appeals to customers
in downtown Taunton.
In an age when consumers might assume “window shopping” to mean looking for a new desktop pattern for their PC computers, bricks and mortar shop owners know a more traditional meaning.
It’s not flashing advertisements, or Web site searches that bring shoppers into stores; instead, owners’ believe it’s a splash of color, a wooden train set, or even talking mannequins that draw people.
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It’s an age-old tradition associated with shopping, and according to many local shop owners it remains an integral part of getting customers out of their cars and into the stores.
“You have between 10 and 30 seconds to get people’s attention,” said Theodore Loebenberg, co-owner of Personally Yours in Wayland Square. “You need to put something out there that will really grab that attention.”
Yvette Harps-Logan, an associate professor of Fashion Merchandising at the University of Rhode Island agreed.
“If successful, displays do three things,” she said, “they make passers-by stop, look, and act. This simply means people stop in front of the store because of interest, look at the merchandise and then act by buying.”
According to Harps-Logan, window displays are not something that require a huge financial commitment, but she said they can be a huge factor in a store’s success, especially when it comes to a small business.
“I teach my students to work with what they have,” she said. “Through the display you are providing the customer with information about your store. When it comes to small business, your window is the customer’s view to the types of products you have. Something like the Gap has name recognition to draw customers, but smaller stores need to use their merchandise.”
Elizabeth Laliberty, a buyer for Sara’s Children’s Boutique said her window is the best form of advertising for the store, which recently moved to Wayland Square from Garden City in Cranston.
“Customers can see what we have just by driving by,” she said. “It’s extremely important to our business, especially because we have limited parking ability. It’s so important that we change it almost every week.”
Laliberty said she has had customers come into the store only to buy something they saw in the window.
“I had some women the other day see something in the window when they were driving by and specifically turn around to come in and buy it,” she said. “That’s what we want.”
Cheryl Pugliese, a manager at Chico’s clothing store in the Garden City Shopping Plaza agreed.
“Visual is so important,” she said. “We have people walking through the center when we are closed and then coming back the next day to buy something they saw in the window.”
Debra Medeiros, manger of TW Rounds agreed that what is in her display window is most often what attracts customers.
“People stop to look,” she said. “They see what’s here simply by looking and if they see something they like they will come in. It’s a place for us to display new and unique products.”
According to Harps-Logan the key to a successful display is color, lines, and creativity.
“I can’t tell owners enough how important it is to have balance,” she said. “Line, balance and unity are the most important thing.”
No one knows the impact of color better than floral designer Cindy Cronin. Cronin creates the display for Blossom Florist Inc., on Main Street in East Greenwich.
“Color and design really draw their eyes,” Cronin said of customers. “We change our display for each holiday bringing in new color and designs, we never repeat a window.”
Harps-Logan also noted the importance of changing displays. “Storeowners should try and change their displays at least once a month,” she said. “Owners should also not be afraid to put a slow-selling item in the window, because consumers buy what they see.”
It’s an idea Pugliese is very familiar with. “We’ve sold things directly out of our window,” she said. “We are constantly changing, at least once a week, because we sell out of the things we have on display.”
