30. March 2012 by admin.

RDD Associates has recently designed a store in Kingsburg, CA for a drug store that has reinvented itself. The new 6000 s.f. store is selling everything to assist the aging baby boomers with mobile items. Scooters, lift chairs, walkers, are some of the items on display in a big box format. The breath of assortment is telling their customer that they know what the customer wants, what they stand for and instilling a sense that A-Z Home is the leader in this category. The store opened and sales are through the roof.

At this point, I wonder how many retailers have stopped reading this article as it does not relate to their product in the store. As a guest lecturer at Retail design seminars, I often point out that the average person looks but does not see. The example above should ring loud and true for you. The message is what can I be selling to this affluent, large body of mass, to improve my business and their quality of life. Whether the customer you are not selling is a baby boomers, gen x , or milleniums they all have common likes and needs which you can be providing product for.

The answer is simple but the execution is not always easy. As a Store Planner our skill is to get more items out in the same space and not have the customer feel they are trapped in a sea of displays. Most retailers have a hard time giving up product to just trade off volume with a new item. That is not what I suggest. As a merchant your responsibilty is to find the next great item before your competition does. Intrench the item with assortment into your store all of which will prevent your customer from seeking alternate retailers to shop for these items. As a Store Planner, our goal is to blend the new product into the store by making the customer aware of the new offering. 

For those retailers that do not want to see this train coming, you can stand next to Sears and JCP, Kmart, and so many other retailers who are standing on the platform while the train has left the station with their customers on board.

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21. December 2011 by admin.

Is Retailing relying on technology to reinvent the buying experience? You bet it is and any firm consulting to the retail industry needs to be on the edge of technology as well. As an example our Retail Design Firm has upgraded our technology to allow us to design, manage and project manage retail projects nationally without stepping on an airplane. It is all on the screen and all communication is in real time. With Face Time, IChat, or Skype we communicate with our clients on a daily schedule live and in person. The technology allows us to reduce our fee structure, out of pocket expenses to our clients and manage immediately issues and concerns with a click of a mouse.

All designing of retail space, displays, showrooms have incorporated the use of portable device capabilities for consumers in mind. Our role in design and consulting is to anticipate the radical change in the retail playing field as a result of technology. We have been ahead of the curve which has enabled us to providing design services for over 25 years. Our clients projects need to be technology worthy in order to meet today’s consumer needs.

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21. October 2011 by admin.

A simple statement but what goes on behind this news is a major accomplishment for the team that has put this all together. One of the most difficult tasks in retail is to have unique product, at the right price, with the best quality, and always in stock. We all know the power of Walmart to handle product from beginning to end, but in the beginning there was a design team. Obviously a team that has great design capability and understandswhat the customer wants and needs.

In todays retail environment, the point of difference has become the brand, and Better Homes and Gardens is as good a brand as there is.  The transition of  a printed media brand with great credentials to a physical product took a lot of thought and sorting out to have it succeed. I applaud this team of retailer and design team for giving America a product that will remain with us for years to come.

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6. September 2011 by admin.

Trying to reinvent the wheel has been an age old challenge often met with disappointment. As Store Designers set their sights on creating the next great retail environment it is essential not to forget the basic principles of retail. Introducing the newest materials or technological advances into a new store design is only part of what will make that store design succeed.

Dollars per square feet still rule the retail universe and anyone that doesn’t think so can ask all the Award winning Store Designs that are no longer in business. As a retailer you must formulate the business plan to generate profit and then follow the plan to stay in business. Yep, it is that simple. Where many retailers run into trouble is not recognizing that the store plan, display methods need to be tested to see they can meet the business plans bench marks.

The math is easy, just take the product, the turns, the gpm, the units on hand and extend it out for a years worth of sales. If the number meets or exceeds your business plan volume or sales figures, you will live to see another year of retailing. I have found in my years of designing prototypes for start up retailers that they were doomed from the beginning as a result of not completing the exercise stated above.

We have made it part of our design process to prove out the capacity issues and inventory levels throughout the year before we pick colors, new technology or lighting. Our stores stay in business as a result of this review and we urge everyone to insist on having the figures proven before nails are placed into the walls.

Recently, a wedding gown store in Monsey, NY required the above scruiteny as the owner was working out of her home for years. She conviction to make the business thrive was obvious, but in planning the new store, it became apparent that they capacity to generate the profit to run the business could not be met based on the first design firm asked to assist her with the project.

Once we determined the sales performance and linear feet to make the profit levels a reality the design effort became much easier. We we able to concentrate on innovative design ideas which turned the basic landlord vanilla shell into a radient Euro Design Couture store. Every gown had a home and every piece was able to be displayed in the best possible way. We are proud to say the store has out performed expectations and the future looks bright.

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15. August 2011 by admin.

You remember when life was good and all you had to do was hang a sign in the window “open for business”. Retail has been a barometer of the economy and recent results show that keeping even to last year is a challenge.

Jerry Birnbach Associates have spent most of this year on remodels, renovations and display design with a focus of increasing sales.

Today’s economy has made it necessary for all retailers to take a step back and with an honest eye evaluate if they are doing all they can to increase sales. There is no one factor to fix in order to insure a positive increase and the days of expansion are behind us for the time being. Product will always rule in terms of improving sales, but unique product has been driven by branded items. In the retail venues where the brands are all on a level playing field, price becomes the next factor that has to be right in order to succeed. With e-commerce past early development, this has become a worthy opponent for the brick and mortar  retailer.

So what is left to correct or improve in order to get a leg up on the competition? Retail Design, Retail Display, Store layout, lighting, and bringing back a personality that meets your shoppers taste are all factors requiring a revamp to make your numbers. Our experience tells us that those retailers who cannot invent their point of difference and clearly express this to the consumer will fall by the wayside. The small retailer is fighting the well financed retailers that understand the need to be different and are willing to spend the money to obtain that difference. Through well thought out design, decor, merchandising assortments and consistent attention to detail, our retail clients are actually meeting their goals for increase sales in 2011.

Posted in Display Design, Uncategorized | No Comments »

2. July 2010 by admin.

I just stopped running in the opposite direction after seeing this photo long enough to comment on the photo. The concept is good, educate the consumer is a very important way to keep your customer base and have a credible reputation. An important evaluation for a retailer is what will be the return on investment by giving up selling space for demonstration space. I do not believe that this item can generate a great amount of volume and illustrating another building material such as deck stain sample colors would bring more dollars into the register.

Retailers have a moral and legal obligation not to mislead a consumer. This footing does not meet any code I am familiar with. You are correct in saying this needs to be a minimum of 3′-6″ below the ground to prevent it from breaking up and cause a failure in the deck structure. For the record, I have found more home closings turn to disaster because the deck was not filed and did not have an inspection to declare it safe.

Back to retail, love the concept, pick your battles, and be sure the message will not lead you to a litigation that could put you out of business.

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18. June 2010 by admin.

 Ask any retailer the definition of a “great look”. The answer would be a full product presentation with no part of the display showing! I would say the above with some display showing to border or frame the product.Granted if you sell out of an item and the store staff are too slow to fill the goods back in, then the exposed display does look better then conventional slotwall or pegboard.Just remember that slotwall works well in aligning product in the horizontal direction. However the downside of slotwall is the strict dimensions in the vertical position. If you product package hanging on the peghook is in multiples of 2.75″ on a 3″ on center slotwall spacing life is beautiful If the package is over that dimension, the end result is you have to skip a row when placing the item one over the other. When you calculate the lost area due to the spacing it could result in $100 per sq. ft. loss in sales productivity. Multiply that loss over an entire store of slotwall and it isn’t a pretty story.
Remember form follows function and if the product and packaging works to the slotwall strict rules that is a good solution. If not, you are penny wise and pound foolish

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13. June 2010 by admin.

So I was saying based on the images in this blog of wire bins. This concept of display is perfect for the category of goods it is showing. In the case of Walmart, Target or CVS the savings to the chain can exceed $100000 a year based on just the 9 bins shown in this photo.A wise retailer once explained the basis for this claim is that the only way retailers can make money theses days is to cut overhead. Almost any product is so well shopped including imports from China that the difference of an item from chain to chain is negligible. Therefore the gross profit is the lowest it can be and the only way to make money is to handle the product more efficiently.If the bin was not used and a shelf was the alternate solution, I estimate the following savings:at $10.00/hr labor rate, and 3 minutes more to load product onto a shelf per section, times 10 reloadings of product per item over a year equals $4.80 per item. 9 Items shown in photo times 2500 stores comes to $108000 in labor saved.Design is a business decision first and an esthetic  consideration after. Look at the whole picture before landing on what you consider the best display solution.

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26. May 2010 by admin.

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21. May 2010 by admin.

Comment to: Retail Design Diva Blog

As the man said ” you ain’t seen nothing yet” when it comes for Retailers using the social networks to promote their business.

Beyond the obvious as to why Retailers can always use the promotion from satisfied customers about their store, there is opportunity for the vendors as well.

Vendors can now assist the retailer even with private label product by polling customers as to their likes and dislikes. I believe that next seasons goods will be created by the vendors and retailers downloading their actual customers. Our Store Design Firm has created a division called NetProspector which helps the retailers and vendors find their demographics and talk to them one on one. Twitter and Facebook reach an ever increasing potential customer base and one good virus could make your months sales.

Jerry Birnbach F.I.S.P.

NetProspector on Twitter

http://retaildesigndiva.blogs.com/retail_design_diva/2010/05/hm-has-an-eye-foryoutube-facebook.html#comments

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