Branded Success

 My newest post up on the Smart Retailer Magazine blog 
is all about designing, defining, and leveraging your brand image.

Click HERE to read the five easy tips I share...

Displays: Spring Forward

 There are so many images on Pinterest that show the re-use of old items in new ways.
Architectural salvage and everyday materials are being used in imaginative displays, 
the best of them building the brand of the business along with selling products.

This is the case with the images shown here...
I snapped them on Monday, at Rogers Gardens in Newport Beach, California.
This garden and home decor company is a leader in retail visual merchandising...
I am always inspired and intrigued when I visit.
 The images here are of a display located along the entry walk... outside of the business.
By simply using old wood flower crates, window shutters, and doors,
then filling them with plants and pots, 
an interesting view is created for approaching customers.
 It takes up very little physical space, draws the eye in and upward, 
and since it can be changed seasonally, it can always be a fresh representation 
of what awaits inside. Perfectly simple.

Inside the store, there are dozens of rooms and gardens and terraces,
expertly filled with product and inspiring displays.
One area display utilizes old window frames, hung against a brightly-hued painted wall.
The graphic effect is fresh, clean, and attracts the eye - 
and the pots, plants, and twig-motif lanterns are set off perfectly.

It says 'Spring!' and inspires a party, an entryway decor, a tablescape.
Spring is about growth, life, green, white, freshness... perfectly captured here.
These are ideas that you can easily utilize in your own store or showroom,
using materials that are readily available at local vintage, shops, shows, or salvage yards.
Or, as in the case of the crates, in your own shed!

Have fun and Spring Forward!