Winter Windows

I spent Christmas in San Francisco this year,

enjoying a LOT of window shopping on Christmas Eve in Union Square.
By far the most outstanding retail window displays were these from Saks Fifth Avenue
(though Tiffany's were a close second!)

...and it MAY not be for reasons you expect!

Yes, they are stunning visuals featuring beautiful merchandise
that extends and builds on the luxurious Saks Fifth brand image.
But there's more...

These window displays whet our appetites for the scrumptious merchandise,

making us hope that packages beneath our tree will yield such treasure...

but if you didn't notice, may I point out that 

there isn't a Christmas tree in one single window?

There are tables and chairs, chandeliers and drapery, crystal and china,

high-fashion apparel, accessories, and jewels

that imply that all of these oh-so-chic mannequins are at the coolest party of the year.
And gee, wouldn't WE like to be there, too?
Maybe it's the Christmas Eve family dinner we dream of.
Maybe it's a swanky New Year's Eve event we hope for an invite to.

Here's the point:

These displays entice us to look forward....

BEYOND the Holiday season.

With window sets that work to extend the lifespan of the displays past the Holiday rush,

Saks is giving merchandisers time to get the store itself back into shape

and new sellable merchandise on the floor
(for customers with money to spend just after Christmas)
That's PROFIT at the bottom line.

These window displays will work through New Years' Eve, 

and I'd bet they will be changed up ON New Years' Day 

perhaps to a vision in red or pink,

...or even ROSE GOLD
(the hottest trend out there right now)

 try it for a fresh new color palette touting the best gifts to give for Valentine's Day!

Focusing on the SEASON and not on a specific HOLIDAY 

is one successful way to get more mileage out of your window displays.

You'll find MORE ideas and inspiration for Winter Displays here on the blog
and on my Pinterest boards

Tips & Tricks for your Trade Show Displays

 It's gift show season again, 

and for those of you who participate as exhibitors/vendors,

here's a re-run of a post I wrote a few years ago

For Trade Show Exhibitors

In it, I offer up some tips, tricks, ideas and information

about how to maximize your presence at shows,

using some of the marketing opportunities offered by management.

And just exactly what those 'Exhibitor Display' areas are for!

Having created exhibitor/vendor displays & seminars at the 

Denver, Seattle, San Francisco, and Portland Gift Shows,

I've seen the good, the bad, and the ridiculous -

click the link above to read all about it.

Breaking Retail Trade Show News

There is a lot happening in the trade show industry, with sales, mergers, acquisitions, and closings taking place everywhere. Locally, the Seattle Gift Show has been sold to Atlanta-based Urban Expositions - ditto for the San Francisco International Gift Faire. From what I've read, big improvements are in store. (Hallelujah). Read more here.

The Portland Gift Show has been placed back into the capable management hands of Western Exhibitors, tho ownership remains with Canadian company dmg/GLM. It has also seen a reschedule to a fall date, which will combine it with the existing fall cash & carry market. Read about that here.

For more information on all kinds of trade shows in multiple industries, check out this web site.

On Display: Trade Show Tips

Are you going to be exhibiting jewelry at a gift or retail trade show this season? Do you plan to submit your product to a showcase display (often referred to as 'Launching Pad', 'New Product Display', etc.)? If so, here are a few tips to help you maximize the visual impact of your product, and make the most of this marketing opportunity:

1. Make sure that you choose STUNNING pieces of your work for the showcase. Think scale, color, composition, and uniqueness. You want items that will make people take notice. Don't be conservative! Go for 'WOW' factor.
2. Provide plenty of product for display designers to work with. 3 or 5 pieces are perfect for a display, so give them six items: Two large, two medium, and two small.

Here's the important thing: Your choices should coordinate, because the display designers can do MUCH more with a cohesive grouping than a slapdash bunch of leftovers. Provide six items that are all in gold metal, or turquoise stones, but each one has a different 'personality'... one is chunky and modern, another is dangly and feminine, yet another is classic and simple. You want impact here, not a hodgepodge of items. Get customers to notice your product, drive them to your booth with this display - then show them your selection firsthand.
3. Provide props or fixtures to enhance the presentation and viewing angles of your products. If you use neck forms, paint them your logo colors to tell your brand story. If you use natural materials - rough stones, metals, woods, shells - in your creations, provide rocks, sand, chunks of wood, or moss to enhance the elements of your designs. If your jewelry is modern, send glass blocks or bubble wrap rolls or tall glass vases to hang the necklaces & bracelets on. Display stylists will love you, AND your products will look better.
4. Be creative when you show off your products. If your jewelry is small, dainty, and hard to see, provide papers, cards, anything you can to help focus attention onto it. Photograph your delicate items and send large photos along with just one perfect item on a neck form. Better to show detail in large scale for impact than to have it overlooked.
5. This may seem to be a no-brainer, but when you drop off or send in items for the displays, make sure that your information is with your product! You company name, booth number, and show division should be included in the container. The name and cell phone number of a person at the show who can be contacted is very helpful - if something is broken, missing, or there are any questions about your product, you want the display stylists to be able to contact you/your employee on site for a solution. Calling the home office two states away isn't really helpful when a replacement part is needed.

6. Beat the submission deadline. If your items are supposed to be there by noon, get them there at 9 AM. If you are supposed to mail them in by the 10th, get them there by the first. Be prepared. Be early. Why? First come, first served. Your position on a list means nothing when it comes down to fitting it all into a small area. All trade show display stylists can tell you that the early birds get the best spots. (And no amount of wheelin', dealin', whining or bitching is going to make up for the fact that you brought us your product two hours after the deadline. Or on your way out of the show hall that night. Or worse, early on the morning that the show opens. You're in the back row, lower level, baby. And we don't care HOW many years you've been selling at this gift show - in which case, you really should know better.) This is your marketing.... take it seriously.

7. Check on your product. Early on the morning the show opens, go over to the display and look at your product. Make sure it is displayed properly (not upside down, etc.) and that your information is correct - your business name, booth number, and show division are all correct on the tent card provided by the show. If there is something that needs to be corrected, let the stylist know. NOW is the time to correct it, not in three hours when the stylist is done and gone.
Please do not walk into the display to do it yourself. Do not move another vendor's items to give yours more space. Do not add or swap items once the display is set. These are professional stylists who work hard to make your product and every other exhibitor's products look their very best. Respect their work, and thank them for their efforts.

8. Look at your competitor's products in this display. What did they send? How is it displayed? Does it express their image well? Does it catch the eye and stand out? Learn from what you see others doing.

Many of these tips apply to other kinds of products as well, helping to elevate your merchandise above the ordinary. With a little preparation and planning, you can take advantage of many free and low-cost marketing opportunities like display showcases at trade shows. It's a great way to add to your presence and square footage at a show.

Photo Credits: all taken by DWK at SGS & SFIGF 2007-8, of product displays created by DWK.

A San Francisco Treat

One of the best parts about traveling for my work is the opportunity to meet people. Whether I am creating product displays or presenting a seminar at a gift show, giving a presentation at a meeting, delivering a design to a client, or participating in an event like the Victoria Magazine Bliss gathering last September, I most enjoy the one-on-one connections made. Since I've had this blog for a year and a half now, I have had the unparallelled joy of connecting with so many wonderful, interesting people through it. To receive an email or phone call from one of you, saying 'Hey Deb, do you have time to meet up while you're in town?' is something I really look forward to!

And that's just what happened this past weekend... Bacchus has been reading my drivvel here on my blog pretty much since day one. He's been to my seminars at the SFIGF, bless him. We've emailed, I've popped over to his blog, and I laugh every time I see his icon in my comments because I start singing the song that goes with it (you know, "I'm Mister Cold-Meister, I'm Mister Snoooooow"... and I STILL keep forgetting to ask him why he chose that particular character as his icon!) He emailed last week and asked if we could meet up, so we did! He trekked over to Moscone so we could meet 'Outside the cash & carry doors at one' as agreed, and I STILL had to call him and say..."Ummmmm...where are you?...." before he turned around and smiled and I recognized him! (I'm sorry, Bacchus, I'm OLD and sometimes it takes me awhile. Sheesh.) He apparently wasn't phased by that because he gave me a big hug. What a total sweetheart!

So Bacchus meets Mr. Deb, and then we all decide that lunch at the Market is a good idea, and set off on a walking tour. Not that we saw anything along the way - we were heavily engrossed in conversation about every subject under the sun! We get there and he suggests the caviar bar. Hmmmmmn. The sushi bar? Hmmmmn. How about the place with the great organic food? Yes! (OK, Deb is a picky eater, now you know.) This place was FAB. We got our plates and went outside to sit overlooking the bay. We sat and talked for more than an hour, dishing on business, home decor, kids (oh and he has the MOST adorable two year old boy! We shared photos of his son and my grandson), visual merchandising, gift shows....you name it, we talked about it. I feel like I've known him forever! We had a fabulous visit, and I cannot thank him enough for treating us to lunch - my intention was to treat him but Mr. Suave just slipped in there and paid before I had a chance to protest. Payback is coming, my friend!

See that great photo of us up above? Mr. Deb took that. Well, sort of...we didn't actually sit by the railing with the bridge behind us, we sat up against the building with the windows behind us. But the photo was just too busy with all those reflections in the background, so I cropped us and overlaid us into a photo of the bridge. Now it looks like a promo shot for a San Francisco tourism ad... except I'm NOT the model in this shot. I'll leave that to Mr. Suave. (Yes, he was a model! He's blushing as he reads this, I know....but after that 'legend' comment, I owe him some embarassment....) We really should have had wine glasses in our hands, not water bottles!

Bacchus has an amazing family of choice...I love that term. He has a blog where he dishes on his hubby and little boy without telling or showing too much for safety, shares impressions of life in the City, and chronicles the adventures of buying, owning, and remodeling a home. I think his idea should be a reality show: He shows photos of a room in the house (lately, the bathroom), gives a few choices he's considering, and then invites readers to chime in with their thoughts about what direction to take. I love this! (And he knows if that vintage bathroom tile does not get carefully removed and recycled, I will cry... I think it and the clamshell sink would make a perfectly funky fountain in the backyard, yes I do.) I think these guys are incredibly brave to allow others to make their choices, don't you?! The Diva is a control freak and could never be that brave....

Bacchus, thank you so much for a wonderful afternoon. I appreciate you making time in your busy life to meet me, and I thoroughly enjoyed our conversation. We just have to get together again the next time I am in the Bay Area... and I'll bring the wine!

And now, the news.....

I spent the last four days in San Francisco, for the gift show. (Don't ask me about the weather) Thursday & Friday, I was thankfully indoors, designing & installing two large displays of exhibitor's merchandise at the Moscone Center South Hall entrance. Let me share a few of the things I was given to display:
MARK + PEARL brought me this fabulous jewelry, made of Marcasite and Pearls. Hence the name....smart, eh?! I LOVE the packaging, the logo, and so I snapped up his boxes and said 'Yep, I 'll use those, too!'. He brought me some black rocks - lordie, I love it when people think this way!!! He was very happy with the end result.

Zina Kao jewelry reps brought me...a cello bag full of tiny little jewelry. That's it. No forms, no props, nuthin'. Big sigh.

OK, Deb, time to get creative. Flip thru the show magazine looking for anything I can use...the jewelry is hearts, maybe I can find a candy box photo or something... AHA! What's this? A photo of a statue at the current Asian Art Museum exhibit. I take the photo, pop some earrings into the extended earlobes of the statue, and rip out some black paper to add contrast. Fold the cards that holds the other bits of jewelry. Later, go by their booth and grab a photo postcard to slide in the back. Badda bing, a display I'm proud of.

Then these appeared - the bag is from The Inconvenient Bag, and is made from post-consumer recycled materials. LOVE THAT! It's also got a trendy retro design that I love, and the young man who runs this company was thrilled to no end that I fit his product into the display. And that is what this is all about - helping exhibitors succeed through exposure & visibility.

No, that's not Shirley, Keith and Laurie Partridge.... but they made me smile! I grabbed my granola bar and sprinkled a few chunks to look like birdseed, then laid one figure down like he was eating to add whimsy. I saw people pointing at it later, so I know it captured the eye... I hope the folks at Casa Collection liked it!

Candlevida provided ample products for me to work with, and a great display idea of their own: Those tall cylinders of tealights are held upright in a glass candlestand. Normally, you'd put one tealight into each of the three holes in the glass candlestand. They put their cylinders in there instead - making a striking statement. Brilliant! I opened the bath salts bottle and spilled some out - placing it right at 'nose level' so that everyone would be sure to get a whiff of this amazingly fragrant product without touching it! PS: go Boston! (They get it...)

For more info on any of these exhibitors, go to http://www.sfigf.com/ and search by exhibitor name to find their web link.

Saturday morning, I finally had a moment to really look at what was being offered at the show. When I'm out running around picking up products from exhibitors for the display, I am pretty focused on getting to certain booths and doing my job. Plus, most booths are in a state of disarray while they are being set up, so you really can't see what the exhibitor is offering at that point. So I wait until show opening to view everything... And I found some great stuff, and great displays, but I wasn't allowed to take ANY photos. Show management has apparently empowered show security to accost anyone with a camera. I almost got thrown out for photographing my.own.displays. yikes. So, I'll share links instead:

http://www.lollialife.com/index.asp/ has the best booths at the show, no doubt. We already know the products are stellar - the booth & display design are perfect brand image, a case study for anyone wanting to learn how it's done.

http://www.kategrenier.com/ has fun products and was a great booth, full of color and whimsy.

http://www.erinsmithart.com/ also had trendy funky artwork designs on canvas and new card lines that debuted in Atlanta. Her booth is like a walk-in version of her art, great effect. Such a nice gal, too!

http://www.mirrormirroronthewall.net/ is for retailers only - you need to register to view the site. But oh, what gorgeous stuff!

http://www.remembermejewelry.com/ designer Michelle Meade has a FAB product, FAB packaging, great presentation in her booth and every display area she was in at the show. Plus, she has a great sotry to go with it. In fact, she's writing a book 'The Sky is Always Blue', available soon on her website. It is difficult for a newcomer to make an impact in the jewelry market - she's done it!

http://www.mixingwhimsy.com/ was a first-time exhibitor at this show, and I am SOOOOO impressed with their visual presentation. Their booth in the Vintage Collection was perfect, and very similar to what I do with retreat. After seeing their web site photos, I know that they do everything with this much style....and will be very, very successful. Hailing from Healdsburg, these gals have success written all over them.

OK, so I saw one other thing that was a great idea, at the Conservatory of Flowers in Golden Gate Park. An exhibit of Colors included this plant display:

Totally current, cool, hip, 'Brocade'-style way to display a plant. Or maybe jewelry? Or a candle? Or a purse? SO simple and so many possibilities!

This has been the Decorating & Display Diva, reporting from San Francisco.....

Re-Entry

I'm back home and ticking off, one by one, all of the things I do when I return from out of town. I want to get this first blog post done so I can get to the one about the book giveaway.....so I'm keepin' this short & sweet!

The photos here show the displays I created at the SFIGF. Above is a shot of the location: main entrance to Moscone South Hall. The one below is of my buds, the GES guys, whom I called Ben & Jerry, working for .....oh, about NINE HOURS to put together the fixtures I was to build the displays on.
They made repairs to broken parts, fashioned new parts for those that were missing altogether, and jerry-rigged some solutions to big problems. My kinda' guys, ya know? (Like I always say. "With a roll of duct tape and some hot glue, you can hold the world together!") In their case, it was duct tape, wood putty, and a boatload of screws, but they got the job done, bless their hard-working macho hearts & muscles! Then I got to paint it after they bashed it with hammers and mallets and such.

I got my hands on the fixtures at eleven AM and noon, respectively, on Friday. I cleaned & painted them, then continued sorting all of the incoming products and tent cards (which I started at 8 AM), and finally arranged the displays all. in. one. day. I finished at 9 PM. I ate trail mix and drank Starbux all day to keep going, fueled by Brian Setzer, the B52's, and the GoGo's on my MP3 player. When I finally hobbled back to my hotel by 9:30 PM, I fell into bed and rang room service. At 10:30 I called to ask about my food, since it had not arrived yet. They lost my order. OY. I finally ate at eleven fifteen PM. Okay, rant done.

So this is what the assembled fixtures looked like:

I'm a nice person, I really am. I don't like to pick on people or bash their ideas. That being said....

THIS fixture? What a complete disaster. On so many levels, it just does not work. Nine hours of assembly was the first problem....not exactly cost-effective. Then there is the unstable construction, which Ben & Jerry tried to stabilize but it still wobbled to high heaven when I touched it. There is a REASON I placed no product on the top tier. I couldn't reach it, even on a 12 foot ladder. It sits back too far from the edge of the base. And you can't place a straight ladder on the base, against the uprights - because of that wobble. (DivaDeb is not willing to break a leg for her craft. No way, no how.)

I also have an issue with the huge amount of vacant space on the bases - behind that big horizontal shelf, there is probably ten cubic feet of wasted area. And blocked space - those uprights just totally block the view of merchandise on the shelves, with little tiny spaces inbetween them that are totally unusable.

Now, maybe the person who designed these didn't understand the nature of or sheer quantity of the merchandise that would be placed on them. Clearly, they weren't familiar with the incredible beating that fixtures like this get between shows, or that these were intended to be used more than once. The MDF construction blew to smithereens after the last show (which was the first show they were used at), and the 4X4 uprights warped. So, I talked with the show director, and we will be redesigning these for maximum efficiency.

Here is what they ended up looking like with exhibitor product on them, one for Fall themes and one for Winter themes:


(You can see the space problem, right?!) I'll add some pedestal units like those we use in Seattle, plus plexi cubes, for flexible-use surfaces in several configurations on the base unit - especially in that back 'wasted' area. Those uprights will be chopped off above the second shelf, with a platform attached atop them to hold more plexi cubes. And a hidden stabilizer for the uprights will be added, to keep them from wobbling. I'll also order signage, backdrops, and overhead lighting for this at the next show, just to really set off the products as they should be.

It's never too late to fix a mistake like this. It may be expensive and time consuming at first, but it's still not a mistake. The mistake would be doing nothing in this case, trying to work with this fixture as is and investing hours of time repairing it for each show setup. Not under MY watch!!!!

((Okay, so now I sound like a complete and utter Diva, baggin' on the design that some other display stylist came up with . Sorry. I just know what works, and how it has to work for this use. This doesn't, so now I have to fix it because that's what I've been hired to do: make it work the way it's supposed to. By sharing these thoughts with you, I hope it helps you see solutions to some of your own dilemmas!))

Next post: My comments on YOUR comments, and a winner is announced!

Time Flies When You're Having Fun!

On Wednesday July 25, this blog o' mine will reach the milestone of it's first year!
(Now, I realize that this may not be a big deal in the larger Bloggiverse, but in the Diva's world, it's an accomplishment worth celebrating!)

Not only are most of my projects temporal in nature - intended for a short duration and even then, they are constantly subject to change - but I tend to have this annoying weakness of not being a good 'finisher'. I lack that brain cell necessary for sustained interest. Everything has to be new, fresh, changing, all.the.time. I need visual stimulation, and I need it NOW.

Books, magazines, tv shows, shopping....always on the lookout for the next idea, the next creative impulse. An addiction, really. And so this blogging thing is just my thing: I can surf, view, read, investigate, and get inspired by new and changing info daily. Hourly, even! And I can share my bizarre ideas and projects here - where things are constantly in a state of flux, just the way I like it.

The real upside to all of this is meeting amazing people from so many varied walks of life. It is incredible to me the scope of art and creativity and lifestyles that are present in the Bloggiverse. I am awed!!! You have to know that I am completely blown away that Bacchus and MJ and Rosanna (a true celeb!) and so many other wonderful visually like-minded souls pop in here to read my thoughts and share their comments, along with my friends Amy and FABulous Jen and a few others. You really keep me on my toes! I also love that this foray into blogging - necessitating hours on the computer, my former enemy - has resulted in my learning new skills (ahem....the Diva is a formerly technologically disenfranchised woman, remember? I'm gettin' better....I have actually learned HTML code. CODE. A year ago I thought 'code' was...well, a secret code. duh.) Yes, Jen, you are right: You CAN teach an old dog new tricks!

So, in celebration of this momentous anniversary, and to say thank you to all of you who drop in and read my ramblings here, I'd like to offer a 'door prize', if you will. I've got an extra copy of this FABulous book

and I'd just love to give it to YOU!

So leave me a comment, and tell me something you'd like me to write about. It can be something to do with retail display or seasonal decorating or small business branding or....well, you tell me!

When I return from the SFIGF next Sunday, I'll read thru all of the comments, choose one that stands out (for a GOOD reason!) and announce the winner in a post here on Monday. Then that person can send me their mailing info and I'll send off the book!

In the meantime, if you are at the SFIGF this week/weekend, look me up at the entrance to Moscone South Hall. I'll be camped out there creating a display of products on either side of the doors. Saturday, I'll be there early in the morning before I walk the show, then I'm heading out to do some 'tourista' things in the city - the ferry building, the cablecars, shoppping darling indie boutiques. Eating authentic Chinese food. Tea at the St. James. This is the only vacation I get this summer - a day and a half in San Fran. Gotta' make the best of it!

And when I return, we'll do the book thing, then I'll share what I saw at the show and around the city. (Yes, that's a warning that I'll be showing you my 'vacation photos'! LOL )

Sorry, Kermit....

...It really IS easy being green!

This just arrived in my email inbox from Home Accents Magazine:

"AmericasMart Atlanta debuts its Green Product Showcase this week, offering market attendees a look at the variety of recycling, repurposing and environmentally-friendly options available in a wide range of price points and designs."

And check out 'green' lifestyle expert Danny Seo's testimony on the subject in Washington recently:Mr. Seo Goes To Washington. He's posted it on his blog, Simply Green, a fab resource for Earth-conscious lifestyle, business, and decorating ideas. I've included it in my sidebar blog links so you can easily check in with Dan-O and see what ideas he's germinating. (Pun intended!)

It's a hot topic, to be sure. I was on the phone with the marketing director for Western Exhibitors Show Production the other day, discussing the 'Green Display' I'll be designing for the Seattle Gift Show in August. Here's Earth-friendly info from Western Exhibitors Shows:

"Be Part of the "Green" revolution! As you are well aware, green is big! More companies and manufacturers worldwide are jumping on the green bandwagon. This is not just good for the environment, but it is also good for business.

The SFIGF and SGS management teams have been receiving more requests from retailers to provide a resource list of exhibiting companies that provide green merchandise. We have put together some criteria required to be included on this list. If your product meets the criteria, you may participate in a new Green resource list available to all attendees at the SFIGF and the SGS. Retailers that include green merchandise in their inventory are very observant about manufacturing practices and materials used for this type of product and are looking for green product at markets. This list of vendors will be available at all registration counters and buyer lounges.

There will also be a special Green Display located in the heavily trafficked connection corridor between North & South Halls of Moscone Center in San Francisco, and in the 4th Floor Main lobby of the Washington State Convention & Trade Center in Seattle.

For more information on these promotional opportunities, visit Western Exhibitors' web site at http://www.weshows.com/, click on the show you are interested in, and search exhibitor information. These are offered free to participating qualified exhibitors."

And speaking of that Green display, I'm searching for fireproof cork or linoleum that looks like cork to use as flooring in the 15' X 15' display space. Any ideas out there?!