WHAT WE CAN OFFER YOU
WORKSHOPS
"S'plain it to me Lucy" as Desi used to say. As a business owner, you know first impressions matter but may be at a loss to determine exactly where to start or what to do to create your best look. Our 60 minute educational workshops will increase your understanding of the building blocks that great districts, stores and storefronts like yours are made of. Whether you're a business owner or an Executive Director, knowing what to do and why helps create momentum that leads to real change. Metro areas, Urban districts, Main Streets and 100's of their retailers collectively have benefited from workshops like "Creating Stellar Stores and Storefronts", "Seeing Main Street in a Whole New Light", "The How Behind the Wow" and the 4 part series "The Naked Truth About Well Dressed Windows" .
STORE EVALUATIONS
Once we've had a chance to share best practices in the workshop setting, the real fun and real change starts to happen when we meet with business owners one-on-one. Starting outside at the curb and taking a look at your space all the way through to the back door, our 75 minute store consultations help shine a light on opportunities for improvement and the concrete steps you could take to resolve them. With a pre-consultation questionnaire and some robust on-site discussions, we let you know where changes can be made and prioritize the next steps you can take. It's a "honey-do" list like you've never seen before but oh-what a difference it can make. Think of it like a personalized "Punch List for Profit".
WINDOW DISPLAYS
Window displays are fun, fun, and more fun yet they don't happen by accident, although I've seen a few waiting to happen ! Your windows, for better or worse, speak to the people most likely to come into your store - people that pass your location everyday. Take the time to invest in the 24 hour message you're sending. Like moths to light - customers won't be able to resist pulling themselves in off the street when they see an attractive display. Keeping your windows fresh and professional will keep customers walking in your door. By the way, professional doesn't have to mean expensive it just means well executed. We are happy to share what design and staging techniques make a stellar window and what tools you need to get the job done. We've got sources for inexpensive and clever props; techniques for lighting and best practices for theme-ing and color grouping. Whether you want some fresh ideas, help with your next project or just can't keep all that fun for yourself - give us a call.
MERCHANDISING
Are you leaving your merchandising to the new hire to just "get this stuff out on the floor" or are you paying attention to where you're putting the merchandise, how you're arranging the product and what fixture you're putting it on? "In-store marketing", "product presentation", "staging" or however you refer to it, if you do it, they will sell - whatever "they" are. You've got real dollars tied up in that inventory and we're betting you intended to actually sell it sooner than later. Knowing how customers perceive a particular fixture's value (paint or laminate? glass or wood?) helps you know what type of finish to choose. Knowing your customers' decision making process (is it color or size first?) helps determine how to organize the product; knowing peoples' direction of travel (left to right or head to the back and meander to the front?) helps determine how to orient the product; knowing your profit margins helps to determine how much of each to put out. Should you organize by vendor or by user group? By size or by color? By light or by dark? OK - OK, we'll stop with the 20 questions but these are the types of things we constantly think about and we think you should too. We're just as happy to teach as we are to do. Nothing like a mini store make-over to show you all sorts of things you never learned in school.
SPEAKING - CUSTOM CONTENT
Amen to that! You know how important good store design and presentation are to the bottom line and you wish you could get more retailers on board. Maybe the one right next to you that's kind of pulling the look of the street down or your tenant whose struggling to make their rent not sure if they're going to make it another year. There's hope yet. It's vital to Main Streets everywhere that merchants be at the top of their game and with a little coaching, we can help. We're available to educate and inspire tenants, property owners, retail neighbors or business groups about do's and dont's, window display basics, signage and awning issues and what retail clarity and retail sophistication involve. Anywhere from 30 to 60 minutes on the fundamentals, what for's and how to's and they'll be primed to take action - and you'll be glad you called.