Winter Displays with Heart

I've often  talked about restyling 'old' products to create a new look.

I love to make stagnant merchandise look FRESH

by combining it with something new or using a different color to set it off. 

And it really is an effective way to lengthen the 'shelf life' of merchandise, 
instead of just putting it on clearance.  

Keep those profit margins UP, that's the goal. 

Find some cost-effective solutions after the jump....

What you see in the display above: 
I used a red table and red pottery that had been ordered in for Christmas - and didn't sell,

plus leftover white and red linens and some of the silk flowers kept in the retail prop closet. 

I added NEW heart-shaped red fondue pots and Valentine's chocolates,
some NEW chocolate fudge sauce and bing cherry sauce. 

I also nabbed the last six regular fondue pots from the 'kitchen' area in the shop.

Crystal votive candles and bud vases and NEW heart-shaped bottle stoppers

 NEW Reidel glasses in boxes with red hearts, and Cabernet Sauvignon wine 
finish off the display and 
turn old merchandise into new discoveries for customers. 

Something in every price point, really, and if you wanted to have a blow-out V Day evening, 

everything you need is right there in one display.
THAT increases your per-transaction totals! 

Here's another example:
During the holiday season, there was a display of product in the 'kitchen' area of the wine shop:

 I pulled the rooster-motif ceramics and white ironstone out,
and mixed them with the red Vietri pottery for a whole new look for winter:

In the background of the display you can see a birch tree. 

O yeah, it's a whole TREE, right there inside the winery retail shop!
A huge prop like this can really elevate a display from humdrum to WOW...

and when it's FREE, well, so much the better.

I sweet-talked the man at the storage facility out of it when I saw the storm had blown it over. 

He thinks I'm nuts, 
I think I'm thrifty and eco-friendly for giving the tree another shot at usefulness! 

The tree will remain here year-round, as a great prop to hang things from 

and a perfect visual draw to the rear corner of the shop. 

How does that work, you ask?

 It's huge, it takes people by surprise, and have to come over and check it out...

that means they get close to the display, see the products, and....
voila. Objective achieved!