Page 243 - DMGT550_RETAIL_MANAGEMENT

Retail Management

Notes
Figure 13.12: Display Area in a Store

Corner Shops

These shops, as well as other marked-off areas with distinctive décor, are employed by store
engineers to relieve the monotony of departmental furnishings.

Shelves

Obviously, shelves are necessary to store stocked merchandise. They are poor display areas,
however, and should be hidden whenever possible by walls, curtains, and so on.

Counter and Table Display

These sell merchandise more readily than do shelf displays, because they are located in front of
the stock areas, bringing the goods nearer to the customer and allowing the customer to usual
design for counters and cases. However, rounded, oval, and surrealistically shaped counters not
only ease the flow of traffic through a store, they appear less regimented and do not present
hazardous sharp edges to the customer. They are a pleasant change from the square design.
Placing store furnishings at an angle to the structural lines of the interior is an arrangement that
will increase sales at no added expense to the store. If all aisles are straight from front to back,
the customer moves too quickly through the store. Even a slight deviation from the usual
parallel placement will lead people in a more comfortable and leisurely path, slowing them
down and inviting them to take notice of the surroundings. Likewise, when customers are
leaving, counters carefully arranged at angles to the wall will seem to hold them back, to delay
their departure. Each hesitation on the part of the passerby is an opportunity for interior displays
to make a sale.

Ledges

The tops of shelves sometimes serve as areas for display. They necessarily follow the set structural
lines of a department. Ledge areas may be made very attractive with the addition of decorative
pieces for seasonal promotions. Because ledges with shelf space below them are above the
comfortable range of vision, constant care must be exercised in the placement of merchandise.
Unsightly portions of it, such as chair seats, shoe soles, wrong sides of materials, or unfinished
backs of stoves or refrigerators, should not be visible to the customer’s eye and must be
camouflaged with decorative effects.

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