Metal gridwall is a common component in point-of-purchase displays, particularly when it comes to apparel fixtures. Its popularity is a result of its utility and its cost-effectiveness. It has high utility because it can be used in a variety of different configurations, and it can accommodate many different types of accessories such as shelves, hooks, waterfall arms, and face-outs. In addition, it is strong and highly durable. But for all of its benefits, gridwall also has two primary downsides. First, it’s not very attractive. And second, because of its ubiquity, it has essentially become a commodity, which makes it more challenging to stand out as a part of a unique display. However, there are a number of ways that gridwall can be “dressed up” to improve the overall appearance of a display. In today’s blog we will review a few examples of ways to create more attractive apparel displays that incorporate gridwall.
One of the best ways to dress up gridwall is by framing the metal gridwall in wood. The apparel fixture shown below utilizes a standard 2’x6’ black metal gridwall which is framed in solid pine wood. We added wood waterfalls, a wood base on castors, and a 2-sided wood header. The wood elements help to make the apparel fixture seem much more upscale. Once the fixture is merchandised the grid is not as noticeable, but the grid continues to play an integral role in the overall functionality of the fixture.
Another example is the RICH LTD. stock fixture shown below (UMF-24G). The center grid panel is mounted on a metal tube frame which is connected to a tube base with castors. Rather than using wood to frame this display as shown in the example above, we dressed it up by adding die-cut digitally printed side signs and a header sign. The signage captures the shopper’s attention and serves to take the focus away from the grid.
An even dressier version of the UMF grid display is shown below. We started with the same basic grid fixture on castors, but this time we powder coated the fixture bright green and created a digitally printed enclosed PVC base with integrated side and header signs. The result is an attractive, graphic-intensive fixture that is really just a well disguised grid display.
Our final example is a grid fixture we designed for Little Miss Matched’s line of socks. While not as disguised as the above example, this apparel fixture included an MDF base with a fake drawer that mimics a dresser drawer and a die-cut PVC header with brightly colored graphics.
Jim Hollen is the owner and President of RICH LTD. (www.richltd.com), a 35+ year-old California-based point-of-purchase display, retail store fixture, and merchandising solutions firm which has been named among the Top 50 U.S. POP display companies for 9 consecutive years. A former management consultant with McKinsey & Co. and graduate of Stanford Business School, Jim Hollen has served more than 3000 brands and retailers over more than 20 years and has authored nearly 500 blogs and e-Books on a wide range of topics related to POP displays, store fixtures, and retail merchandising.
Jim has been to China more than 50 times and has worked directly with more than 30 factories in Asia across a broad range of material categories, including metal, wood, acrylic, injection molded and vacuum formed plastic, corrugated, glass, LED lighting, digital media player, and more. Jim Hollen also oversees RICH LTD.’s domestic manufacturing operation and has experience manufacturing, sourcing, and importing from numerous Asian countries as well as Vietnam and Mexico.
His experience working with brands and retailers spans more than 25 industries such as food and beverage, apparel, consumer electronics, cosmetics/beauty, sporting goods, automotive, pet, gifts and souvenirs, toys, wine and spirits, home improvement, jewelry, eyewear, footwear, consumer products, mass market retail, specialty retail, convenience stores, and numerous other product/retailer categories.