Indispensible Tips for Interior Retail Display

Special guest column by Shane Kinney (Drum Center of Portsmouth):

Perhaps you are a new store, or a generations-old operation looking to enhance your look with minimal investment. The five tips I’m about to share are ones that worked for me to help combine the Big-Box Template with a Broken-Box Budget in order to create an Outside-the-Box Experience.

FIXED UP

This is my favorite topic. Being a frugal New Englander, I have sourced 90 percent of my fixtures from Craigslist. There is a dearth of re-sellers buying up displays from closed stores, (these people hoard more inventory than MI store owners!) and with the times being what they are, there is no shortage of shelving units, stands, and slat wall in excellent condition. The more you buy from these sellers, the more they wheel and deal. Many of them will deliver  the product directly to you –  (who doesn’t love free freight?).

Pay no mind to the color of these displays; it’s your job to get out the paint and make them match your logo.  What are the colors of your logo? That should be the theme of your store.  Drum Center of Portsmouth uses the common Red, Black, and White theme, and the fixtures are all in that scheme to create a uniform look.  This is the most important part; this is the foundation. We initially purchased several used pegboard units and a ton of spray paint. After a messy afternoon, the off-white pegboard was now a flat black, and good fortune was to be had at the discovery of the already red corner pieces. Then, my vendor tossed in light boxes for an additional $10 a piece, which I then bolted to the top shelf, so the header cards on all of the parts were illuminated. For $75 apiece, DCP had professional-looking displays that communicated our brand in the same tone that our sign did out front.

What if my store doesn’t have “colors?”

No problem. I have seen many stores with a white sign and a basic blue logo. This makes it easy – have the slat wall be a bright white with blue highlights. For shelving that is higher up on the wall and not in immediate eyeshot, simple, low cost items like blue athletic tape can double as trim. It sounds silly, but there are two shelves at Drum Center of Portsmouth that employ this tactic, and to my knowledge it’s never been commented on.

Golden Rule: Focus on bold, bright colors that pop, and create that uniformity thoroughout the store. Beige inspires nothing.  Your colors are your brand, so put your displays to work for you with continuity of color.

NEW DIMENSIONS

My first music store purchase was a pair of Sabian B8 Plus hi hats at Bill’s Music in Catonsville, Md. I went in with my mother and I will never forget what seemed like 500 guitars lined up high on the wall. I recall that visit like it was yesterday. The theory I have is that looking up and around inspires awe, while looking down arouses judgment. If you supply a panoramic view of instruments, hope that it creates vertigo and the customer will reach for their wallet for the cure.

My favorite way of creating depth is by building risers. This is nothing new, but sometimes overlooked. The benefits of building your own risers are three-fold – first being the cost, second is having the ability to use the carpet color to match your brand colors, and lastly, it creates usable square footage under the riser for back stock at no extra cost.

Golden Rule: Maximize square footage.  Exposed wall is like an empty space at a car dealership. The manufacturers have already created the “wow factor” inadvertently; most of their instruments have hypnotizing chrome fittings! Fill all empty spaces with them.

TAKE ALL THAT MONEY YOU SAVED ON DISPLAYS AND SPEND IT ON DISPLAYS.

Saving money while building the skeleton of your store is fun, but don’t be afraid to allocate the funds to put you over the top.  It’s safe to say that I have spent under $2,000 on our current fixtures, but the lighting displays cost more than the majority of vehicles that I have owned in my lifetime.  You may not feel the need to go to that extreme, but when I go to the electrical box each morning and flip the switches, the instruments awake from their slumber looking like debutantes awaiting their suitor. I can’t guarantee you that I sell more snare drums because of it, but I’ll bet you that I do.

Golden Rule: Perception is everything.  

THE DEVIL IS IN THE DETAILS

It’s an often-used phrase, and it’s true.  A few minor, low-cost things can really create a more memorable experience for your customer.  One thing I have noticed in recent times is a renewed interest in U.S.A.-made products.  I had signs made up to put on each of the Amerian-built drum sets to specify that it was American-made. It’s a nice brand building touch that wasn’t expensive.  Our products all have our own branded price tags, drumsticks go in our own branded stick bags, and the customer gets a free bumper sticker with their receipt. These add-ons come at a cost, but they are effective. 

Golden Rule: Emphasis on your store logo and name creates more trust from the customer.

CREATE THE HAT-HANGER

At the Bellagio hotel, they have these magnificent fountains in the front.  At Outback Steakhouse, they have the Blooming Onion. At Drum Center of Portsmouth, we have the “Snare Wall.”  When we expanded into our newer space, there was this ugly shelving unit resembling a large bookcase. Instead of demoing and disposing of it, I threw the trusty black paint and black carpet on it – and serendipitously, the “Snare Wall” was born. We were lucky this happy accident occurred. Your experiences may vary. The point I’m trying to convey is the importance of having something be your visual calling card.  It’s usually not on a brand or product, per se; it’s an extension of the culture of the owner and the staff. The only person who can identify this is you. Maybe you have the most guitar strings, or the most colorful left handed guitar display – whatever “it” is, make it your focus, so that you become the authority.

The Takeaway: Be inspired by others, but don’t copy. I promise you that I was not the first or even the twentieth person to display snare drums vertically in a bookshelf-like manner, but to me, snare drums are who I am and they are what I love, so creating that Shangri-La rubs off on customers. Don’t mimic what the other stores are doing in hopes to getting a piece of their sales – that’s an insincere, ineffective approach that delivers a watered down experience for your customers.Think about what defines your passion for instruments, your community, and your business to create your calling card.

Shane Kinney owns the Drum Center of Portsmouth in Portsmouth, N.H. For more info, visit them on the web at www.drumcenternh.com.