We are only a little more than a month into 2017, and it is already turning into the year of “I need it yesterday.” With compressed timeframes, less visibility, and fewer resources, retailers and brands alike are under the gun to implement merchandising programs faster than ever before. In this hurry-up environment, a good option to consider is choosing a stock display and customizing it to meet your specific merchandising objectives. Generally, this approach can take a fraction of the time that it would take to custom manufacture a display. In today’s blogpost we simply want to provide some POP display ideas that will get you thinking about various ways to customize a stock display.
We’ll focus today’s discussion on one particular display in RICH LTD.’s stock line. We call it our SFL series, which stands for store fixture line. The customization examples we will share can be done with any of our stock displays. For a look at our complete stock line, you can download our new 2017 catalog here.
Our SFL line comes in 3 basic configurations and a few different choices of frame colors and panels. There are numerous types of accessories that can be purchased along with the fixture such as shelves, sign holders, apparel bars, HBARS, hooks, waterfalls, straight-outs, etc. The first configuration shown below is called our “HRACK” since it is in the shape of an “H.”
The second configuration as shown below is our pinwheel design.
The third configuration shown below is our SFL-GONDOLA, which is two adjacent panels and two end panels.
Let’s look at a number of examples of how these basic stock SFL configurations can be quickly customized. The example below shows how our SFL-GONDOLA can be converted to a baseball equipment display by using stock shelves, hooks, and header sign frames and adding custom graphics and a custom bat holder accessory.
Our second example is also a customization of the SFL-GONDOLA. It starts with the same basic configuration and utilizes a number of stock accessories such as shelves, hang bars, HBARs, waterfalls hooks and sign holders. We customized this unit by substituting graphic panels for the stock panels and adding header graphics. The two center panels could be either printed graphic panels or decorative sheet metal for a more authentic look.
Our third example shows how the T-sided version of the SFL unit can take on a very different and heavily branded look simply by changing out the stock panels for custom printed graphics and adding a custom header with aluminum stand-offs.
The fourth example below is a customization of our HRACK. We designed custom cap pockets with logo endplates to turn this fixture into a 4-sided cap fixture for Top of the World. To reinforce the brand, we added a 2-sided custom header with a different shape.
A very similar example on an SFL-HRACK customization is one we did for VF Imagewear’s Horace Small brand. We used our stock accessories and simply printed custom panels and headers.
Our sixth example is a SFL-T-SIDED customization which included custom book shelves, a custom frame color, flag signs and a custom printed header sign.
Example number 7 is an HRACK customization for Bulwark which included many of our standard accessories but utilized custom printed outside panels, custom printed header signs, and die-cut header sign add-ons to help draw attention to the brand.
Our eighth example below deviates a bit from our standard SFL-PINWHEEL in that we designed slatwall panel inserts to replace the stock MDF panels. The slatwall was designed to hold gravity feed shelves on 4 sides. Additional branding could be added to this display with custom printed header signs.
One of our customers who had a chain of perfume stores customized our SFL-PINWHEEL fixtures by removing the castors and adding legs. They kept the white panels and simply added their own header sign for a clean, uniform look throughout the store.
Our tenth example is another customization of our SFL-HRACK by Sutter’s Mill Specialties. We used our standard configuration with black panels and black shelves, but added custom accessories to the sides of the unit and a custom die-cut header sign to promote the brand.
Example number 11 is another modification of the HRACK. This time we used a white frame and changed out the stock MDF panels for beautiful carbonized bamboo panels and bamboo shelves. We added stock apparel bars and a two-sided custom header sign. We really like this look.
For our 12th example, we used the same HRACK above but went with a silver frame instead of a white frame and used full graphic panels instead of the bamboo panels. We went with an unframed header sign and used a few different accessories, but it’s easy to see how you can create a completely different look using the same basic fixture.
In some cases, our customers want to stray a bit from our stock designs and have us create something similar but out of different materials. Such is the case for Guy’s Guitar Reference Center shown below. We used the basic HRACK design but nixed the metal frame and went will all MDF construction with a black laminate. We added straight and slanted shelves and a custom header to create a simple but functional sheet music display.
There are dozens of other examples of how our stock line can be easily customized. We hope these examples will get your wheels turning as you embark on your next POP display project that you need yesterday.
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.