Published: BROADWAY+THRESHER Magazine

Broadway+Thresher Magazine July/August 2013
I am pleased to have contributed editorial content to this brand new lifestyle publication.

My story 'To Plant A City' features award-winning independent filmmaker Tyler Faires,

as he documents the growing Locavore food movement in Northern California.

You can view the story and my interview with Tyler here

 BROADWAY+THRESHER GIVEAWAY:
The magazine is giving away two copies of Tyler's award-winning film 'To Plant a City', provided by Tyler - ENTER HERE   Visit BROADWAY+THRESHER here
Order a print copy of Issue I here
Subscribe here

 

New Resource for Women in Business

 Launch Your Creativity

is a new web resource for creative women entrepreneurs.

Visit their web site to find info on a gathering of inspiring women in business,

coming in April in Orange, California!

I am honored to have been featured on their blog today, 

to share a bit about what my business is, how I chose it, 

(or, rather, how IT chose ME)

and how I can help others succeed in creating their own businesses.

Please click here to visit the blog post...

Thank you so much for the opportunity to be featured, Sharon!

I've Been Blogged

Many thanks to the kind folks at Blogged, who have reviewed & rated my blog  - and listed it in the number one spot under 'retail design / shopping'. Much appreciated...

PS: Blog Catalog has me at number 4  under 'retail display' , and number 6 under 'retail design'. I have work to do, apparently!

Retail Display Tips from Country Business Magazine

The article I wrote for the current issue of Country Business Magazine includes a lot of display inspiration from three very talented participants. They were chosen by the magazine for the Display Challenge, and include Paige King of Hodgepodge in Clarksville, Tennessee, Teri Martin of Precious Memories - Our Designer in San Bruno, California, and Nancy Borsodi, pro stylist for Country Business Magazine.

Nancy very generously provided me with a wealth great information for this article, in addition to answering my questions about her experience with the challenge. In the interest of space in the magazine, it wasn't included in the final print version. I know the information will help you in your pursuit of building better displays, so here are some very helpful tips & tricks from one of the best stylists in the biz:

“I create displays for a wide scope of merchandise and different styles, because many of our readers own country stores, and many of our advertisers carry merchandise that does well in any type of retail store, or crossed merchandised with country product in a display. I feel stores that successfully incorporate different styles of merchandise increase their appeal to a larger group of consumers. Even if your store fills a very specific niche market, don't rule out other styles of merchandise. Some products that you'd normally overlook will not only complement your products but actually enhance your original items! "

Nancy continued: "When I create displays, I do keep in mind the parameters that retailers are under and try to work within those guidelines. Usually displays can be altered to accommodate your specific needs. The size of the display, props, colors, all factor into personalizing your displays to fit your stores’ style. The key to incorporating different styles is having some kind of common element between them.”

This professional stylist also offers these additional ideas for creating a few different looks for similar product displays:
Garden Store: Base could be a potting table or flagstone, risers could be flowerpots or more flagstone, props may include watering cans, garden tools, wheelbarrow, moss, grapevine, bee-keeping related items, i.e. wooden bee hives, bee skeps,
Cottage Antiques Shop: lighter, more neutral, pastel wood tones. (I suggest using metal floral-motif furniture and chandeliers, and garden trellises & fences, as well).
Contemporary Store: Brighter colors, simple, fun or whimsical props such as oversized flowers, colorful flower pots and bees.

I’d like to express my appreciation to Paige, Teri, and Nancy for so generously providing information on their creative processes for the article. They have helped us to see what imaginative displays can do for our stores: Great display design starts with inspiration, so be inspired by the products you sell! Let them guide you into developing a story or a theme that is as unique as your store is, and design an interesting display with a timely mix of merchandise to catch your customers’ eye. In the process, you’ll inspire your customer as you express your store’s creative, artistic vision!

Links: (sorry, embedding them was causing a Blogger meltdown... not sure why.... just copy & paste to use)
Paige King: www.hodgepodge-home.com
Teri Martin: www.ourdesigner.com
Country Business Magazine July/August 2009 Issue: http://www.country-business.com/magazine/default.aspx

Image Credit: Country Business Magazine July/August 2009 Issue, pg. 59

Upcoming Events

Well, it's impossible to read at this size (and Blogger isn't letting me enlarge it), but this is a page-shot of the upcoming 'Country Pleasures' Magazine. Linda & Dixie, the 'Funky Junk Sisters', sent it to me today to let me know that their upcoming show has garnered a mention in the mag. The article also referenced me and the seminar I am presenting at their show in June.

On Friday evening, during setup, I'll be sharing some fabulous info with the show vendors. My goal is to inspire them to amp up their merchandise presentation in their booths at shows - this one, and others to come. My hour-long seminar will include lots of insider tips, stylist tricks, and retail secrets to arm them with helpful information that they can use immediately to make a big visual impact FAST. And after that, there's the Q&A session.... which has been known to last over an hour as I answer questions and solve dilemmas for audience members. (They kicked me out of the seminar room in Denver one year....two hours after my presentation was over, I still had fifty people sitting there asking me questions about their stores & displays!) Hey, I didn't mind staying....but the cleaning crew needed to reset the room!

Many years of working & speaking and creating award-winning designs for vendors at international gift shows and industry trade shows have given me an incredible wealth of information that can help 'the little guys' compete in a big marketplace. My 'job' is helping independent merchants succeed in building better businesses by teaching them how to coordinate their visual presentation - and I really love what I do. To say I am looking forward to this is an understatement, and I am so thankful that Linda & Dixie have extended the invitation and the opportunity for me to speak at their event. My thanks to you for the additional press, as well, ladies.

For information on the show, check out www.funkyjunksisters.com My seminar is for show vendors only, however we are working on creating a video of it so that the content will be available here on my blog soon after the show. If you are attending the show, there will be other speakers presenting seminars for attendees on Saturday, so don't miss them!

Me...Fashionable?!!!!

Well, leave it to me to be so busy for a month that I miss something important!

I was just alerted by a kind visitor that my blog has been mentioned at Fashion Avenue. com, a trend review site. Here's what they had to say:

Deco Diva Debi
"Deco Diva Debi" is a blogsite featuring retails, fashion, beauty, inspirations, innovations, creative ideas, showroom makeover, seasonal display, retail news, green ideas, display tips, display ideas, books, Diva Moments, Resources and more. It also discusses very interesting topics on the product display such as window display design and more... Deco Diva Debi

Check it out: http://www.fashionavenue.com/blogmembers.asp?user=twenty

Thank You, Fashion Avenue!