sia merchandising guide holiday addendum

SNOWSPORTS.ORG
SIA MERCHANDISING GUIDE
HOLIDAY ADDENDUM
2012-2013
YOUR ALL-ACCESS PASS TO THE
SNOW SPORTS INDUSTRY.
SIA MERCHANDISING GUIDE - HOLIDAY ADDENDUM 2012
The Holiday Addendum is an add-in for the 2012 SIA Merchandising Guide, produced by Ali Levy
in September. The SIA Merchandising Guide is meant to serve as a go-to source to help you create
an engaging experience from the moment shoppers walk into your store, to the moment they
walk out. The holidays are a perfect time to spruce up the store and attract new customers while
creating a pleasant shopping experience. The Merchandising Guide only scratches the surface of
all there is to learn and know about visual merchandising, but it’s a good place to start, and The
Holiday Addendum can really help get you into the holiday spirit.
As we all know, the holiday season is go-time. It’s important to move a lot of inventory at full
price as the results of your holiday sales can dictate your inventory and pricing for the rest of the
season. Not to mention you’re open to buy for the following season. Of course there are factors
such as weather that are out of your control – but a tight merchandising plan is within your control.
Holiday decorating and merchandising puts shoppers in the mood to buy; this includes engaging
all of the senses with sight, smell, taste and sound. Below are suggestions, ideas and sources for
creating holiday cheer, no matter how big or small your budget is, regardless of whether you have
someone who can execute displays or you have to prepare it on the fly. (Revisit last December’s
SIA newsletter, “Holiday Gift Tables 101,” to refresh your memory for several gift table ideas.)
To break it down, here are four holiday themes to focus on:
1. Classic Red and Green
2. Sparkly Silver and Gold
3. Vintage Holiday
4. Eco-Minded Holiday
SIA is working with visual merchandising consultant Ali Levy, to provide retailers with
some fresh merchandising ideas for increasing sales and interest from consumers. Levy’s
impressive resume includes managing retail, buying and trade show/retail merchandising
efforts for some of the industry’s biggest names including The North Face, SmartWool,
Cloudveil and Marmot. For more information about her company, contact Ali at Alijlevy@
gmail.com or visit her website, www.alijlevy.com. All featured photos courtesy of author.
snowsports.org/merchandising
CLASSIC RED AND GREEN
Since these are the colors commonly associated with the holidays they are the easiest to implement.
Use lots of green garland (fake or real), trees, cinnamon scented pine cones or potpourri. Wrapping
empty boxes is an easy project - save some different sized boxes to wrap, they will present a nice
backdrop for any window or table display.
Photo courtesy of Flickr.
Red ceramic planter from Crate and Barrel sells for $14.00. These are perfect for filling with pine
cones, ornaments or a small fake or real mini pine tree.| Felted garland from Arcadia Home Inc.
$49.00 for 6’ | These are made in the USA and come in different colors.
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CLASSIC RED AND GREEN
Wreath available at
Pottery Barn. $39 -$79
LED lights from
Christmas Lights etc.
Paper garland and
roll of gift wrap from
Paper Source.
You can use rolls of
sturdy gift wrap to
line the floor or backdrop of your front
windows for instant
holiday pizazz.
Light Tacker: Pick up one of these
at Target to hang your lights.
Masking tape from Paper Source.
Use this to make cool “frames”
on your walls or front window
display to “frame” action or
product images. See example
below.
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CLASSIC RED AND GREEN
Masking tape frames
courtesy of Design Sponge.
Here’s a great use for vases or big
mason jars. Fill with pine cones,
ornaments or sparkly fake snow.
Tie with a festive bow. Photo
courtesy of Real Simple.
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SILVER AND GOLD
Silver and Gold is not just the iconic song
from Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer sung
by a Claymation Burl Ives. This is another
traditional way to decorate for the holidays.
Paired with white, silver and gold evokes a
real feel of tradition, winter and snow.
Use lots of branches with lights in front windows
(note you will need an outlet close by) you could
also place them in a glass container. From Christmas
Traditions.
Snow in a can is really fun
especially if your store is situated
in a warm climate. Available from
Urban Outfitters.
Fill sparkly silver gift boxes with
quick and easy gift suggestions.
They also work as decorations
for table displays. Available from
Paper Source.
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SILVER AND GOLD
Small LED lights sparkle.
Available from Christmas
Lights Etc.
Use these cones to decorate
trees, suspend from the
ceiling or cut off the ribbon
and fill empty glass jars or
tall vases with them. Available
from World Market.
Also from World Market are these silver
glitter trees. Perfect in a side window,
on top of a display case or behind your
cash wrap. From $9.99 to $12.99
Marshmallows seem snow-like when
placed in a glass container and
sprinkled with fake snow.
Pottery Barn silver and gold
wreath – available in two sizes
from $39 - $79.
Pour some Balsam Fir needles
in containers for an outdoorsy
scent. Available from the
Vermont Country Store.
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RETAIL THEN...
VINTAGE
A vintage holiday theme is fun because it’s a time of year that takes us back to our childhood.
Vintage touches can be combined with red and green or silver and gold color schemes. You can also
purchase some classic plaid fabric and use it to drape over plain tables. Homey and cozy, the vintage
holiday theme may encourage your shoppers to linger a little bit longer. Choose a classic satellite
radio station to play old favorites and serve hot cider for your customers.
This snowman lights up so
could be used inside or out.
Available from the Vermont
Country Store.
Also from the Vermont
Country Store - these
ornaments will make you smile.
These vintage bulbs are
courtesy of Pottery Barn. They
sell 2 sizes and look great in
a glass vase like this. From
$19.95 each.
These bottle brush trees from
World Market have a vintage
feel to them. They come four
to a set for $22.
These vintage looking crackers also
from World Market are fun to have
in a basket at the front desk or
scattered on the ground in a window
display or suspend them with fishing
line from the ceiling.
Finally from Christmas Traditions is
this wreath adorned with cute little
characters.
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eco-friendly
This is a great theme to use if you have a newer store, wood floors and/or you prefer a more
minimalist, non demoninational look
You can find this pine cone
wreath at Target.
These craft letters come in upper
and lower case and can be found at
Paper Source. They cost $3.75 each
and are a blank slate for however
you’d like to decorate them. Spell
out “Merry Christmas” or “Happy
Holidays” and everybody’s covered.
You can buy these birch rounds
from Pottery Barn or simply forage
from your backyard or ask for
scraps at the lumber yard. They
look interesting in a glass vase or
mixed with pine cones in a basket.
These wood chip trees look cool
and architectural. You can find
them at West Elm. $49 - $69.
Handfelted and beaded ornament
made from eco friendly materials
and made in the USA. Available
from Arcadia Home, $20.
These chalkboard gift tags come
from Paper Source. They are great
because they will look homemade
and you can reuse them.
$9.95 for a pack of 10.
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ECO-FRIENDLY
You can wrap boxes in craft paper
and tie a burlap ribbon like this
one around it. Available from
Paper Source.
This stag head can be found at
World Market. You could decorate
his antlers with cranberries or
popcorn garland. $59.
To wrap up (no pun!) this Holiday Addendum, the holidays are a time to celebrate the season
and each other. There’s no denying that the kid in us can’t resist a candy cane treat or a holiday
song that is playing in a store while you are shopping. Spending some time and money on holiday
decorations along with merchandising your store in a festive manner with tempting and colorful
displays, can really pay off. Happy and prosperous holidays to all!
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8377-B Greensboro Drive, McLean, VA 22102 /// Washington,DC Metro-Area
Phone: 703.556.9020, Fax: 703.821.8276, Email: [email protected]
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