Whether it’s Valentine’s Day, Father’s Day, or back-to-schooltime, a good window display should include a theme. Moreover, you want to highlight your store’s image. Are you trendy? Cutting edge? High end? Do you offer great bargains? While you can’t judge a book by its cover, you can tell a lot about a store by its window displays. Many retailers overlook the potential of their display windows to grab the attention of potential customers. Think of them as three-dimensional billboards.

From a creative aspect, there is a lot that can be done to make your store windows dazzle. However, there are also practical concerns to address. Before you begin, first consider these ten tips:

1. Don’t overdo it. Less can be more, or at least more easily discernable to the eye. A cluttered window loses appeal and featured items can get lost.
2. Make merchandise the focal point. Not unlike a television commercial in which everyone remembers the commercial but forgets the product, you do not want your window dressing to overshadow your products.
3. Accentuate products with good lighting. Whether the window is recessed or under a spotlight, the goal is to highlight the products within the overall display. If the window design simply features your brand/image, rather than specific products, then balance the lighting throughout.
4. Stack products or use a pyramid. Place items in the window at varying heights and depths to catch shoppers’ attention and make the overall display inviting to the eye.
5. Have fun with mannequins. If you are using mannequins, create interesting poses, and make sure that each one is well lit and easily visible to customers passing by.
6. Be creative. Let your imagination run free – as long as you don’t lose sight of the objective – and draw customers into the store with innovative, attractive, and compelling displays.
7. Remember your theme. Keep your window theme in mind and decorate according to that theme.
8. Draw in drivers. If your potential customers drive rather than walk, make your display larger and use more color to draw the attention of a passing motorist.
9. Use backdrops. Backdrops are useful tools to create positive and forceful displays, and to separate the window from the store.
10. Stock up on featured products. Don’t draw customers in to buy merchandise that you don’t have enough of.

Professional Help vs. Do It Yourself

Yes, you can spend money to have someone come in and do your windows for you. There are highly skilled and professional windowdressers out there who can do amazing things. Of course, before you hire an outside person, be sure to see a portfolio of their work and ask for references. However, unless you own or manage a major department store with numerous windows, you should be able to handle the job yourself. If you have an exceptionally creative member on staff, you might consider making this person the de facto window designer.

Once you start working on the actual displays, go outside often to get an idea of how the display looks from the outside. Does it grab your attention? Is your theme clear? Keep tinkering until you have the look that you want, and remember to change your window displays often to keep them fresh.”

(from All Business Online)

• Decorating Sense
• Che Bello Desing
• Essortment
• How to Decorate Store-Front Windows

Do you have a good source of info to add to our list of helpful links?  If so, let us know at feedback@downtownowensound.ca.

The program only takes 20-40 minutes and is packed with useful ideas aimed at enhancing customer experience and building loyalty.

Here is an excerpt to give you an idea of what to expect from this short program:

Create Moments of Magic^TM!

In 1986 Jan Carlzon, the former president of Scandinavian Airlines, wrote a book, Moments of Truth. In this book he describes the moment of truth as, “Anytime a customer comes into contact with any aspect of your business, however remote, they have an opportunity to form an impression.” These points of contact are the moments of truth in business, and they can make or break you and your company. Carlzon says these moments of truth can be good or bad, and our goal should be to take every moment of truth, even if it is a bad one, and make it great. Turn every moment of truth into a Moment of Magic^TM! Managing the moments of truth and creating moments of magic throughout the sales process, from the initial sales call to when the customer says yes, will help get you the sale. Creating moments of truth after the sale will help keep the customer your customer. Strive to make every moment of truth a Moment of Magic^TM.

1. Before you accept the certificate, make sure it has been signed by the DIA.
2. Fill in your full store name in the “Store Name” section.
3. After the purchase, the customer is to receive any change due from the redeemed gift certificate.
4. The gift certificate works just like a cheque and can be redeemed at your financial institution.

Notes:

1. In Ontario, gift certificates do not have an expiry date.
2. Downtown Owen Sound is defined by its Downtown Improvement Area Boundaries which are the north side of 7th Street to the south; the south side of 11th Street to the north; the west side of 4th Avenue to the east, and the Sydenham River to the west.

Do you have questions?

Call, click or visit . . . You can reach us Monday to Friday, from 9 am to 5 pm:

• by phone at 519-376-9225
• by email (click here)
• in person at 854 2nd Avenue East, Owen Sound, Ontario.

The book takes an holistic view of the whole subject of Customer Experience and looks and what causes a good and bad Customer Experience. It reveals seven philosophies for building great customer experiences and provides some very practical ideas on how to improve the overall customer experience.

1. A source of long-term competitive advantage.
2. Created by consistently exceeding Customers physical and emotional expectations.
3. Differentiated by focussing on stimulating planned emotions.
4. Enabled through inspirational leadership, an empowering culture and empathetic people who are happy and fulfilled.
5. Designed “outside in” rather than “inside out”.
6. Revenue generating and can significantly reduce costs.
7. The embodiment of the brand.

OSDIA Members can also borrow this book from the OSDIA Office.  Contact Irwin at 519-376-9225 or irwin@downtownowensound.ca for more details.

In today’s social and economic environment, it has become increasingly important that we work together to keep small city/town downtowns vibrant and sustainable. Here in Owen Sound, we are lucky … we have a great Downtown with a tremendous variety of unique restaurants, cafes, shops, galleries, and boutiques. On top of this we have one of Ontario’s best local farmers’ markets, a terrific community theatre, and a complete range of personal, financial, professional, and wellness services. What’s not to love!

Downtown Owen Sound boasts more than 300 businesses and service providers, most of which are locally owned and operated. With over 40% of Owen Sound’s retail space located in the Downtown, the businesses and organizations that make up the Owen Sound Downtown Improvement Area collectively represent the largest local employment base and are a major economic driver for the Owen Sound community as a whole.

Supporting our Downtown economy keeps the money flowing locally. It is estimated that 60% of every dollar of profit earned by locally owned small independent businesses stays right in the community. This helps to keep the Downtown strong, with more employment, and greater social, economic,  and cultural opportunities.

Help keep Downtown Owen Sound thriving! This is your community, and you can help shape its future and ensure its long term success. Come visit, experience, and enjoy everything Downtown Owen Sound has to offer.

Shop, dine, browse, and be entertained in Downtown Owen Sound.

Please note:

1. The official By-law can be viewed at City Hall.
2. The By-law could be repealed or amended at any time – please always check with City Hall for the latest information.

Download Unofficial PDF copy of the By-Law here

Few today remember the Dirty Thirties and the Great Depresssion. Most of us are familiar with the ups and downs of cyclical recessions. But last fall, with dire warnings of a global economic meltdown and signs that even our region would feel the impact, a dark gloom descended on the country.

They say that advertising is always the first thing to be cut out of budgets, and while I haven’t found that to be true around here, we are in the advertising business, so our “shop local” campaign was a way of supporting those who support us. More than that, however, it’s our business to know how to grow market share. We’ve learned how business can use an economic downturn to transition into a market leader on the upside of the cycle.

The point is that our shop local campaign has resulted in quite a dialogue with business people sending me all kinds of recession-surviving information. Florist, Donna Kaufman, gave me three numbers worth remembering!

Pick 3 businesses you’d miss if they were gone, then return to say hello and pick up a little something that makes you smile, knowing those transactions are what keeps that business around.

If half of the employed population spent just $50 a month with locally owned businesses we could save the economy starting at home.

And, for every $100 spent in a locally owned business, $68 returns to the community through payroll, property taxes and spending with other business. Spend it down in the city or online and, you guessed it, nothing comes home.”

For more information contact 519-370-0435 or visit their office in Downtown Owen Sound at the corner of  9th Street East and 4th Avenue East (380 9th Street East).