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Ideas for Children's Wear Store Displays
By Brenda Youness
With a little creativity and imagination, you can turn your displays
into fun dioramas that will capture your customer's attention, sell
yourmerchandise, and add to your bottom line! It is interesting
and fun for us to observe the effect that store displays have on
our business. We love the challenge of seeing what display or a
change in display can do for a product or outfit!
One very important factor in display is lighting (see article on
page 39 for more lighting tips). You can have expensive mannequins
and props, but if they are not well lit, they will not "come alive"
in the eyes of your customers. Instead, they will just fade into
the background. We have learned that good lighting is well worth
the investment.
It is also important that the outfits on the mannequins are properly
stuffed. We use either tissue or the poly bags from our garments
to fill the sleeves, torso, and legs of the outfits we are featuring.
The stuffing turns the mannequins into little people that look like
they're ready to move! It is amazing what nice effects can be achieved
with stuffing. Try putting movement into the mannequins by crossing
the legs of the pants or placing arms around each other making them
"buddies".
We always use many layers of garments on our mannequins. For instance,
for a fall or winter display, we show turtlenecks or shirts under
everything, and sometimes both under a sweatshirt or vest. We also
try to have a hat or bow on every head. Often we will place a bow
on the front of the hat. Show as many items as you can but be sure
that the different outfits you are showing follow a similar theme
or coloration.
When your mannequin display is finished, stand back and take a
good look at it. If you're working on a window, step outside and
view the display as a customer would walking by your store. Be sure
to check the angle of the mannequins. Many times they look better
at a slight angle to the window instead of facing straight forward.
Various types of child-sized mannequins, both stuffed and stick,
have always been at the core of our displays; however, we love to
use other items to add interest and whimsey to the normal routine.
One display investment that we made was various cubes of different
heights that we can arrange in clusters on which to place the mannequins.
These work well for window displays and in-store displays. Cubes
or platforms are especially important if your window does not have
glass all the way to the floor and, as child mannequins are small,
it brings the display closer to eye level for in-store displays.
In the right space, a mannequin on a single cube "showcases" the
outfit.
When showing our new baby layette line, we use a life size baby
doll as a mannequin and it attracts so much attention because it
looks so real. Customers love to see how the outfits will look on
a newborn baby, and the doll is a perfect way to show them. The
entire layette collection is displayed in an antique wardrobe that
has been modified with shelves and a pole to hang garments. Even
the fabric-covered doors work as a display board because they are
always kept open (with outfits mounted on them) to show the customer
what is inside. Although store fixtures are the normal way to show
merchandise, think beyond the "normal" and you might come up with
some interesting antiques or furniture pieces that will work in
your store.
Because most of our apparel is embroidered or appliqued, there
is always a theme or focus to our displays. Once we decide which
outfits will be shown, we determine if there are any additional
props that can be utilized to add interest to the displays without
taking the focus away from the outfits we are trying to promote.
(Our goal is always for a "clean" display and never "cluttered".
If there are too many things to look at, the customer might miss
the merchandise you are trying to sell.) These additional props
can be inexpensive items purchased at the local discount store.
One of my favorite displays was a back-to-school window that we
did several years ago. The mannequins were all dressed in related
items from a group that had embroideries of yellow pencils. After
the mannequins were arranged and outfits were adjusted, we scattered
hundreds of yellow pencils all over the floor of the window. They
added color, whimsey, and interest but kept the focus of the window
to the outfits with the pencil embroideries that we were showing.
Plus, we did not have to purchase pencils for our business for the
next five years!
Another example of a fun window display was a Halloween theme.
The outfits used were all Halloween funwear in black, white, and
orange. With those strong colors, the clothes on their own definitely
grab the attention of any passers-by, but we took it one step further
and added little black eye masks to each of the mannequins. Then
we went to the local craft store and purchased a couple of packages
of black yarn and proceeded to create a giant spider web by stringing
the yarn from ceiling to floor. The impact was incredible and it
was fun to watch people just stop, look, and smile, and then come
in to buy an outfit! The entire cost of the display was several
masks at 25 cents each and two packages of yarn for $5.00! If you
haven't carried holiday theme merchandise, you might consider trying
some, just for display value. We have heard many retail store customers
say that they were purchasing Halloween or Fourth of July merchandise
just for a window display and then had to order more because it
sold so well!
Most recently, to spice up a Fourth of July display, we placed
large red and blue foil stars over the face of each mannequin-red
on the girl outfits, and blue on the boy outfits. These mannequins
were the "pole" type with flat heart shaped heads, so it worked
well and added just a spark of festivity to what would have otherwise
been a fairly basic mannequin display.
When all is said and done, and you have created the most beautiful
and perfect displays, don't forget to utilize professional signage
to complement your work and store! Many standard signs are available
from the fixture companies at reasonable prices, or you can have
them made to your requirements by a local sign company for a slightly
higher cost. When having signs made, think them through carefully
so you will have a sign that can be used again.
Brenda Youness is the Owner/Designer of Heart's
Designs, Inc., a children's clothing manufacturer that also operates
two retail stores in Kansas City. |
