A Room with a View at Club Monaco

Club Monaco's new fall windows are so wonderful. They created a room within in each window with the use of molding and chair rails, collection of vintage paintings, knick knacks and taxidermy. The effect is collegiate, old world and whimsical but in an elevated way.

We love how this makes you stop and notice and then go inside to see what else is there. Remember getting the customers into the store is half the battle and we think this window did it's job!

Going back to art school with Urban Outfitters

Here's something we noticed....another set of canvas and wood frames used in windows. Last week Cole Haan used them to highlight their new hand painted line, this week Urban Outfitters used them in their back to school windows.

The canvases are used backwards and in some cases, the canvas has been stripped to show only the wood frames, adding another dimension to these artistically inspired windows.

With the addition of books and lockers, these windows make us want to go back to art school....or at least just look as if we do.

"Interpretations in Wood" at Anthropologie

Anthropologie never disappoints with it's unique window concepts and the various ways the stores install them. Recently, we compared the "Window frame windows" of Rockefeller Center and the 5th Avenue locations.

At Rockefeller Center, they used the wooden frames to build geometric yet somewhat abstract shapes. Ranging from simple backdrops to full structured sculptures, the windows were quite eye catching.

On 5th Ave the message was still very effective though much less abstract. The frames were larger and filled with the colored wood bits that only made an accent at the Rockefeller store. The effect was more colorful and somewhat artistic looking.

Both stores did a great job of catching our eye as Anthropologie delivers on a message!

Levi's "pulls" a marketing window up with props

Here's a trick to make a marketing window more interesting. Add a substantial frame and

then hang the image in a unique way; in this case using old pulleys, rope and weighted burlap bags of sand. The added props give pedestrians a reason to stop and look at the marketing message and get a stronger sense of what you are promoting.

"Pulling" and idea from the past seems to be a Levi's theme to highlight their history while showing how to bring it into today's world.

All tied up in ribbons!

We can't stress enough how great it is to see consistency in a store's presentation! When a brand cares enough to tie there marketing, visual merchandising, product display and advertising all up together, we care enough to notice!

(even saw a marketing photo where the girl had a ribbon bow in her hair and the frame that was displaying the picture had a similar ribbon bow as a prop- now that is consistency!)

And it's nice to see signage hanging from ribbon, rather than clear fishing wire, especially when it ties into the product. Aerie definitely had it's eye on the details and this back to school install is all tied up!

Framing a trend

This trend just won't quit! Seen over the past year - visual merchandisers using frames to enhance their visual message and add a 3D element to thier product display.

We get the picture.

Small gestures, Grand results...

It's not the size of the prop or the big idea that is always the winner. Sometimes, it's the simple thought or the well worn idea that works wonders.

Though frames as prop is not a new idea, it was used here effectively because these windows were so big, with glass floor to ceiling and the floor and walls in black. The gold frames added a depth and geographic element that focuses attention where it's needed, on the mannequins.

In contrast to the large black windows at Sisley, the Burberry window is very small and shallow. The addition of the graphic X printed on the white backdrop draws your attention where it should be, on the clothing.

Remember our goal in Visual Merchandising, to increase sales through the creative merchandising of product. We salute the efforts to do so - big and small!

Design on a Dime

The 5th Annual Housing Works "Design on a Dime" event began last night. This is a great fundraiser for a terrific organization committed to ending the twin crisis of AIDS and homlessness. This event asks designers to create rooms on a small budget (as the name implies)and then everything in the vignettes is for sale. Here is a sneak preview of some of the room vignettes set up (more to come later) - I noticed similar themes from the interior design community as are being seen at a VM level within retail.

Lots of repurposing - seen here a door as a bedboard; frames and focus walls are still very strong; creating drama with use of curtains; books, books books; the use of a single item repeated - in this case flowers on the mantel; natural elements - tree stumps, sand, foliage, flowers, etc. Also - the red bedroom is Ty Pennington for Sears. Overall lots to see and great inspiration!

Have you seen any cross discipline themes recently? Where?

Framing 34th Street

Not quite as dramatic as their Christmas display but here's a little something from Herald Square. Loads of blue wooden frames in all the windows along 34th Street. Hung, propped and laid on the floor, the bounty of frames was eye catching but one can't help wonder...would a different color have been more dramatic? Does the blue represent something? We love frames and, like butterflies, they are popping up everywhere but want to hear from you...impactful?

Frame it!

More and more specialty retailers are using frames in their windows to display marketing images to help convey the 'lifestyle' behind their brand. We think this is a great way to tell a story to potential customers as it says more about the clothes than just a mannequin. The selection of the frames themselves says a lot about the brand too and we think these are two great examples for urban consumers. How do you want to frame your message?