We design and manufacture retail POP displays for over 20 retail vertical markets such as food and beverage, health and beauty, consumer electronics, etc. Out of all the vertical markets we serve, the outdoor retailer market is one of our favorites. Why? Because it is not only a growing market, but it is trendy, fun, and healthy. It’s got a lot of positive energy, and we like the fact that many brands within the outdoor retail market are very forward thinking when it comes to products and, more importantly, merchandising. In today’s blog, we’ll look at one of our hot-off-the-press outdoor retailer projects. Then, stay tuned for our next blog (Part II) where will show you 3 more of our recent outdoor retailer store fixtures.
The project we’ll discuss today is an end cap display that we manufactured for goTenna in our domestic millwork shop. We rolled it out to REI stores nationwide. goTenna makes an award-winning, portable communications device that enables you to text and GPS using your phone when you are off-grid without access to cell phone coverage or WIFI.
The end cap was constructed of clear-coated ACX plywood which we used for the back panel and shelves. Using ACX plywood helped create a raw, rugged outdoor vibe which is consistent with REI’s store décor. We used sheet metal side panels that we powder coated in “New Blue” before silk screening white goTenna branded graphics. We fabricated plywood graphic boards which were secured in shelf grooves. We also printed high-end photo-realistic graphics on an adhesive-backed PVC substrate and then stuck the graphics to the plywood graphic boards. The graphic boards were designed to be interchangeable so they could be rotated by season or changed to capitalize on promotional opportunities.
In front of the main hero graphic on the top shelf, we created a product glorifier box which featured 2 embedded tethers and a metal laminated finish to complement the 2 tethered gotenna dummy devices which stood upright in the glorifier. In addition to securing the devices with retractable tethers, we printed a sticker indicating that the devices were non-operational and for display purposes only. We also printed an info graphic which we adhered to the top shelf to provide the customer with quick access to key features and benefits of the product. We provided single peg hooks to hang the gotenna boxes next to the shelves.
The entire display was intended to be configurable so that high volume stores could add more product instead of shelves, while smaller stores could utilize the graphics to educate the customer without having the display look empty. Finally, as part of this project we had to engineer a solution to be able to mount the end caps on the existing gondolas in REI stores. The majority of stores have wood gondolas which required a different bracket attachment method than the other stores which have metal gondolas.
All in all, this was a fun project that required a real mix of materials and graphics as well as engineering and fabrication craftsmanship. Go check these fixtures out at your local REI store. While you’re at it, pick up a goTenna device. You never know when you might need it.
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 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. He 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.