Store Décor: Hot or Not?

An inside look at 10 store décor trends, including those that are popular and those that are passé

By Erinn Morgan

Are your dispensary displays and merchandising attractive to customers? With the state of today's market, ECPs can use every advantage they can get and store décor is no exception.

We checked in with merchandising experts across the country to uncover what's hot—and what's not—for 2010. Here, our rundown of the top trends on each front.

WHAT'S HOT?

ELECTRONICA

1 Travis Reed a professor at the International Academy of Design and Technology in Chicago, suggests entering the high-tech age by buying an inexpensive LCD or plasma TV “Install that in a window or behind the cash wrap, and ask your vendors to give you digital images,” he says, noting that this is a more modern approach than standard P.O.P. materials. “It's also more uniform because each vendor has a different size and format with their P.O.P.,” he adds.

FOUND OBJECTS

2 Bess Anderson, director of visual strategy at Chute Gerdeman, a firm that specializes in retail design and branding, says furniture pieces that act as fixtures are all the rage in retail décor. “Found items that are used in unusual ways are also popular, such as silver trays serving new shoes or shipping crates used as merchandising tables,” she says.

Good Idea

Travis Reed, a professor at the International Academy of Design and Technology in Chicago, suggests that ECPs keep up-to-date with fashion trends by getting subscriptions to magazines like Luckyand Vogue. "Also, Display and Design Ideas (DDI), a free magazine available in digital and print, will show you what is new in fixtures and lighting," he says, "plus it will give you beautiful ideas to get inspired by."

Green design is still popular with designers and customers alike. Image here courtesy of Fashion Optical Displays.

A reception area designed by Fashion Optical Display.

Fire Fly single shelf and Leaf and Bamboo combo both by Illusion Optical Display.

INTERACTION

3 Designer Dan Sloan and interior designer Staci Parisi, both of Fashion Optical Displays, point to the popularity of “open sell” environments. “Here, products are easily accessible to customers so they can touch, feel, and try them on,” says Sloan, who also notes that interactive kiosks and product testing stations are excellent customer features.

SAFETY

4 Since interaction comes with risks, state-of-the-art safety features that are convenient and discreet are also in style for store décor. “Our remote controlled locking display rods allow you to open up a rack of frames to be viewed; and then 60 seconds later, the display relocks itself,” says Jan Ennis, president of Ennco Display Systems.

ECO-CONSCIOUS

5 Green is still in, according to Sloan. Rich, earthy, natural colors hit the mark, along with bright, fresh floral colors, nature-inspired motifs, and anything bohemian or mosaic. Retail spaces get extra green points for using merchandising materials made from sustainable, recycled, locally sourced, or reused materials.

SUNWEAR RENAISSANCE

6 There is strong movement in new ways to display sunglasses, including wrap displays (some with an 8-base curve channel) and those that feature temples. “Showing off temples in both sunwear and ophthalmic is a great idea,” says Dacie Lewis, owner of Bright Display. “Frame bars are great for stock, but don't allow the ECP to show off temples. We recommend the frame displays six inches or taller that can be turned to show the temples.”

Interactivity is a critical “hot” element for successful dispensaries. Photos courtesy of: Magic Design (top and bottom) and Bright Displays (center)

WHAT'S NOT?

OVERDONE

1Things like large graphics and too-bold logo colors that take over the “environmental spaces and have nothing to do with the experience” are a thing of the past, says Anderson.

COLD

2 While the ubiquitous trend of merchandising on sleek metal is both popular and effective, this format can also be cold if not given some personality. “I recommend giving them personality… your personality,” says Margaret Furman, display designer with Magic Design. “There is not a single frame system—metal, plastic, or glass—that can stand alone without the support of engaging signs, alluring graphics, and entertaining displays,” adds Magic Design's design director, Cy Furman. One way to warm up this look is to add elements of wood. “If you bring in a really rich wood accent, it has a different feel,” says Corey Van Duinen, president and lead designer at Illusion Optical Display.

OVERINDULGENT

3 The tumultuous economy has made shoppers hyper-sensitive to blatant signs of excess, which is definitely passé these days. As such, Fashion Optical Displays' Sloan says retailers should steer clear of signs of wastefulness, overindulgence, bling, and even clutter with their store décor.

SLATWALLS

4 This tried and true display method is going the way of the dinosaur. “Most of my customers are removing their slatwall displays and replacing them with adjustable glass shelves,” says Lewis. “It's just too old school and they are experiencing the incredible flexibility of glass shelving.” EB