When destination retailers set up apparel displays, they should consider integrating some themes and icons near the mannequins or T-shirt walls that give customers a sense of place.
“Souvenir and gift shops are an extension of someone’s visit, wherever that is,” says Michael Hale, CEO of the Los Angeles-based Retail Rehab consultancy. “It’s important you pay attention to that with merchandising displays.”
A destination retailer in a tropical location may want to feature a tropical plant on a table next to a bust form with a top-selling name-dropped T-shirt. On the other hand, a gift shop in Dallas may benefit from having a saddle or cowboy boots on the table next to the T-shirt display.
Hale concludes, “Your props and displays help to solidify a customers’ sense of place.”
