SIXTH EDITIO N
Visual Merchandising Displ Display ay d n a
Martin M. Pegler
SIXTH EDITION
Visual Merchandising and Display
Visual Merchandising and Display Sixth Edition
Martin M. Pegler
Fairchild Books New York
Executive Editor: Olga T. Kontzias
a Division of Condé Nast Publications.
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TPXX CHXX
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Contents Preface
xiii
Acknowledgments
xiv
Credits
xiv
Par One Gttig Sttd— Visul Mchdisig d Disply Bsics
xvi
Par FOUr Visul Mchdisig d Disply chiqus
200
16
Attention-GettingDevices
201
17
FamiliarSymbols
217
18
MaskingandProscenia
233
19
SaleIdeas
243
1
WhyDoWeDisplay?
1
2
ColorandTexture
9
20 FashionAccessories
3
LineandComposition
21
21
HomeFashions,HardGoods,andFoodDisplays
263
4
LightandLighting
31
22
GraphicsandSignage
27 5
5
TypesofDisplayandDisplaySettings
49
Par wO wh to Disply
Par FVe Visul Mchdisig d Plig
251
28 8
62
23
VisualMerchandisePlanning
28 9
6
TheExterioroftheStore
63
24
SettingUpaDisplayShop
297
7
DisplayWindowConstruction
71
25
StorePlanningandDesign
3 03
8
StoreInteriors
87
26
VisualMerchandisingandtheChangingFaceofRetail
321
10 0
Par Sx rltd as of Visul Mchdisig d Disply
Par ree wht to Us fo Succssful Displys 9
Manneq uins
10 1
10
AlternativestotheMannequin
111
11
DressingtheThree-DimensionalForm
123
12Fixtures
137
VisualMerchandisingandDressingFixtures
16 1
14ModularFixturesandSystemsinStorePlanning
177
13
15
FurnitureasProps
187
334
27
Point-of-PurchaseDisplay
33 5
28
ExhibitandTradeShowDesign—IndustrialDisplay
3 53
29
FashionShows
37 5
30
TradeOrganizationsandSources
37 9
31
CareerOpportunitiesinVisualMerchandising
3 87
Glossary
3 94
Credits
414
Index
000
V
ExtendedContents Preface Acknowledgments
xiii xiv
Par One Gttig Sttd Visul Mchdisig d Disply Bsics
-
1 Why Do We Display? 2 Color and Texture Physicala ndPsychol ogicalR eaction stoCol or Yellow Orange Red Pin k G reen Blu e Blue-Green Pea ch R ust Violet/Purple Gray B row n Wh ite B la ck Colo rFamilies Colo rMi xing Colo rSchemes Analogous,orAdjacent,Colors ComplementaryColors ContrastingColors MonochromaticColors
VI
xvi 1 9 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 12
NeutralColors UsingColortoPromoteColor Texture
14 15 17
3 Line and Composition Line VerticalLines HorizontalLines CurvedLines DiagonalLines Composition Balance Dominance Contrast Proportion Rhythm Repetition
21
4 Light and Lighting TheColorofLight PlanningWindowLighting LightingtheOpen-BackWindow LightingtheClosed-BackWindow PlanningStoreInteriorLighting NewLightingTrends General,orPrimary,Lighting FluorescentLighting CompactFluorescentLamps(CFL) IncandescentLighting High-IntensityDischarge(HID)Lighting
31
22 22 22 22 23 23 23 26 26 26 27 29
12 12 12 12 12 12 12 13 13 13 13 14 14
32 32 33 34 34 35 35 36 37 37 38
MR16andMR11 MetalHalideLamps CeramicMetalHalideLamps LED(Light-EmittingDiode) Secondary,orAccent,Lighting ColoredLightsandFilters PlanningStoreLighting SuggestionsforUsingLightEffectively
5 Types of Display and Display Settings TypesofDisplays One-ItemDisplay Line-of-GoodsDisplay RelatedMerchandiseDisplay VarietyorAssortmentDisplay PromotionalversusInstitutionalDisplays TypesofDisplaySettings RealisticSetting EnvironmentalSetting SemirealisticSetting FantasySetting AbstractSetting BuildupDisplay
Par wO wh to Disply 6 The Exterior of the Store Signs Marquees OutdoorLighting Banners Planters Awnings WindowsinStorefrontDesign StraightFront AngledFront ArcadeFront CornerWindow MallStorefronts OpenFaçade GlassFaçade ClosedFaçade
39 39 40 40 41 41 43 45 49 51 51 51 51 51 52 55
7 Display Window Construction Closed-BackWindows Floor BackoftheWindow Ceiling Sidewalls Proscenia Masking Open-BackWindows IslandWindows SpecialWindows ShadowBoxes ElevatedWindows DeepWindows TallWindows Make-Your-Own-DisplayWindows Runways,Catwalks,andUp-FrontDisplays
71 72 73 74 75 77 77 77 78 80 81 81 82 82 83 83 84
55 55 56 56 57 59 62 63 64 64 64 65 65 65
8 Store Interiors FocalPoints IslandDisplays RisersandPlatforms TheRunway TheCatwalk CountersandDisplayCases MuseumCases DemonstrationCubes Ledges ShadowBoxes EnclosedDisplays Fascia T-Walls 100-PercentTrafficAreas
87 88 89 89 89 90 90 92 92 92 95 95 96 97 97
66 66 67
Par ree wht to Us fo Succssful Displys
100
67 67 68 68 69 69
9 Mannequins TypesofMannequins RealisticMannequins SemirealisticMannequins Semi-abstractMannequins AbstractMannequins
EXTENDED CoNTENTS
101 103 103 106 107 107
VII
Cartoon/CaricatureMannequins HeadlessMannequins
10 Alternatives to the Mannequin Three-QuarterForms OtherForms Soft-SculptedFigures ArticulatedArtist’sFigure DressFormsandSuitForms CutoutFigures Inflatables Drapers Hangers Lay-DownTechniques PinupTechniques FlyingTechniques 11 Dressing the Three-Dimensional Form DressingaMannequin RiggingaSuitForm ShirtBoard ShirtForms FormsandCustomerAttitude 12 Fixtures Stands PlatformsandElevations Costumers,Valets,andDrapers Easels PipeRacks CountersorShowcases AssortedCounterFixtures LedgeFixtures FloorandFreestandingFixtures RoundRacks T-Stands QuadRacks,orFour-WayFaceouts OtherFloorFixtures SelectingaFixture Appearance Construction EndUse Upkeep
VIII
V I S U A L M E R C H A N D I S I N G A N D D I S P L Ay
109 109 111
Finishes WoodFixturesandStoreFittings Today’sFixtures InteractiveFixtures
152 153 157 157
115 116 119 119 119 121 122 122 123 123 125 126 129 130 133 134 135 135 137 139 139 140 140 142
13 Visual Merchandising and Dressing Fixtures VisualMerchandising Customer-OrientedVisualMerchandising DominancebyColor DominancebyCoordination DominancebyBrandName DominancebySize DominancebyPrice DominancebyEndUse Front-to-BackVisualMerchandising VisualPresentation VisualMerchandisingandtheRetailer DressingFixtures T-Stands StockHolders QuadRacks RoundRacks BackWall Gondolas AisleTables ClothingonHang-Rods Shoulder-OutHanging Face-OutHanging Single-RodHanging Double-RodHanging(OneRodOvertheOther)
161 162 162 163 163 165 166 167 167 167 168 168 169 169 170 170 170 171 172 173 174 174 174 174 174
142 143 145 146 147 147 148 149 151 151 151 151 152
14 Modular Fixtures and Systems in Store Planning UseofModularFixtures UseofSystems TypesofSystems HollowTubeswithFingerFittings Clamps ExtrudedUprights SlottedJoiners SlottedUprights SelectingaSystem Lo oks
177 178 179 180 180 181 182 182 182 182 183
EndUse Construction Upkeep Adaptability Price
15 Furniture as Props Chairs Tables ArmoiresandCabinets DrawerUnits
Part FOUr Visul Mechndising nd Disply techniques 16 Attention-Getting Devices Color Lighting LineandComposition Scale Contrast Repetition Humor Mirrors Nostalgia Motion SurpriseandShock Props 17 Famil iar Symbols Anniversaries BacktoSchoolandCollege Bridal CareerFashions Christmas ClearanceSales CruiseWear,ResortWear,SunWear,andSwimwear Easter Fall Father’sDay Formals Halloween Lingerie
184 184 184 184
Mother’sDay Patriotic Spring Valentine’sDay
227 228 228 229
184 187 188 193 194 195
200
18 Masking and Proscenia VenetianBlinds WindowShades FoamCoreandBoard Lath-LatticePanels Plants RibbonsandStreamers BambooBlinds WrappingMaterials NaturalMaterials
233 236 237 238 239 239 239 240 240 241
201 203 203 204 204 205
19 Sale Ideas Mannequins Graphics Magic CleaningUp
243 244 246 247 248
205 205 207 207 208 210
20 Fashion Accessories ProvidingtheSetting ImportanceofPropstoFashionAccessoryDisplay GlovesandBags Jewelry
251 252 256 256 258
211 217 218 219 219 220 220 221 221 222
21 Home Fashions, Hard Goods, and Food Displays HomeFashions HardGoods CreateLifestyleSituations SmallsItems LargeItems FoodDisplays FreshProduce PreparedFoods
263 264 267 268 269 269 270 270 272
223 224 224 225 225
22 Graphics and Signage WhatAreGraphics? GraphicsandLifestyle GraphicsinRetailStores
275 276 276 277
EXTENDED CoNTENTS
IX
Signage Drawings ColorandContrast SizesforSignsandCards TypesofSignsandCards TechniquesforPreparingSignage SilkScreening SignMachines OtherSignageTechniques
Par FVe Visul Mchndising nd Plnning 23 Visual Merchandise Planning DisplayCalendar PlanningaDisplay TheVisualMerchandiser’sPartinStorePromotion SchedulingthePromotion 24 Setting Up a Display Shop PhysicalRequirements Furniture ToolsandSuppliesintheDisplayShop HandTools PowerTools BasicTrimmings LightingEquipment Books,Publications,andReferenceMaterials 25 Store Planning and Design FunctionsoftheStorePlanner Rehabilitations FloorPlans DrawingtoScale MaterialsNeededtoDrawaFloorPlan ReadingaFloorPlan BasicArchitecturalSymbols StorePlanningSymbols OtherTypesofDimensionalDrawings StorePlanningasaCareer 26 Visual Merchandising and the Changing Face of Retail Big-BoxStore,orSuperstore
X
V I S U A L M E R C H A N D I S I N G A N D D I S P L Ay
278 278 279 280
DiscountandFactoryOutletStores VendorShops KiosksandRetailMerchandisingUnits(RMUs) Pop-UpShops
324 325 328 331
283 283 283
Par Sx rltd as of Visul Mchndising nd Disply
334
284 284 288 289 290 291 294 294 297 298 298 299 300 300 300 300 301 303
27 Point-of-Purchase Display WhatIsPOP? WhyPOP? WhoUsesPOP,andWhere? POPLongevity DesigningthePOPUnit Product Unit Timing Tie-Ins EndUsage ProductionRun Shipping LightandMotion Co st SpecialistsinPOPDesign MaterialsUsedintheConstructionofPOPDisplays PaperandCardboard Plastics WoodandMetal POPDesignChecklist
335 336 337 338 339 340 340 340 341 341 341 341 341 342 342 342 343 343 347 35 0 35 0
30 5 307 307 30 8 311 312 312 314 317 317
321 322
28 Exhibit and Trade Show Design— Industrial Display TypesofExhibits PermanentExhibits TemporaryExhibits TradeShows TravelingExhibits OutdoorExhibits PlanningtheExhibit Audience Subject Size DesignandLayout:TheTrafficPlan
353 354 354 354 354 35 5 35 5 35 5 35 5 35 6 357 35 8
Theme ColorandTexture Graphics LogosandTrademarks Lettering SupergraphicsandLine PhotomuralsandBlowups HeightsandElevations ExhibitSystems TheftandVandalismControl Lighting Daylight AmbientLighting TaskLighting SpecialLighting SpecialEffects MovementandAnimation Audiovisuals LiveAction AudienceInvolvement MakingtheExhibitSpecial TheAmenities Tie-Ins
29 Fashion Shows 30 Trade Organizations and Sources MajorOrganizations AssociationforRetailEnvironments(ARE) NationalAssociationofDisplayIndustries(NADI) PlanningandVisualEducationPartnership(PAVE) RetailDesignInstitute(RDI) Point-of-PurchaseAdvertisingInstitute(POPAI) In-StoreMarketingInstitute EHIRetailInstitute SourcesofInformationandIdeas TradeShows TradeMagazines OtherPublications Research 31 Career Opportunities in Visual Merchandising TradeShowandExhibitDesign HomeFashionsandFoodPresentation
35 9 35 9 35 9 35 9 36 0 36 0 36 0 36 0 363 363 364 364
Styling PartyDesign SpecialEvents Malls StorePlanningandFixtureDesign DisplayDecorativeManufacturing Mannequins PointofPurchase(POP) ToolsforGettingtheJob Résumé Portfolio AnEffectiveVisualMerchandiser
38 8 38 9 38 9 38 9 38 9 39 0 39 0 39 0 39 0 39 0 39 0 391
364 364 36 6 36 6
Glossary Credits Index
394 414 000
367 367 367 36 8 36 8 36 8 36 9 375 379 38 0 38 0 38 0 38 0 381 381 381 382 382 382 383 383 383 387 38 8 38 8
EXTENDED CoNTENTS
XI
Preface
I
s display dead? It has been buried so many times and in so many ways—especially when times are bad—but has been resurrected time and time again and ofen with a new name. Whatever you call it, it is about presentation, about showing to sell—creating a store’s look, promoting an image or a brand, and shaping the shopper’s attitude toward the retailer and the product. Just as the display person became the visual merchandiser back in the 1970s, we are seeing new names and titles showing up, like merchandise presentation, visual presenter, environmental designer, and so on. Yet, i it is about showing merchandise at its best, in an attractive and attracting manner, it is still visual merchandising and display. Te retail scene is in a constant state o change. We are hearing that more and more people are shopping online. We read about and maybe visit e-stores. Does that mean that the retail store as we know it is nished? Does that mean that people are going to give up on getting up, getting dressed, and going out to the store, and instead let their ngers do the shopping? Where can they ask themselves, how does this abric eel? how does this garment t? What is the ambiance like as you sit in ront o the computer? Is there the romance, the sense o discovery one eels at nding a treasure on a rack? What about the surprise and excitement o nding something you never expected to nd—and it has been reduced in price as well? How about the chance to meet and visit and exchange style opinions with riends and loved ones? Yes! Te computer is convenient and a possible timesaver, but it is not the whole answer. Visual merchandising and display is not dead; it will always live
and ourish—no matter what it is called—so long as shoppers nd it un and an adventure to go into a retail store. Eective visual merchandising and display can be a moti vating actor in seeking out such adventure. Old loyalties to stores and shops are almost nonexistent because customers can no longer be depended upon. Tey want to be wooed, courted, stroked, and serviced; they want to be entertained, and each sale is a rst sale. I ever something were needed to distinguish one store rom another, to make one specialty shop seem more special, more unique, more tuned in to what the market wants— that something is needed now. Tat something is eective Visual Merchandising and Display . Visual merchandising is the presentation o merchandise at its best; color coordinated, accessorized, and sel-explanatory. Display is the pizzazz—the theater, the sparkle and shine that surround a presentation o merchandise and make the shopper stop, look, and buy what has been assembled with care and oered with air. During a recession, depression, or in a nancial crunch, store owners may take money out o the display budget and put more money into media advertising. However, television, radio, and print ads are worthless unless there is some ollow-through at the store. Here, at the point o purchase, is where display or merchandise presentation becomes absolutely necessary. Te shopping scene is also changing. Malls are becoming entertainment centers, and in cities around the world urban renewal is going on. Downtown, Main Street, High Street, and Broadway are being revived, and new retailers are moving in with new brands to introduce
XIII
in their street-acing windows. More and more vehicular trac is being rerouted, and walking streets are emerging, where shoppers can saunter and study window displays in a leisurely ashion. Store windows are once again becoming show windows and places where retailers can make lasting rst impressions. at is what this text is all about: making rst impressions that last. In the various chapters we approach the ways and means o doing just that. ere are no rules to ollow and very ew “don’ts”; i something works or you, do it, whether it seems right or wrong. In its own way, the text shows you ways to be dierent, individualistic, unique; how to stand out in the crowd; how to make a lasting impression. But, it always comes down to what is right and tting or the retailer, the brand, and the product oer. I have tried to make the text as painless as possible— conversational in tone, with lots and lots o pictures rom retailers large and small: department stores, boutiques, national chains, and mom-and-pop stores rom around the world to provide a east or your eyes and to stimulate your imaginations. So, sit back, relax, and enter this world o presentation. Enjoy the journey! ACknOWLEDGMEnTS
In this display world o tinsel, glitter, sparkle, and largerthan-lie presentations, I wish to thank all those visual merchandisers, display persons, merchandise presenters, store planners, and display manuacturers and suppliers whose work and imagination made such a deep impression. My thanks to all those or making the merchandise scene more exciting and un and or putting more entertainment into this “show-ing” business. CREDITS
I would like to especially thank these architects, designers, store planners, and manuacturers who provided me with the excellent examples used to illustrate this edition. ey represent some o the leading retail specialists in the eld, and their clients are evident throughout the world. Without their generous contributions, this book would be page afer page black-and-white copy only: Aarca Exposiciones, Leon, Mexico; Alma Décor, Warsaw, Poland; Anthem Worldwide, New York; Bergmeyer, Boston; Blocher Blocher
XIV
P R E FA C E
Partners, Stuttgart, Germany; Giorgio Borruso, Marina del Rey, Caliornia; Burdilek, Toronto; Callison-RYA, Seattle; Caulder Moore, Kew, London, UK; Checkland Kindleysides, Leicester, UK; Chute Gerdeman, Cleveland, Ohio; Collaborative Architecture, Mumbai, India; Dalziel + Pow, London, UK; Display Design Group (DDG), Carlstadt, New Jersey; Eventscape, Toronto; David Gault Architect, New York; Gensler, USA; Greenberg Farrow, New York; Wolgang Gruschwitz, Munich, Germany; Habitat, UK; International Housewares Association, Rosemont, Illinois.; JGA, Southeld, Michigan.; JHP, London, UK; J. Mayer H., Germany; Mancini Duy, New York; Peter Marino, New York; Nishiwaki Design Group, Tokyo; Pentagram, San Francisco; Plajer & Franz, Berlin; Pompei AD, New York; Seyle Putsure, Los Angeles; Riis Retail Design, Kolding, Denmark; RPA-Fitch; Ruscio Studio, Montreal; Siteworks, Portland, Oregon; Soldier Design, Cambridge, Massachusetts; Charles Sparks & Company, Westchester, Illinois; Sybarite, London; Tobin + Parnes, New York; Walker Group, New York; Winntech, Kansas City, Missouri; WKMC Architects, Dallas; Wonderwall, Tokyo. Also a very special thanks to these visual merchandisers, display people, and visual presenters, who are adding theater to retailing every day, all around the world: Carlos Aires, at Marketing Jazz, Madrid; Karina Barhumi, Lima, Peru; James Bellante, o Macy’s San Francisco; Christine Belch, at Sony Style, New York; Lucy Ann Bouwman, o Sight, Boston; Polar Buranasatit at Chrisoe, New York; Keith Dillion, at Robert Ellis and Just One LA, Los Angeles; Simon Doonan, at Barneys New York; Étalage B Design, Montreal; Linda Fargo, at Bergdor Goodman, New York; Ana Fernandes, at e Bay, Toronto; Victor Johnson, at Ann Taylor and White House/Black Market, New York; Amy Meadows, at Marshall Field, Chicago; Gert Mueller, at Schreibmeister, Munich; David New, at Bergdor Goodman, New York; Laura O’Connor, at Harvey Nichols, UK; Paul Olzewski, at Macy’s Herald Square, New York; Peter Rank, o Deko Rank, Munich; Manoel Renha, at Lord & Taylor, New York; Clinton Ridgeway, at Le Château, Toronto; Shawn Schmidt, at Le Château, Toronto; Stacy Suvino, at Miss Jackson, Tulsa, Oklahoma; Leigh Ann Tischler, at Sony Style, New York; Janet Wardley, at Harvey Nichols, UK; and the thousands o display people and “window
trimmers,” too numerous to mention, who make window shopping such a delight. ere are many others whose work is shown here, but to name them all, the list would be endless. I would also like to thank John Burr, o RSD Publishing, New York, and Retail Design International or the use o many o these photographs and the many unlisted and unnamed photographers who braved the rain and darkness to get these images. My love to all those people who are real and make my lie real and ullled—to Suzan, my wie, and to my children, Karen, Jess, Lysa, John, Risa, and Adam. And here is to the next generation—Brian, Amanda, Mike, Jake, Sam, Ben, Marley, and Heather. Martin M. Pegler
ACk Now LE DG ME NTS
XV
Chapter Four Light and Lighting
Af yu Av Ad c A, yu w b Ab dcu F
the relationship eteen olor an light
F
the term visible light
F
tehniqes or lighting open-ake inos an lose-ak inos
F
as in hih lighting an e se to ra shoppers to partilar areas ithin a store
F
primar an seonar store lighting
F
aantages an isaantages o oresent light an inanesent light
F
loations here oresent lights are reqentl se ithin a store
F
ses an ntions o d lighting an M16 an M11 lamps
F
the eetie se o light in isal merhanising 31
The Color of Light Color—as color—means little unless it is considered in relation to the type o light in which the color is seen. It is light that makes things visible. All colors depend on light. Tere is natural daylight and artifcial light, which can be incandescent, uorescent, or high-intensity discharge (HID) lighting. It is not quite that simple, however. Tese three broad classifcations o artifcial light are urther subdivided. Tere are many dierent types o uorescent lamp tubes available, ranging rom a warm white deluxe that attempts to create an “incandescent” eect, to the cool, bluish “daylight” quality usually associated with uorescent lighting. HID lamps are being improved daily and now even approach the warm end o the colored light scale. Incandescent lamps (i.e., bulbs) are warm and glowing, but placing flters or gel sleeves over them can change the color and quality o the light. Let us, thereore, consider the color o light, the eect o light on pigment color, and how light can aect the merchandise and the area that surrounds the merchandise. Visible light is actually composed o the whole spectrum o colors, rom violet to red. Imagine a beam o light passing through a glass prism or reecting in a pool o water or oil, and you will see that spectrum broken up into a rainbow o colors—rom violet, through the blues and greens, to the yellows and oranges, and fnally, red. All light is caused by waves o radiant energy that vary in length. Te shortest wavelength o the visible spectrum is violet light; then comes blue light, green light, and so on; and at the other end o the spectrum, with the longest wavelength, is red light. All these wavelengths—the entire spectrum—combine to orm visible, or white, light, which is the light we see. Ultraviolet light, X-rays, and gamma rays have shorter wavelengths than we can see. Inrared and radio waves are too long or us to perceive. For the purpose o understanding light and color in display and store planning, this discussion will be limited to the colors that appear in the visible spectrum. We will fnd that some light sources reect the shorter wavelengths and emit cooler, or bluer, light, whereas others have a warmer light and avor the longer wavelengths.
32
Part 1:
GettinG
Started—ViSual
o comprehend the relationship between color and light and why an object is perceived by an observer as a particular color, it is important to understand that light is capable o being reected and absorbed. Te color of an object is seen as a result o the object’s selective absorption o light rays. Tus, i an object is blue, or example, this means that it absorbs all the wavelengths o light except those o blue light, which are reected back to the observer. Te same occurs with other colors, but with a dierent wavelength being reected. I the object is pure white, the ull visible spectrum o light is being reected back in approximately equal quantities. I it is pure black, then all colors in the spectrum are being absorbed by the object. Light bounces rom one surace to another, and in this movement it is capable o throwing o new colors. For example, a wall or panel is painted pink. A wedgewood-blue carpet is installed. I warm, incandescent lights are used, the car pet may turn slightly lavender rom the warm pink reection cast by the walls. Te incandescent light may also play up any reds that are in the warm blue carpet. (A warm blue has some purple in it, i.e., red and blue. Incandescent light reects most in the red end o the spectrum.) I a daylight uorescent light were switched on instead, the blue o the carpet might seem more sparkling and cool, and the walls would take on the lavender tone. Te overall light will aect the color o the walls, the oor, and the ceiling, and bouncing around as it does, most o all it will aect the color o the merchandise.
Planning Window Lighting You walk by a store. It is daylight. You catch a glimpse o the window, and all you see is yoursel reected in the window o a store that may or may not be open or business. In that glimpse you can check out what you are wearing, but you haven’t a single clue as to what lies beyond the glass. What kind o store is it? What sort o merchandise is sold there? When a store’s windows are not illuminated, or are illuminated improperly, they become a giant one-way mirror acing the street or the mall.
Merchan diSi nG
and
diSPlay BaSicS
Retailers think o their stock; they think o all the money they have invested; but, unortunately, they don’t always think about how to show and stock the merchandise they have to sell. Tey don’t seem to realize how signifcantly the shopper’s perception o who and what they are reects on that shopper’s attitude toward the merchandise. Retailers think hard and long about their location: Tey want a good address; they want to be where the right trac is; they want to be where their targeted shoppers are. When it comes to stopping the shopper with an initial razzle-dazzle impression, however, the thinking and spending oen stop. Just being where the action is does not make a retailer part o that action. Te retailer still has to get the shopper’s attention. Te cheapest and most eective starting place in getting attention and recognition is with good lighting. Good lighting does not have to drain the store’s operating budget. Lighting can be played like a musical instrument; the “tune” that results makes the dierence in the shopper’s perception. Without light, there is no color! I there is no color, then there are no sales in ashion merchandise. Te frst and oremost requisite or a sale is the color and how appealingly that color has been rendered. How the shopper perceives color is very important, and lighting can make red sizzle and shock, make blue appear ethereal or chilly, allow orange to scream or turn into a rich, earthy shade. Lighting also makes the frst impression. It is the retailer’s sign and identifcation.
At all times avoid lighting up the mannequin’s ace. Chest lighting is the preerred technique; it shows o the color o the garment as well as the detailing o the design while soly illuminating the mannequin’s ace. I the painted ace is viewed in the ull glare o the light, it will only point up that it is a lieless, painted ace. Te reected light enhances the mannequin’s mystique and makes it seem more “human.” Place the merchandise as ar back into the space as possible so the spotlights can be most eective and not have to battle the natural glare associated with daylight—and trac lights at night—on the plateglass windows. Just as a single match lit in total darkness can become a beacon, a spotlight in a relatively low-lit area becomes a sharp, brilliant point o light. Te eect created will all depend upon the contrast. Setting the back panel behind the display as ar back as possible and bringing the lights in, away rom the window, increases energy eciency as well. A simple length o abric o the right color, texture, or pattern, or a combination o these; a screen; a panel o textured wood; or even a cluster o tall plants can serve as a partial background in the open-back window. Te color o the divider can either complement the color o the garments or enhance some value o the color. Te divider also eectively separates the display area rom the selling oor and the lighting on that sales oor. By cutting out or minimizing the
Lighting the Open-Back Window I the store has an open-back window, the lighting in the display area up ront must be strong enough and bright enough to attract and keep the shopper’s eye rom going past the eatured merchandise in the display directly into the store on view beyond. Te window is not the place or strings o uorescent tubes casting a deadly dull chill over already lieless mannequins. Fluorescent lighting also casts a at, dull, and lieless pall over the colors o the garments. Use only a ew sharp spots—incandescent or MR16 miniature low-voltage tungsten halogen (to be discussed later in this chapter)—and ocus the light away rom the glass—not into the store, but directly down onto the merchandise. (See Figure 4.1.)
Figure 4.1 A series of focusable spots on a track up on the ceiling bring the light down to the product display in this open back window. The movable back panel separates the display area from the rest of the store and from the store lighting, which reduces the ceiling light’s effect on the display. Schreibmeister, Munich. Design: Gert Mueller.
chaPter Four: liGht and liGhtinG
33
store’s light, the window light seems stronger. I a shopper passing by sees the light in the window, he or she will also see the display o merchandise and be aware o the retail space viewed to either side o the partial background. Te shopper knows that the store is open; the shopper knows what kind o merchandise is available. I the retailer is enlightened enough, he or she will also add some interesting or exciting props—or urniture—to the display, enhancing the image o the merchandise and the store.
Lighting the Closed-Back Window I the store has an enclosed display window—three walls, a oor, and a ceiling—the display person has greater opportunities or magical lighting eects. Not only can the display person highlight the eatured merchandise and bring to it the attention it warrants, but he or she can also use light to “paint” the background a complementary or accenting color or dramatize the setting by creating a particular ambience; or example, blue and green lighting to simulate an underwater look or yellows and oranges mixed with reds to create the atmosphere o a setting sun or a rich day in autumn. Colored lights, colored flters, and theatrical gels all work wonderully well to achieve these eects. Many theatrical lighting supply stores also carry a variety o cut-out, patterned light flters that create images in light on walls, oors, and even on the merchandise. With these pierced flters, one can have rain, snow, lightening, or sunshine; light streaming through a Gothic window or a bridal setting; palm trees in the tropics or swimwear; a starlit night or ball gowns; or freworks or a red, white, and blue promotion—or a spectacular sale event. More expensive but also more eective are the flters that rotate around the light, causing movement and animation in the window. Using these techniques requires great control over the daylight that might, at certain times o the day, overpower the window lighting and the special eects. Awnings drawn down during the sunlight hours can help somewhat, but even better is setting the merchandise and the mannequins as ar back as possible in the closed-back window to take ull advantage o the lighting eects and to overcome the eects o glare and reection. (See Figure 4.2.)
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Figure 4.2 With an enclosed window, the display person has more opportunities for effective and theatrical lighting. As shown here, the focusable spots are located on a track above the windows, and the lamps can be targeted at the mannequins. Because the windows are fairly deep, there is opportunity for backlighting and the use of illuminated objects. Lord & Taylor, Fifth Avenue, New York.
Incandescent lighting and MR16s, to be discussed later in this chapter, are the most eective sources or window display lighting.
Planning Store Interior Lighting Now that we know the store is open, let us step inside and see what is to be seen. Light means seeing. Light serves to lead the shopper into and through the store. It directs the shopper’s attention rom one eatured presentation or classifcation to another, with stops along the way to appreciate the highlighted ocal points and displays. It can separate one area rom the next; one boutique or vendor’s shop
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rom another. Te light level and the “color” (the warmth or coldness) o the light in the store create the ambience. Is it warm, welcoming, and inviting? Is it residential, intimate, and comortable? Is it cool and aloo or just cold and depressing? Is it at and boring, or does it sparkle with the contrasts o highlights and shadows? A store’s lighting is composed o many dierent light sources and lamps. It is a “palette” o lamps, o dierent color variations, intensities, and wattage, and it can also be aected by natural light that comes in through skylights or windows. Te store’s lighting plan includes the general, overall illumination o the retail space and also the accents—the highlighters that point out what is new, unique, or special. It can include atmospheric touches, like chandelier, wall, or column sconces or wall and ceiling washers. Although these may not all show o the merchandise, they do show o the attitude o the store. Tere are also appraisal lights that allow the shopper to examine things like jewelry, ashion accessories, or cosmetics. People, like insects, are attracted to light. It is human nature to walk toward the area where the light is brightest. Tus, a store designer can reconfgure a given oor plan using light. I the plan is long and narrow, a strong light on the ar wall makes that wall seem closer and encourages shoppers to head toward the rear o the space. I the long perimeter walls are illuminated, the shopper is better able to see the mass display o the wall stock. Bright lights can be added on the displays or displayers set along the aisle while the aisle itsel is kept in low light. Between the welllit back wall and the highlighted aisle displays, the middle area o the shop or department can unction in medium or general lighting. Using light-colored oor materials on the aisles may also make lights on the aisle unnecessary. (See Figures 4.3–4.5.) Tere are defnite “moments o truth” that must be considered in the store’s lighting plan. One o these moments is when the shopper tries on the garment and stands beore the mirror. Te light that complements the garment should atter the shopper. Te cash/wrap desk presents another such moment. As the shopper sees the selected garment being boxed or bagged and being paid or, the garment must reach out in the ullness and richness o color to reassure the shopper that he or she has made the right decision.
Let us now consider the dierent types o lights and the lamps that can be used to create an eective and attractive store lighting plan.
New Lighting Trends Just as home and business lighting changed at the close o the nineteenth century, and electric lights replaced gaslight, urther evolution is taking place in this new century. We are fnding new sources or light that are more energy ecient, lamps that burn longer and brighter, with better color rendition, that are revolutionizing lighting as we knew it. Incandescent lamps are on their way out. Tey deliver too much heat, use too much energy, and need constant maintenance because they burn out too quickly. Fluorescents have long been energy ecient, and now, in a new orm, it is possible to screw a uorescent bulb into a socket meant or an incandescent bulb, and no ballast is needed. Tese are the compact uorescent bulbs. Te metal halides are still strong contenders or accent- and spotlighting, and here, too, we are seeing great improvements in color rendition and in adaption to systems in use. Lighting solutions are changing daily. Each new issue o architectural and store design publications brings more news about newer and better lighting techniques, fxtures, bulbs, flters, and such. Te only way to know “what’s new” and “what’s best” or an installation or lighting plan is to work with a proessional lighting specialist. It is much too conusing or the layperson to do on his or her own. Te ollowing is current or today but may be old news by tomorrow, so consider what is mentioned here as recent, but perhaps no longer “now.”
General, or Primary, Lighting General, or primary, lighting is the allover level o illumination in an area. It is usually the light that flls the selling oor rom overhead light fxtures but does not include accent lights, wall washers, and display highlighting lamps. (Tese are orms o secondary lighting.) Also, it does not include “glamour,” or decorative, lighting: the sconces, counter or table lamps, indirect lighting, and so on.
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Fluorescent Lighting Some retail operations are illuminated by rows o uorescent fxtures that span the length or width o the store. Te uorescent fxture is usually the least expensive and most ecient fxture to use rom the point o initial cost, cost o energy, and length o lamp lie. Although it is oen the popular choice or the contractor to install and the retailer to maintain, it is not always the best choice or many categories o merchandise. Fluorescent lamps can produce a at, even, and stultiying blanket o light that oers ew shadows and provides little depth or textural interest. Tere are degrees o “warmth” and “coolness” available in uorescent lamps, rom the rosy quality o “warm white deluxe” to the blue o “cool white deluxe”—with many gradations in between. Te merchandise—or the general type o merchandise to be presented under the lighting—should be tested under the various types o light bulbs. No one type or
Figure 4.4 The red-tinted uorescent tubes are recessed under the fascia, along the perimeter walls. The tubes wash the upper wall area and lend a dramatic and sexy look to the space. The oating plastic panel, center, is illuminated with clear uorescent tubes and, as it looms out from the black painted ceiling, dramatizes the space. Lipsy, London. Design: JHP Design Consultants, London.
Figure 4.3 A good lighting plan includes many lighting techniques and utilizes a variety of lamps or bulbs. Shown here are recessed oodlights for the ambient light; uorescents in the raised ceiling area, to wash the focal architectural element; and drop, or pendant, lights to accentuate an area in the rear. Around the Shoes, Tokyo. Design: Nishiwaki Design Group, Tokyo.
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color will enhance everything, but the one that is generally most attering should be chosen. Some merchandise, like diamonds, silver, kitchen supplies, and maybe even urs, may look scintillating in the brittle light o cool uorescent, but customers and salespeople may appear drained, haggard, and generally washed out in that same lighting. A sparkling white diamond on black velvet may seem all fre and ice, but it would be hard to sell i the fnger onto which a ring is slipped, or the neck that a necklace caresses, looked waxy or marred by blemishes. Tereore, a so, glowing incandescent lamp, placed near a mirror, will enhance the customer’s skin tones as she looks at hersel bejeweled. Even i the diamond itsel, at
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that moment, is not super-blue-white gorgeous, the customer’s appearance while wearing the jewelry is at its best. Tat’s salesmanship! Tat’s display! Fluorescent fxtures and lighting can be shielded, fltered, or soened with grids, baes, or diusing panels—all to the good. A bafe is any device used to direct, divert, or disseminate light. It can be a louver over a light, an egg crate grid, or even an angled panel that redirects the stream o light. Fluorescent lamps can also be used in showcases or hidden beneath shelves to add the required warmth or coolness that the particular merchandise warrants. In any area, a ceiling may be regarded as another wall, or the sixth side o a cube, with the walls comprising our sides, and the oor the fh. As much as it might be desirable to use dierent colors o uorescent in dierent areas, to do so would break the ceiling pattern and call attention to the changes o color overhead. It is advisable to test and then select a proper mix o perhaps two dierent color tubes that can be used in the same fxture and provide the best overall colored light or the store. A grid or diuser will hide the act that in a single fxture, daylight and warm white tubes are being used in tandem. (See Figure 4.6.)
Figure 4.5 Fluorescent tubes encased in the long frosted-glassfronted xtures make a strong pattern against the blacked out ceiling while providing the general, or primary, lighting for this young people’s store. Pencil uorescent tubes in red plastic sleeves add to the visual excitement and hectic tempo of the shop. S. Oliver, Berlin. Design: Plajer & Franz Studio, Berlin.
Compact Fluorescent Lamps (CFL) With users o electric lights demanding more energyecient and longer-lasting bulbs, many companies are now producing compact uorescent bulbs. Tese lamps look somewhat like distorted incandescent bulbs and can be screwed into sockets traditionally designed to accept incandescent bulbs. Compact uorescents can burn or a much longer time and will yield more light or the wattage consumed. Tese lamps are mostly used or general, ambient lighting, but some will fnd the color not as warm or pleasant as the incandescent. When using compact uorescents, it is important to make sure you are getting the color o light you want. Oen, these screw-in uorescents are used to retroft existing ceiling light fxtures and can be combined with HID lamps or accenting.
Incandescent Lighting Tis orm o illumination is on its way out! With retailers and users o electricity becoming more “green” and looking or more energy-ecient and eective methods o lighting, they have ound that the traditional incandescent uses more energy than other lamps; gives o more heat, necessitating the use o additional energy or air cooling; and requires more requent bulb replacement. Many incandescent bulbs are being phased out o production, and we are looking orward to newer, more ecient, more ecology-avorable lighting devices—some o which are mentioned on the ollowing pages. Incandescent spotlights are high voltage lights and are called Parabolic Aluminized Reector (PAR) bulbs. Tey can be used as a primary light source but are usually used as secondary lighting. Although these lamps cost more to purchase, they do have a longer lamp lie. A PAR bulb can burn or 3,000 hours or longer. An alternative to the PAR bulb is the R, or reector, bulb, which is lower in wattage (about 150 watts) and made o clear glass, with a metallic reector surace mounted behind the bulb. Although it costs less to purchase than the PAR bulb, the reector bulb does not burn as long.
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Floodlights are also incandescent bulbs, but they usually have rosted glass envelopes, or enclosures, and are less
concentrated, having a wider beam spread than spotlights. Incandescent bulbs can be set into recessed high-hat fxtures in the ceiling, clustered in chandeliers, or hung as droplights. Tey can be mounted into housings that ride back and orth on ceiling tracks and can be directed, or ocused, on merchandise or displays. Bare bulbs, silverbottomed bulbs, 5-inch globelike bulbs, or tiny, round complexion bulbs can be decoratively lined up, clustered, or “polka dotted” on the ceiling to please the eye, add charm to the design scheme, and “stroke” the merchandise. (See Figures 4.6–4.8.) Figure 4.6 Rows of round bulbs are lined up over the runway in the center of this women’s shop and, along with some recessed oods in the cut out circles in the dropped ceiling panel, serve as the primary light source. The spotlights, on tracks that run from the front to the rear of the store, highlight and accentuate the merchandise display on or off of the wall. Lime, Toronto. Design: GHA Design
High-Intensity Discharge (HID) Lighting
Studios, Montreal.
Te HID lamp, which is very energy ecient, is becoming a strong contender in the feld o general, overall store lighting, in some cases replacing the uorescent with its long and readily apparent fxtures. HIDs are relatively small in size (compared with uorescent lamps) and will, like incandescents, provide shadows and highlights. Te mercury-type HID may be too green, the metalhalide-type may appear too blue, and the sodium type is quite yellow, but new developments are producing warmer and more attering types o light. General Electric’s MultiVapor is an improved metal-halide-type lamp that produces a light similar to a standard coolwhite uorescent, which is satisactory in some areas. It is still cooler and bluer than an incandescent lamp, however. Ceramalux has a high-pressure sodium lamp (HPS), which works well at the warm end o the color wheel, but it is still yellower than an incandescent lamp. Incandescent spotlighting can be used to accent and highlight with HID overall lighting but may require colored flters (like a pale, “daylite” flter) to go with a MultiVapor arrangement so that the dierent types o light do not jar each other. Te Ceramalux provides a warm ambience and mixes well with warm white deluxe uorescent or with regular incandescent. However, because HID lamps do
Figure 4.7 The trend toward blacked out or very dark retail spaces accented only by sharp, bright spots of light is illustrated here. The lighting is almost all accent lighting, with the light on the product and none on the setting. Metal halides are used almost exclusively, except for the uorescent tubes used to wash the walls of the recessed areas. Levi’s, Berlin. Design: Checkland Kindleysides, London.
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provide so much light, they are best used in areas where the ceiling is at least 15-eet high; otherwise, they will create an excessively bright and sharply lit selling oor.
MR 16 and MR 11 Te MR16 and the MR11 (miniature reector) are two o the newest and most popular accent/ocal lamps currently in use. Tey are miniature, low-voltage tungsten-halogen lamps that emit sharp, bright light and produce a color balance that comes close to sunlight. Te 75-watt MR16 lamp will provide a more brilliant light than a traditional 150-watt incandescent spotlight and will illuminate merchandise at our or fve times the ambient level o other lamps. Colors appear truer under the MR16 and MR11, and, once these low-voltage lamps have been installed, they are ecient, relatively inexpensive to operate, compact, and clean. Also, because they are low voltage, they produce much less heat
than the incandescent lamps; they burn cooler and do not harm the merchandise. Te popularity o the MR16 is based, in part, on its compactness, its 2-inch diameter, and the ecient low-voltage tungsten-halogen light source. When frst introduced they did require a rather bulky transormer, but with advancing technology and the development o lighter and smaller solid-state transormers, the MR lamps are indeed smaller, lighter, and more compact. Te MR11 is only 1 3/8 inches in diameter and requires a much smaller lamp housing than the MR16, which is still very small when compared with the standard PAR incandescent lamp. Te MR16 and MR11 are available in a variety o beamspread widths, rom very narrow spots at 7 to “oods” at 30. Te MR16 is available in 20-, 42-, 50- and 75-watt versions, whereas the MR11 is currently limited to 12 watts or the narrow spot and 20 watts or the wider beamspread. Tere are optional attachments or the ront o the unit, such as projector lenses to “rame” an object, steel-cut pattern templates to create decorative shadows on walls or objects, and attachments to “wash” the wall with light. Tere are also special diusion lenses to eather the light beyond the edges o the beamspread and lenses in gentle colors to balance the tungsten-halogen light with incandescent lights that may be used in the same area. Purchasing and installing the lamps and the housings or them are expensive, but the results are worth the investment because they do burn cool, have a long lie, and are very energy ecient.
Metal Halide Lamps
Figure 4.8 Some examples of the variety of shapes and sizes of incandescent bulbs (not drawn to scale).
Tese lamps are an extension o the HID lighting system and produce a high output o light, considering their small size. Like the other HID lamps, these create strong beams o ocused, clear light under high pressure, but they do also produce heat. Te lamps require special light fxtures as well as electric ballasts to regulate the arc current and deliver the desired voltage to the arc. Metal halide lamps are especially eective or spotlighting and accenting product displays or creating shop interiors with pools o dramatic lighting in otherwise dark
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interiors—like an Abercrombie & Fitch store. Te lamps are available in correlated color temperatures ranging rom 3,000 to more than 20,000 K (kelvin). With “pulse start” technology, there is improved color rendition, and the K variance is plus or minus 100 K. PAR and Ceramic Compact Metal Halide (CDM) lamps now produce our times more light than a halogen lamp o the same energy, and it is also possible to control glare and ocus better with CDM lamps because they can be used with reectors and lenses. As o now, the size o the CDM lamp makes it dicult to use in some areas, but the lighting companies are working on making the fxtures and reectors smaller and more adaptable to other uses.
Ceramic Metal Halide Lamps Tis is a variation on the old mercury vapor lamp. A ceramic tube containing mercury, argon, and metal halides is used, and the electric charge is introduced. Te metal halide salts are partially vaporized, and inside the hot plasma, the salts are disassociated into metallic atoms and iodine. Te temperature within the tube can be greater than 1,200 K. Te metallic atoms produce a bluish light that is close to daylight, with a color rendering index (CRI) o 96. It is also possible to get warm-white lamps with a 78 to 82 CRI. Some manuacturers, including General Electric, are producing ceramic metal halide lamps like the new 23-watt GE ConstantColor CMH Integral PAR38. Tis lamp provides excellent energy savings and can be used or ambient and display lighting in retail settings. Te lamps are available as 10-degree spots, 25-degree oods, and 36-degree wide oods with a warm, 3,000 K color temperature. Eye Lighting International o North Carolina produces a line o Cera Arc ceramic metal halide lamps with 39-, 70-, and 150-watt ratings. Tese eature an R9 value o 90 and a CRI rating o 92—high ratings in the industry. According to the manuacturer, “Tese values create rich colors, especially red, which is the most important color in retailing.” Rated at 3,600 K, the Cera Arc blends well with uorescents and, in addition to the brilliant reds, oers great greens, blues, and white—all essential in showcasing clothing, jewelry, and owers.
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LED (Light-Emitting Diode ) LED is the new kid on the block and one to contend with. It is being heralded and adapted most readily or all sorts
o uses. Its small size, long lie expectancy, and adaptability make it a popular choice, especially when accessibility to the light source and maintenance are involved. LEDs are solid-state devices that, unlike an incandescent, do not require heating o a flament to create light. Te electricity passes through a chemical compound that is excited and then generates light. LED lighting requires a circuit board that allows electricity to pass through it at a specifed current and voltage. Te circuit board also requires the components that allow the LED to operate at voltages such as 12 Vdc, 24 Vdc, or 120 Vdc. General Electric has come up with a new LED module that simplifes LED lighting in directional applications, such as recessed downlights, tracks, pendants, and sconces. Small and puck shaped, the twist makes it easy to upgrade LED lighting with a simple twist o the module into the socket. Te LED’s current popularity is due to its broader lie expectancy. It also has no toxic elements. LEDs can last 30,000 to 100,000 hours, compared with incandescents and halogens, which last rom 2,500 to 5,000 hours. LED PAR20 oods and spotlights (7 watt) can be used or shop interiors. Color rendition is improving, and colors in the white and blue spectrum are getting brighter and warmer. With its multiple colored light possibilities, LED is being used or creating color eects in wall washing and signage. Some o the benefts associated with LED have been outlined by Environmental Lighting Company, a resource or these lighting products: u u u u u u u u u u
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Extremely low power consumption Extremely long lie (50,000 to 100,000 hours) Durable and insensitive to vibration Dimmable and programmable Lightweight and compact Color without the use o flters or lenses No reectors required to direct light Environmentally riendly No mercury or other toxic elements Recyclable
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With LED lighting oering so much, and being so new, there will be new advances made daily in the uses and applications o the LED technology or store lighting and point-o-purchase displays and signage. What is important is that LED is cost eective, energy ecient, and “green.”
Secondary, or Accent, Lighting Flat, shadowless, overall lighting can create a lethargic and boring selling oor. Glare or overly bright, strong light can be irritating and a detriment to selling. Shadows and highlights are necessary; they can delight, intrigue, and pique the imagination. Sparkle and shimmer can stimulate and titillate. A selling oor, and especially a display, needs changes rom light to dark, rom highlights to shadows. Tey need ash and sparkle and should make the viewer’s eye travel over the area. Secondary, or accent, lighting should accomplish all this. Secondary lighting devices can be “candlelit” chandeliers, wall sconces that suggest warmth and elegance with only a minimum o actual light, lights on a track that serve to supply extra light where it is needed, and hidden lights that wash a wall with light or color and beckon the customer into the department or a closer look. Secondary lighting can also diuse a ledge area with a glow or an aura o light. It can be a spotlight on a display or the light in a case or under a counter. Incandescent bulbs—rom tiny bee and twinkle lights, to small, candlelike, or complexion bulbs, and on up to ull-sized globe, pear, or reector-type bulbs—are most requently used or secondary lighting. Te long showcase, or “sausage,” lamp is an incandescent that somewhat resembles a small uorescent tube in shape, but it gives o a warm light and fts, almost invisibly, into display cases or under shelves. When lamps are hidden behind valances or recessed under grids or baes, and warmer colors are not needed, uorescent lights may work eectively to provide secondary lighting. However, incandescent secondary lights will add highlights, provide shadows, mold and dimensionalize the merchandise, and atter the customer’s complexion. Accent or ocal lighting not only highlights the product or the group o merchandise, but also makes it stand out rom its surroundings. Under the accent light, the color o
the merchandise appears sharper and more brilliant, the textures are defned, and the details are brought into prominence. Te strong, ocused light o the accent lamp can make a product stand out in a highly illuminated selling oor or in a sunlit window. It works most eectively when the surrounding area is low-keyed and rather dim so that the accent light seems even more brilliant by contrast. Incandescent spotlights are used as accent or highlighting lamps in the showing and selling areas, in display windows, on platorm and ledge displays, and on island setups. (See Figure 4.9.)
Colored Lights and Filters Just as pigments can be mixed to produce new colors, colored lights can be mixed to create new and dierent color eects. Te primary colors of light are red, green (not yellow, as with pigments), and blue. White light can be produced by mixing the three primary colors o light. Red and blue light together will produce a magenta or a purplish red. Blue and green will combine to orm cyan or cyan-blue, which is actually a bright bluegreen. Red and green create a yellowish or amber light. Tus, the secondary colors of light are magenta, cyan, and amber. (See Figure 4.10.)
Figure 4.9 Chandeliers, wall sconces, lamps, and backlit photo panels are all secondary lighting devices that do not necessarily add much light to the setting but that do provide a sense of atmosphere. Here, the decorative, custom-designed chandeliers contrast with the stark white walls and ceiling and add to the exotic quality of the boutique. Zainab, Los Angeles. Design: Seyie Putsure, Seyie Design, Los Angeles.
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Te display person should be especially concerned with the mixing o colored light on solid, pigmented suraces. Tis is usually accomplished with colored flters and gels. A red flter placed over a white light on a white or light neutral surace will turn that surace red. Te red flter absorbs all the blue and green light waves present in the white light that is going through the red flter; only the red wavelengths will pass through to the painted surace. A blue flter will absorb the red and green wavelengths, producing a blue light on the white painted area. ables 4.1 and 4.2 show the eects o dierent colors o light on various pigment colors. Tere are, however, many colored glass flters and plastic gelatins on the market, as well as shades and tints o these colors, that subtly can add to the intensity o a color or gently neutralize some o its intensity. Tere are all sorts o pinks and blush tones available to warm up skin tones or suggest a sunset. Tere are ambers that go down to pale straw and strained sunlight. A “daylite” flter is a clear, light blue that will fll in an area with the suggestion o a spring day or will chill shredded Styrooam with icy blue shadows. Te green gels go rom the pastel yellowgreens to the deep, atmospheric blue-greens, or cyans. In most cases, lighter tints are used on displays to enrich the color presentation without appreciably
Table 4.1
Figure 4.10 Mixing colored light.
changing the actual color. Strong, deep colors are used to create atmosphere—the dramatic side or back lighting; or example, the mood lighting o a window or ledge display. Deeper-colored lights are mainly reserved or modeling and shaping the merchandise by adding color to the shadows and olds as well as by reecting color rom one surace to another.
thischarshowshffcsofcoorighsopriaryascoarycoor pigs.Forxap,agrcoorighoarfabricoroarpai srfacwirhrioaybrow,whrasarighoagr srfacwiakhgrappararkgray. Primary Colored Pigments R
Secondary Colored Pigments
B
Yow
Gr
Orag
Vio
PrimaryColoredLights Re d
Brilliant red
Brown-purple
Almost white
Dark gray
Pale orange
Rich wine
Blue
Violet
Bright blue
Green
Turquoise
Gray-brown
Blue-violet
GReen
Brown
Turquoise
Yellow-green
Bright green
Old gold
Dark gray-green
SecondaryColoredLights
42
AmBeR
Orange-red
Dark gray
Pale yellow
Gray-green
Bright orange
Brown
CYAn
Gray-brown
Blue-green
Light green
Blue-green
Brown
Deep cold blue
mAGentA
Lake or cerise
Ultramarine
Orange
Blue-violet
Bright red
Red-violet
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thischarshowshffcsofiffrapsopaisrfacsofvarios coors.Asiiarchagakspacosiiarycoorrchaisispay rhsvariosaps.
Paint Color
Approximate RefectanceFactor
Incandescent Filament
WarmWhite Fluorescent
WhiteFluorescent
Chrryr
.13
Brilliant orange-red
Pale orange-red
Pale orange-red
Orchi
.44
Light pink
Pale purplish-pink
Gray-pink
P
.04
Deep orange-red
Dull reddish-brown
Dark brown
Chsbrow
.19
Medium yellowish-brown
Light yellow-brown
Gray-brown
Pach
.58
Pinkish-yellow
Light yellowish-pink
Light yellowish-pink
Orag
.44
Bright orange
Light orange-yellow
Pale yellow
Caaryyow
.44
Orange-yellow
Fair match (sharper)
Greenish-yellow
lighyow
.58
Vivid orange-yellow
Medium yellow
Medium yellow
lighb
.46
Light yellowish-green
Pale grayish-blue
Weak greenish-blue
mib
.23
Blue-green
Light gray-blue
Purplish-blue
Sivrgray
.97
Light yellow-gray
Light yellowish-gray
Light brownish-gray
Paint Color
StandardCool WhiteFilament
Daylight Fluorescent
Warm White Deluxe Fluorescent
CoolWhiteDeluxe Fluorescent
Chrryr
Yellowish-red
Light red
Orange-red
Good match
Orchi
Light pink
Good match (grayer)
Pale pink
Light pink
P
Light reddish-brown
Deep bluish-purple
Reddish-purple
Darker brown
Chsbrow
Light brownish-gray
Light gray
Dark brown
Good match
Pach
Very light pink
Fair match (lighter)
Light orange
Good match (yellower)
Orag
Light yellow
Gray-yellow
Yellowish-orange
Good match
Caaryyow
Light yellow
Fair match
Good match (brighter)
Good match
lighyow
Light bright yellow
Light greenish-yellow
Deep yellow
Bright yellow
lighb
Blue-gray
Fair match (lighter)
Grayish-blue
Grayish-blue
mib
Light gray-blue
Fair match (lighter)
Purple-blue
Reddish-blue
Sivrgray
Very light gray
Bluish-gray
Yellowish-gray
Light gray
A word o advice or the display person on the use o light on skin tones—both o mannequins and customers: Green light should be avoided. It plays havoc with the color o cheeks and lips and with blond and red hair, as well as enhancing every skin blemish. Cyan is even worse, although it may work or Halloween or an “out-o-this-world” presentation. Pinks and rose tints are becoming to most skin tones, rom the palest white to the darkest browns, and they enhance the warm colors in merchandise. (See Figure 4.11.)
Planning Store Lighting Shoppers respond to light, to the quality o light and the color o light, to the brightness and intensity o light. Light makes the colors o a shop come alive and creates the overall ambience. It leads and directs the shoppers around the selling space and makes them stop to see the highlighted displays or merchandise. Light also orms the shadows that add depth and texture to the retail setting and
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Figure 4.11 Bee lights, neon, and other novelty lights can be added to a lighting plan for assorted effects. Here, a green neon strip runs just under the ceiling to effect a tinted wall wash and play up the brick textured wall in the men’s jeans area. In addition, neon signage is decoratively employed throughout this store to designate the shops within the shop and to highlight them with color. River Island, Amsterdam. Design: Dalziel & Pow, London.
to the merchandise. With the great variations in state and city codes, the ever-increasing desire or an upscale image, and the specialization o areas on the selling oor, a trained lighting specialist is required to perorm the lighting magic needed to bring the store to lie. David A. Mintz, a lighting authority, has lighted more than 40 million square eet o retail space or many o this country’s largest department and specialty stores. According to Mintz, “Perception is what the lighting actually enhances. It is the customer’s perceived attitude toward lighting and merchandise.” Lower levels o illumination usually suggest to the upscale customer better or more expensive merchandise. Retailers too, eel that incandescent light means that soer, fner merchandise is being oered. However, a light level that is too low may not necessarily make a shop look elegant and exclusive; it might just look dull and gloomy. Mintz personally opts or an “upbeat, brighter rather than duller luminosity in
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the retail ambience.” In low light, people tend to whisper in hushed tones and move as though they were in a museum. Te merchandise becomes untouchable and remote. Te shopper can be inhibited, and that’s not good or selling. Properly lighting a store requires a palette o lamps and light sources to create the total eect. It requires incandescent plus uorescent lights, tungsten-halogen lamps, and even novelties, like neon strips. According to Mintz, there is no single ideal or best lighting design or a store. Tere are too many variables: the changing eeling, texture, and look o the merchandise; the location o a department and what type o merchandise it carries; how the adjacent areas or shops relate to one another. Te lighting design is also aected by neighboring establishments (especially in malls), the nature o the clientele and their perceptions, the colors and textures that comprise the decorative scheme, and the height and type o ceiling.
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With respect to which light source and types o fxtures are best or a store, Mintz eels that the choice o light source is determined by many considerations, including the merchandise, or which there are certain guidelines. Cosmetics areas are almost always lighted with incandescent—warm, glowing, attering light. Better dresses and gowns and designer shops usually use incandescents, but not always. Menswear areas are oen flled with uorescents or the general light but supplemented with incandescents or low voltage tungsten-halogen lamps or accents or ocal light. Te standards, codes, and energy restrictions are all integral elements in the lighting design. Te lights and types o lamps can be changed to accommodate these codes and standards. Mintz suggests that visual merchandisers use lamps that will be similar to the light ambience that the objects will ultimately be used in; or example, urs are used out o doors; rerigerators are in kitchens; gowns in incandescent-lighted rooms. “It’s very important to have dierent lights rom dierent sources or dierent looks. Te selling space needs variety and interest, but try to minimize the number o lamp types used so that the store will maintain the established light design by replacing burnt-out lamps with the same original lamp or color, light and wattage.” Another light authority, Joseph A. DiBernardo, has been extensively involved in lighting hotels, restaurants, and public spaces and brings a new perspective to the lighting o retail spaces. DiBernardo sees lighting as a vital part o the store’s image. “Te department store visit is usually o short duration. It isn’t like you live there or spend many hours there. Te lighting has to get the customers immediately, grab their interest, hold their attention, and show them what they should see. “We use accent lights to defne selling spaces, or the aisles, and in some cases we may use the accent lights to light up the entire store.” Some shops today are almost completely illuminated by the MR16 low-voltage tungstenhalogen lamps. DiBernardo also eels the uorescents are a part o retail lighting. How much they are used and how they are used depends on the ashion level or attitude o the store and the type and class o the merchandise. He will use them to light suraces, to wash walls or ceilings, or or cove lighting. He also likes to keep them recessed and inconspicuous, and he uses them or indirect lighting.
Store lighting should be ashier and more exciting and stimulating than home lighting. Te lighting designer’s job is to create an interesting space rather than simply light up the oor, walls, and fxtures. When lighting a selling oor, there should be variations o light intensity rom shop to shop, rom area to area, rom a low-keyed “living room” ambience to a brilliant, high-tech attitude. Te shopper seeks warmth and security, and the smart retailer knows that a customer who looks good in the store mirror will buy the garment. In those areas where the shopper and the garment come together, in ront o mirrors, in ftting rooms, in places where the real selling takes place, the lighting is vital and must be careully balanced between animate and inanimate objects. Lighting is what shows, directs, points out, and makes selling possible. It is part o the store’s image; it shapes the customer’s perception o the store’s ashion attitude and the value o the merchandise being oered. Lighting must be planned and lighting experts and consultants help with the planning.
Suggestions for Using Light Effectively 1.
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Avoid bright, white lights directly on a mannequin’s ace, elbows, or shoes. Save the brightest lights or the merchandise, and avoid anything that will detract rom the merchandise. Use colored light to create the right setting or the merchandise. Save it or props and backgrounds. I colored light is used on a garment to intensiy the color, stay with the pastel flters: pale pinks or the reds and red-violets, pale straw or the yellows and oranges, daylight blue or the cool colors, and Nile green or the greens. It is more eective to light across a display than directly down on it. Direct downlighting can create unpleasant and unattractive shadows. Te upper le light can be directed over to the lower right side o the display; the upper right light is then directed over to the lower le. Tis creates a crossover o light, a more
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or image. Similarly, sensors that turn on the lights o a display setup when they “sense” the presence o a person nearby can be used to save energy—and as a dramatic plus.
Figure 4.12 To create a more intimate, human-scaled feeling to a space with a high ceiling, designers may paint the ceiling a dark color, drop oating panels down from the ceiling, stretch panels across the space, or even, as shown here, drop the lighting xtures. The white boxes with bafed bottoms light up the tabletop displays while adding to the sense of intimacy. Note the dark brown canvas bafes stretched across the shop and the dropped light tracks. Stark & Whyte, Toronto. Design: Ruscio Studi o, Montreal.
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even, more diused light, and nullifes areas in the display space that are too bright or too dark. Te lighting in a window display should be checked at night. Many imperections, such as wrinkles, are more apparent under the artifcial light when the soening inuence o daylight does not enter the window. Colored lights will also look dierent when there is no other source o light with which to contend. What may have seemed perect during the daylight hours at night may appear harsh or garish. It is also advisable to check that the lights are not “ooding over” into the street— into the eyes o passersby and the road trac. Tere is nothing particularly attractive about electric wires unless they are meant to be part o the decorative scheme. Find ways to “lose” them—hide and disguise them. Display lights are expensive to use. Tey use up energy. It is wise to set up a timer device that will automatically turn o all lights sometime during the night aer the street trac has diminished and the store lighting no longer serves any purpose o display
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Just as you would seek help rom a proessional health care provider i you had an ailment, so should you consult with a proessional lighting designer/planner when it comes to lighting a retail space. Te retailer needs help in planning not only the most eective use o energy required by law, but also the best way to use the energy to enhance the merchandise presentation and displays and create the desired image or the store. (See Figures 4.12 and 4.13.) Let there be light: the best light you can aord. Tis is not the place to economize.
Figure 4.13 Daylight, long kept out of the retail environment, is now making a welcome entrance into stores, and not only through allglass façades and storefronts—daylight is also coming in through skylights and glassed-in ceilings. In an effort to cut down on energy costs, designers are going “green” and adding natural light into the lighting plans. Zara, Bratislava, Slovakia. Design: Gruschwitz GmbH, Munich.
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Light and Lighting: Trade Talk bale colore lights color o an object ilters loolights luorescent light general, or primary, lighting d
highlights incanescent light d light M16 an M11 A bulbs primary colors o light , or relector, bulb
seconary, or accent, lighting seconary colors o light shaos spotlights store’s lighting plan visible light
Light and Lighting: A Recap F
n an open-back ino, the lighting up ront must be strong enough to keep the shopper’s eye rom going past the isplay, into the interior o the store.
F
n a close-back ino, the isplay person can use a range o lighting eects, incluing colore lights an light ilters, to create a more theatrical isplay.
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ncanescent bulbs prouce armer an more lattering light than the luorescent but emit more heat. he lamps o not burn as long or as eiciently as the luorescents. hey are available in a ie range o sizes, shapes, an attages. he lamps can be ecorative as ell as useul. he incanescent spotlight is a isplay “must.”
he most eective sources or ino isplay lighting are incanescent lighting an M16s.
F
he d lamp is an eicient an relatively inexpensive light source that is being color improve or use insie the store.
when planning a store’s interior lighting, a variety o light sources an lamps can be use to create a particular interior lighting “palette” an to ra shoppers to various areas ithin the store.
F
ds are soli-state evices that o not require heating o a ilament. hey are cost eicient, energy eicient, an green.
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dierent light sources can be use on the same selling loor. t is possible to highlight an accent a luorescent primary lighting scheme ith incanescent seconary lighting.
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white light is compose o a rainbo o colors o ierent avelengths, rom violet to re.
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he primary colors o light are re, blue, an green.
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he seconary colors o light are magenta, cyan, an amber.
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A colore ilter prouces a particular color o light by iltering out or absorbing all the other colors in the hite light except the color o the ilter or gel.
General, or primary, lighting is the overall ceiling light o a selling area. t oes not inclue the accent or ecorative lighting. econary lighting is the accent an ecorative lighting: chaneliers; sconces; all ashers; inirect lighting; spotlights; an lights uner shelves, in cases, an in counters. fluorescent lighting is eicient an relatively inexpensive to install an maintain. he tubes are available in a ie range o “hite” light, rom cool bluish to arm hite eluxe, hich has more o a peach tone. maller tubes can be use in shocases, uner shelves, an behin bales as all ashers.
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Questions for Review and Discussion 1.
2.
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what is the relationship eteen olor an light? xplain or anser etailing the reason h hen looking at a re ress, e see re, rather than some other olor. wh an aelengths o light e seen hmans, t not ltraiolet light, X-ras, gamma ras, inrare light, an raio aes? xplain ho o might plan lighting or a mensear store that is shallo an ie an here a great eal o natral light loos the spae.
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wh has it een sai that inanesent lights o the “selling” in the store?
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what are the speial qalities o d lighting?
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what tpes o light sores ol o selet or a lingerie epartment or shop? wh?
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wh hae M16 an M11 lamps gaine aor in isal merhanising an ispla?
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what aie ol o gie to someone regaring the se o olore lights in ispla?
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deine general, or primar, lighting, an proie examples o this ategor o lighting.
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n seleting the tpes o lighting an light ixtres or a store, hat ators shol e taken into onsieration?
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roie examples o the iering eets that arios tpes o lighting hae on merhanise an skin tones.
13.
where shol the rightest light e ose ithin a ispla?
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ighlight the aantages an isaantages o inanesent lighting.
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what ajstments, i an, shol e mae to the lighting ithin a ispla ino or a an night?
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Chapter Twenty-Six Visual Merchandising and the Changing Face of Retail
A yu Av Ad cAp, yu w b Ab dcu F
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three retail store formats that hae een taking an inreasing “slie” of the retail ie oer the ast to eaes sei isal merhanising onsierations for a ig-ox store, or serstore; isont/fator otlet store; an enor sho as in hih large, hanger-stle stores an e “arme ” throgh effetie store lanning an isla
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d
uring much of the twentieth century, most people in the United States shopped in department stores, large specialty stores, and small mom-and-pop stores that usually were geared to local neighborhood trade. Te 1950s saw the start and eventual spread of malls and shopping centers and the small specialty chain stores that began to proliferate across the country. It was the late 1960s and early 1970s that ushered in the “boutique” phenomenon: small, specialized shops within a shop that began to show up in the major department stores, targeted at specic markets and age groups. Designer shops also appeared on the better fashion streets in the larger cities as the “prêt-à-porter” concept became a viable opportunity for designers to spread their wares about. Americans have always been brand conscious and responded to names in advertising. With the growth of V, and more nationally distributed magazines, name brands featured in ads and commercials became a draw when those names appeared in department and speciality stores. People through the ages must have waited for sale events to shop “discount,” though they didn’t know that that was what they were doing. It wasn’t until the 1970s that discount shopping, factory outlet stores, and valueoriented malls became a considered competition to the traditional retail stores. Te 1980s were a decade of expansion—and of consolidation. Speciality stores, like Banana Republic, Gap, Benetton, and Te Limited, seemed to pop up in malls and on shopping streets across the country, while department stores were disappearing, changing names and identities. Many mom-and-pop shops and small, independent stores gave up the ght against the spread of the specialty chains. he 1990s has witnessed the growth of a new phenomenon: the big-box store, or superstore. In giant, hangar-like constructions of concrete, cement, steel, and glass—covering areas ranging from 20,000 to more than 100,000 square feet—retailers collect a vast assortment of usually one specific kind of product and then turn these monster spaces into category killers—so called because their greater selection and generally better prices (not to mention, easy-to-shop spaces) allow them to “kill off” the smaller stores carrying that same category of merchandise.
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Another recent addition to the retail format vocabulary is the vendor shop. Although the concept of brand name shops within a shop is not new, the recent approach is. oday’s vendor shops are miniatures of the designers’ or brand names’ own retail stores and though located in department and speciality stores, the brand name manufacturer controls how the shop looks and how the merchandise is presented. In this chapter we consider how these new retail concepts rely on visual merchandising and display—on the selection of xtures, graphics, signage, and decoratives to create the desired image for the buying public. Visual merchandising and display more than just attracts customers—it keeps them in the store as well.
Big-Box Store, or Superstore It is all size and selection. Tese giant retail boxes are oen located along main highways and feature bold graphics, signage, and colors on their façades to attract the trac and invite the shoppers into their open parking lots. Everything here is done to make the shopping experience appear to be easy and fun; the shopper isn’t actually aware of the miles of walking that is involved. Concrete oors may be tiled, there may be areas of carpeting or an occasional wood oor, but mostly the oors are painted in colors to help the shopper move around the space and to dene dierent areas in the store. Te open, exposed ceiling is almost always lled with pipes, ducts, and vents that control and carry the electricity, water, heating, and air-conditioning apparatus. Sometimes, the high ceilings are pierced with skylights that allow the natural daylight to mingle with the many sources of articial light pro vided to illuminate the space properly. oday’s shopper wants comfort, convenience, and value. Te shopper also wants selection, service, and entertainment. He or she wants to enjoy the time spent in the store, so the retailer, the architect/designer, the visual merchandiser, and the display person have to “warm up” and personalize the vast space into smaller, more comfortable, life-size spaces that have a feeling of intimacy. Also, the retailer’s goal is to prolong the shopper’s stay in the store,
so the retailer has to provide reasons to stay. Cafés and food courts, interactive displays, video monitors, music, aromas, lighting eects, and places where children can be safely le to play and be amused while the parents are free to shop are some of the best “reasons.” (See Figures 26.1 and 26.2.) Te big-boxes are humanized by lifestyle displays on the drive aisles, or major aisles. Drive aisles are main aisles that lead and direct shoppers. Tese displays feature the merchandise that is stocked behind, oen on giant industrial xtures that may reach up 10 to 12 feet from the ground. Te merchandise might be home appliances, computers and electronic equipment, home repair, or home fashion accessories. Te displays will show compatible pieces of the merchandise arranged in “live-in” settings that oen suggest a particular lifestyle. Tere could be a vignette setting of a sophisticated kitchen for a working couple, a rustic hunting lodge kitchen for a weekend house, or even a kitchen for a person who would rather paint or play an instrument than
cook. Tese are settings with personality and the vignettes add life, vitality, and color to the warehouse setting as well as humanize the products. In these wide open spaces, signage is very important. From the entrance, the would-be shopper wants to know where to go to nd whatever he or she is looking for. It is the oversized signage, and sometimes the giant graphics, that serves as directional guidepost. Color-keyed banners, streamers, and pennants add spice and color as they hang down from the exposed ceiling, and they can also help divide the space into specic areas—all coded by color: for example, blue = home, green = oce, red = travel, yellow = entertainment. Te on-the-aisle displays and the computerized kiosks stop the shopper and reveal the things he or she hadn’t planned to look at or consider. A centrally located and well-identied information or service desk is essential for those who are too impatient or unwilling to read signs or follow uttering ags.
Figure 26.1 Blacked-out exposed ceilings and lowered ceilings that carry the lighting, clearly defned walk areas, and dramatically lit and well-displayed merchandise defne the newer big-box stores. Merchandise displays and ocal point presentations make the excursion around these large spaces more o an adventure than a chore. Habitat, Liverpool, United Kingdom.
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Figure 26.2 Category killers must visually reduce their tremendous selection into easy-to-view, easy-to-select, and eye-pleasing areas of merchandise presentation if they are to encourage a shopper to make a selection. In the multilevel Hamleys store on Regent Street, in London, the display team has organized the hundreds of stuffed bears into easy-to-shop clusters and enhanced the setting with the giant tree and the imaginative tree house.
Te lighting in the store must reinforce the displays along the way—highlight them and turn them into focal points that will attract and stop the shopper on his or her way. Te graphics should not only set the lifestyle concept for the product, but also help explain how, when, and where the product will work. Some big-box operations have electronic stations near the entrance where shoppers can punch in what they want and be shown, on a monitor, the quickest way to get to the product. Some computerized stations, in the departments, will provide answers to specic questions about the products contained in this area. Although merchandise in the big-box stores is oen crated and boxed and stacked ceiling high, samples must
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be available to be seen, touched, tested, and tried. Easy-toread, easy-to-understand signage should be provided near or on the sample product to make it self-explanatory. Here, too, a simple display, a prop, a background panel, a graphic, or a oor pad—whatever—can enhance the product and make it more relevant to the shopper: a wicker basket overloaded with colorful -shirts standing next to a washing machine, a stued toy dog with a doggie bowl standing and staring at a refrigerator, bags of popcorn and pizza boxes piled up on the oor in front of a V set, and so on. Te big-box phenomenon is now moving into town and taking over old, no-longer-used movie houses, deserted supermarkets, and—quite naturally—untenanted warehouses. Te major problem is providing sucient parking spaces, especially when shoppers have to pick up and move large, clumsy, and oen heavy crates or cartons. Big-box stores are not only for hard goods. Te two- and three-story Borders and Barnes & Noble bookstores, for example, have a vast selection of books for all ages and interests, as well as magazines, writing materials, reading-related gis, CDs, DVDs, and computer soware. Tey seem to have everything and anything anybody would hope to nd regarding literature, how-to, hobbies, and entertainment. Here, too, the café/coee shop has become the add-on “entertainment” factor, along with celebrity appearances. Tese attractions do prolong visits to the bookstores. In some instances, the café has become the primary reason for the visit, and the book-related purchase is the afterthought.
Discount and Factory Outlet Stores Discount, factory outlet, and value-oriented shopping: hese are buzzwords that get the shopper’s instant attention and are often enough to bring on a shopping spree. hese magical terms seem, more and more, to be the “open sesame” to sales. ime- and money-conscious shoppers all have the same goal in mind: they want the best for the least and preferably in t he most comfortable and convenient stores.
Unfortunately, some retailers haven’t learned that just oering merchandise at reduced prices is not enough. Te merchandise has to look good; it has to look as though it is worth more. Tere is a big dierence between a discounted dress and a distressed, “as is” garment. Showing the discounted merchandise in a cold, sterile warehouse setting doesn’t necessarily work, either. Harsh bright lights, cold uorescent ceiling tubes, shiny chrome xtures, screaming signs, and garish de cor do not add stature to the fashion image or the product of the store. Tey only say, “cheap,” and shoppers are not looking for cheap. Tey are in search of value. Tere has been a proliferation of factory outlet malls, centers, and strips across the United States, and the concept is being introduced abroad. It is not unusual in these “valueoriented” shopping clusters to nd famous fashion names, like Calvin Klein, Liz Claiborne, Ralph Lauren/Polo, and Anne Klein, or respected, well-advertized brand names, like imberland, Mikasa, Bass Shoes, Bogner, and London Fog. Shoppers arrive by the carloads; tour busses can be found lling the parking lots like a herd of lumbering elephants as they disgorge thousands of bargain hunters daily. Te hunt is on! Oen these factory outlet/discount malls will rival the regular malls for ambiance, amenities, and for the comforts and conveniences they provide. Tese are attractively landscaped areas, sometimes with interesting themed buildings and a plethora of inexpensive fast foods available in well-lit and well-cared for food courts. Te only thing that is “discount” is the price of the merchandise. Because many of these individual shops bear illustrious names, as much care, eort, thought, and taste go into the design and merchandise presentation inside as go into the boutique, of the same name, in a department store or on a fashionable shopping street. Te materials and detailing may be less elegant or rened, but the shopper is still aware of the fashion attitude—the image behind the name on the front of the retail space. As important as the lighting and the overall design of the shop is the visual presentation. Te shoppers who are attracted to these outposts of savings are also looking to save time and conserve energy—as well as money. Although it can sometimes be fun and an adventure to go rummaging through piles of garments heaped indiscriminately atop lopsided tables, it is certainly simpler and less of a hassle to
nd the desired color, size, style, and price range in neatly and intelligently organized groupings. Just as these shoppers are likely to frequent upscale malls and better department stores, they expect to see displays showing the garments arranged, accessorized and coordinated, and given dramatic life via dimensional forms and arresting props. Shoppers will understand the absence of chic, of-the-moment mannequins, but they cannot accept the worn, weary, and wigless forms of a generation ago. Again, simple and smart mannequin alternatives will do nicely to suggest the body and form and carry o the whole ensemble. Although more energy-ecient and economical uorescent lamps may be used in the lighting plan, the plan should also include the atmospheric and accent lighting necessary for the store’s image and for accentuating the featured merchandise. Te display person must always remember to atter the shopper as he or she tries on a new garment. Within spending or budgetary restrictions, these discount and factory outlet stores are still promoting the fashion images the shopper associates with the designer or the brand name as these images appear in ads in magazines and on V. (See Figure 26.3.)
Vendor Shops Levi’s, Coach, Calvin Klein, Liz Claiborne, Ralph Lauren/ Polo, ommy Hilger, and so many other well-known and nationally advertized brand names and fashion designers share a unique situation in retailing today. Tey are not only the manufacturers and suppliers of the merchandise that carries their names, but they are also the retailers. It is not unusual to see free-standing stores—even superstores— bearing these illustrious names on major fashion streets, sometimes next to stores that also carry those brand name products. Backed up by the image created by their national campaigns on V, in magazines, and on giant billboards, they have further enhanced their image with a store design and merchandise presentation that becomes as much a part of their design signature as the photos and graphics used in the ads. However, these major suppliers of fashion have in the past and probably will in the future continue to sell their
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products in major department and speciality stores. Te brand name/designer supplier has oen tried, and not always successfully, to establish its own look and identity within the department where it is located. By featuring the graphics and signage, and the fashion attitude of the line, the supplier tried to promote the brand name by separating this line from the others around it. oday, we nd, more and more, small distinctly dierent “shops” or “boutiques” within a single department, each with its own xtures and furniture; graphics, signage, and lifestyle imagery; merchandise presentation, and sometimes even lighting. We are seeing more of these vendor shops taking over whole departments in stores.
Te vendor shop will oen be a miniature of the brand name/designer’s freestanding store or will try to recreate, in the limited space, the essence of that retail image. Te xtures, the lighting, the use of graphics, and merchandising techniques will attempt to establish immediately a continuity with the brand name/designer’s freestanding stores. It is a fully realized shop within a shop, carrying a selection of the brand name/designer’s products. Tere are exceptions, but usually the supplier will provide the xtures and décor for this space, specify the lighting requirements, and also dictate how the merchandise will be visually presented. Te retailer (the department or specialty store) yields up some of the precious sales oor space in exchange for the
Figure 26.3 The old-time “pipe rack and uorescent fxtures” company outlet store has been replaced by smart and sophisticated settings more in keeping with the brand and the product. The Cole Haan shop, though minimal in décor and ambiance, bears a resemblance to the taste level o the product, whereas the simple, unpretentious design is a reection o the discounted price oer. Cole Haan outlet store.
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Figure 26.4 For this Timberland vendor shop, FRCH Design created a selection o tables, oor fxtures, and displayers and a modular wall system so that the pieces could be combined in a variety o ways to show o the Timberland collection. The modularity o the elements means that the fxtures and graphics can be reconfgured to ft into a space o any size or shape. The graphics and signage units are all part o the vendor’s package to the retailer. The vendor shop is the “ultimate” in point-o-purchase design. Timberland vendor shop. Design: FRCH Design Worldwide, Cincinnati.
national or worldwide advertising campaigns and special promotions sponsored by the brand name/designer. Te right mix of brand names in a department can add stature to the store’s fashion image and create a magnet for certain target markets. Te brand name can be a bankable asset for the store. (See Figure 26.4.) Te new vendor shops are being designed by store designers who are accustomed to working with retail space as a total entity. Tey are sensitive to the retailer’s image even as they create the specic and signature look for the brand name/designer. Te designers create exible and adaptable modular components that can be integrated into most retail settings. Te basic pieces are like building
blocks; they can be added on, subtracted from, rearranged, and changed to suit spaces ranging from 100 square feet to more than 1,000 square feet. Gerald Birnbach, of Retail Design & Display of Granite Falls, New York, notes, “When a retailer willingly gives up some real estate to a brand name marketer, that vendor is also able to display its full range of products in a tailored environment that helps eliminate some of the competition. In return, the vendor participates in the cost of the shop.” Tese upscale, well-designed, beautifully xtured shops are, in a way, demanding that retailers live up to the design standards being set by the vendor shops. Tere are many valid reasons for including vendor shops within
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larger retail stores, but there are problems as well. Te biggest problem is that the retailer is inviting sti competition into his or her sphere of retailing and opening up how the store’s own lines are being presented in comparison with the slick, professional look of most vendor shops. If the retailer’s lines don’t look as good—or better—then the retailer’s prot line can suer. Te answer is to look to the visual aspects of the business: the store’s design and the lighting; the visual merchandising of the stock; the displays that add interest, image, and personality; and the amenities provided for the customer’s comfort and convenience.
Kiosks and Retail Merchandising Units (RMUs) Big-box stores and category killer stores are part of today’s retail scene, but there is also action at the other end of the retail scale. We are seeing small and compact retail stores making an appearance, and some of them are on wheels. Tey are moveable and can be brought to where the shopper is. Carts have been around since the advent of wheels. All it takes to make a cart is a at bed, a railing or fence to keep the wares from tumbling o, a pair of wheels, and a vertical post to keep the cart standing upright when not in motion. oday the cart has evolved for more specic uses and become a retail merchandising unit, or RMU. Tis new hybrid has been appearing with more and more frequency not only in the wide open aisles of malls and shopping centers, but also in air terminals, train stations, movie houses, ballparks, sporting arenas, museums, and a multitude of other public spaces where people can gather and indulge in browsing and shopping for fun. Te advantages of the kiosk/RMU are manifold: It is moveable, adaptable, and compact and can go almost anywhere and show o almost anything. Te unit is readily open for business and just as simply closed up at the end of the business day. What makes it especially important is that in a relatively small space—maybe 5 by 5 feet—it is possible for a startup entrepreneur to test out a con-
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Figure 26.5 The simplest cart combines a pair of large wheels with legs that will help keep the unit upright when at rest. It is readily moveable and can show merchandise on all four sides. There is even a cash drawer in the compact design. Lighting here would probably be battery operated. Design: Custom Woodcraft, Little Elm, Texas.
cept or a new product and its possibilities for success in the market without having to rent a store and furnish and insure it. Neither does he have to stock much more merchandise than needed on an RMU. If the RMU succeeds, the next stop can be a move into an actual retail space. In addition to being an incubator for a concept that can grow and develop, it is also a means of bringing more visibility to an existing brand name or product by having it appear in malls and trac centers in readily identiable and recognizable kiosks. Most ballparks and sporting arenas have souvenir stores where team-endorsed products can be purchased, but the management has found that several RMUs spread around the park or arena are
even more eective in bringing the branded merchandise out to the fans. (See Figure 26.5.) RMUs have found great favor with mall operators. Te advantages are many, but the most important one is that RMUs add to the tenant mix and the sense of excitement one feels in a mall where the small, colorful kiosks-oncasters ll the wide, spacious aisles with color, light and a new selection of arts, cras, and small impulse items. Te design of the retail merchandising unit can be individualized and specialized for a branded product, or the kiosk can be designed as an integral part of the architecture of the mall—or the ballpark, train station, or museum. Although mall management may dictate the style of the kiosk/RMU it provides to freelance vendors, franchisees, and licensees, it will oen have only limited control—mainly size—on the RMUs brought in by national brands that rent oor space in the mall. Jim Allen, of Simon Property Group, one of the largest mall management companies in the United States, says, “Te primary method of tailoring the units is through colors, materials and surfaces that are used in the mall. We also tailor the design of the top of the unit to t in with the property.” According to ony Horton, a designer of RMUs, “With the focus on successfully presenting merchandise, the wagon wheel (of the cart) was eliminated, and lower shelving was added. Fluorescent lights were replaced with low-voltage halogen xtures. Kiosks became taller, and identication became more prominent. Support columns were slotted to allow for additional merchandising.” Many of these rolling kiosks feature wraparound shelving and storage areas for additional stock within the space. Te usual RMU is 5 by 5 feet in footpad, and most malls restrict the height to between 7 and 9 feet. Tus, the signage on top can be seen from a distance over the heads of the mall strollers. Te unit’s superstructure or roof is vital for purposes of identication and recognition. It is here that the designer can add decorative elements and materials to the unit that will tie in with the design of the mall—or the brand’s retail image. It is also here that the all-important lighting is concentrated. Te lighting can be in the form of electried tracks that carry the adjustable lamp holders, or the low-voltage halogen or incandescent lamps may be extended out on brackets to illuminate the merchandise on the unit. Gooseneck xtures can be used and bent to target
special areas. Sometimes, the superstructure will contain plastic panels that carry the tenant’s name or the brand name, which is illuminated by uorescent tubes set behind the panels. Te internal illumination makes the signage, and the kiosk, even more visible in the mall aisle. With the 5- by 5-foot oor space and the wraparound shelves on the lower portion of the RMU, there is oen a central, vertical display area that rises up from the counter height to show o merchandise at eye level. Te slotted uprights make shelving and face-out hanging possible. With this format the vendor is usually stationed beside the unit and thus available to serve shoppers on all sides. Some kiosks are designed larger and may take up spaces 5 to 7 feet in width and up to 10 feet in length. In these designs the attendant is oen positioned inside the unit and surrounded by counters on four sides, with vertical displays at the ends. Tese larger units are designed as modules with parts and pieces that can be added or subtracted as needed. Tere may also be auxiliary units that stand beside the RMU that can, if desired, be incorporated into the unit. Some designs include corner elements that can be moved in where rounded shelves might ordinarily be and used for storage or as cash/wrap surfaces. In those RMUs that have the salesperson surrounded by the modules, usually one section will roll out or slide back to allow the server to get in and out of the unit. (See Figure 26.6.)
Figure 26.6 The basic RMU, or kiosk, is shown here both with the stock on view and closed up for the night. The doors that close up the unit swing out during business hours, and the grids attached to the doors are used to display product. The lighting is self-contained in the unit. Design: Creations at Dalla s, Dallas, Texas.
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Although the big wheels are gone, there are casters with stoppers on them to allow the RMU to be moved from area to area. Te out-of-door units may be designed with larger casters and greater mobility, as they may be moved more frequently and over greater distances. Security is always a serious consideration in an RMU design. Obviously, the tenant will not be removing all the products nightly, only to restock each morning. As the merchandise needs to be protected when the vendor leaves, the kiosk may feature roll-down canvas covers that can be lashed and locked or wraparound wire mesh guards that “disappear” into a hidden slot during the daytime hours. Some kiosks are
Figure 26.7 An RMU with lower shelves on three sides and a cash/ wrap counter that fts into the rear o the unit. This kiosk was designed exclusively or the South Park Mall so that there would be a consistent look to the portable minishops on the main aisles o the mall. Each shop carries the vendor’s name under the mall’s logo. Design: TL Horton D esign, Dallas, Texas.
Figure 26.8 This illustration shows the kiosk’s several individual modular pieces, which can be combined in a variety o ways; it all depends on the size and shape o the space the kiosk/RMU will occupy on the oor and the type o merchandise to be displayed. The central core o our uprights anchors the design, carries the overhead lighting and signage, and can be capped with a “roo,” or ceiling, or slotted to accept brackets or shelves, and so on. Design: Creations of Dalla s, Dallas, Texas.
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Figure 26.9 The RMU goes out to meet the shopper. This unit is part o the out-o-door excitement that is the Fremont Street experience in Las Vegas. The casters on the bottom make this unit easy to move, and the awnings are necessary to shield the shopper and the merchandise rom the strong Vegas sunlight. Design: TL Horton Design, Dallas, Texas.
Figure 26.10 The Nau pop-up/green store is shown in its Soho, New York, setting. The concrete oor and whitewashed walls are complemented by the skylight at the back o the store. Visible are the tables and wall treatment constructed o reclaimed corrugated cardboard. Nau, New York.
designed with sliding doors that can be locked to close o the merchandise on the upright displayers while the shelves below fold up against the body of the RMU, and the displayed stock is locked in cabinets built into the lower part of the RMU. With branding becoming more and more important, and the desire to take the brand name and merchandis e up front to the buying public, the RMU is growing as a retail venue. All sorts of spaces are opening up and inviting kiosks/RMUs in as viable vending setups. Being able to merchandise where shoppers are is key. What the RMU does is show a selection of what is available, swily satisfying the impulse shopper. It is all about impulse; about seeing something where you ordinarily would not expect to nd it and buying it in a hassle-free situati on. Te RMU allows a concept to have an “out-of-town” tryout before hitting the “big time.” It is also the fastest way for the brand name retailer to get exposure in many markets and in a signature vehicle that can become as recognizable as the brand name or logo. (See Figures 26.7–26.9.)
or two and then gone! Disappeared! Vanished! It was not an illusion; it was a pop-up shop, a relatively new retail phenomenon. Pop-up shops (known as guerilla shops in Europe) are retail spaces designed to last for a very limited time. No matter how successful they are, their days are numbered. Tey make an entrance—an appearance—and fulll a particular purpose, like introducing a product or some new designer, and then—poof—gone! An excellent example of the pop-up shop phenomenon is the Nau store that opened just for the 2009 holiday season in Soho, in New York City. As designed by JeanPierre Veillet, of Siteworks, in Portland, Oregon, Nau was not only a successful pop-up shop, but—because of Veillet’s commitment—also a ne example of greening. Although the design work Siteworks usually creates is meant to last for decades, Veillet accepted the challenge of creating a store that would exist for just a few weeks—and did it on a budget of $4,500! During a pop-up store’s lifespan it is designed, built, used, disassembled, and discarded, with many of its materials added to landlls. Veillet opted for an ecofriendly approach instead, creating the store with materials and objects that he found on sidewalks, along train tracks, on the sides of roads, and in garbage heaps:
Pop-Up Shops Now you see them—now you don’t! Tey were here—on Main Street—in a real store for just a few days or a week
Figure 26.11 A close-up on the clever rack fxture created out o ound materials or the Nau pop-up shop. The makeshit fxture not only served its purpose, but also added to the casual look o the Nau products shown on it. Nau, New York.
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scraps of wood, metal, cardboard boxes, and cable. All these rescued materials from New York City’s waste stream were reclaimed and reused. In addition, designer-quality clothing racks were fashioned from metal pipes, casters, old beams, and tense cable. Furniture was craed from discarded cardboard, tossed crates, and repurposed ladders. Much of the actual space was original, and the oors and ceilings showed the age of the building. (See Figures 26.10–26.12.) What made the Nau pop-up unique is that another retailer took over the space shortly aer it closed. Te new retailer hired Veillet and his Siteworks team to refashion the already-recycled materials into a permanent showroom/ retail store for its natural sleep products. Big retailers like arget are also great believers in the eectiveness of pop-up shops and frequently use them to introduce new designers or lines of merchandise.
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Figure 26.12 Discarded pieces o metal and wire, plus inexpensive items purchased out o the limited budget, were recycled once again in a new shop that opened in the same location. Note how the bare bulb fxtures accentuate and decorate the simple wall rack system. Nau, New York.