately 5x10-feet with windows to the outside sidewalk. Paul's suggestions to the Mountains team:

Empty window at Vieuxtemps before the competition

Before the makeover competition began, Vieuxtemps' staff emptied the shops windows.

The area just inside the front door to the right will be best suited for a lifestyle of products geared for dining and entertaining. Creating a new area in this format will complement the more formal seating area that exists on the other side of the shop.

All artwork by a specific artist needs to hang together, but the artwork can be repositioned on the walls as works best with the new display in the various areas

Table and/or furniture can be added to this area to beef up the overall importance of the space and feature products for sale

Store needs a significant fullness to the display in the front of shop to entice passersby

Once the merchandisers finished, the marketing plans were presented to the entire conference back at the hotel. Some of the marketing teams incorporated their ideas into story boards and ad campaigns that emphasized their shop's unique attributes and suggested ways to capture their target audience's attention. Others, such as the Morris Sokol “We're not your average store on so many levels” group, prepared an impressive audio-video show that suggested a new logo and name change with brighter colors and graphic patterns to appeal to a younger demographic. Afterward, all of the marketing plans were put into hard copy formats and delivered to the retailers.

Overall, the team activity was a success, but I have to say that being able to travel around to each shop and watch these talented minds in action was the ultimate learning experience. In fact, I'd go one further and say we're ready to pitch the “Project Display” or “Merchandising Makeover” reality show.

Unfortunately, space limits the memories I can share from that afternoon, but please visit my Retail Update blog at homeaccentstoday.com to see more photos.

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

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