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GlobalShop gives retailers a sneak preview of future merchandising future easy pickings

By John Frantz

John Frantz is a freelance writer based in Chicago.

Retailers from nearly every major chain recently got a glimpse of the latest designs that will take retailing and specific departments into the 21st Century. GlobalShop, the world's largest annual retailing exposition, displayed seven model stores of the newest prototypes from manufacturers such as Liz Claiborne, Dockers, Clinique, and LaCrosse.

Held in March at Chicago's McCormick Place, GlobalShop features educational seminars and new products that include everything from lighting, flooring and fixtures, to the designs that surround all facets of retailing.

Below are descriptions of some model store displays that were constructed on the GlobalShop show floor by the store planning/design firms that conceived them.

Space Design, Schenectady, N.Y., presented the store interiors it created for department store chain Mercantile Stores, Cincinnati. Recently rolled out in 125 department stores nationwide, the design displays Mercantile's private-label clothing line. To pique the interest of professional males aged 25-45 years old who work at home or bring some corporate work to a home office, Space Design gave its prototype a domestic feel.

"This might appeal to a professional in Seattle," said Jim Burg, Space Design president. In the living room-like forefront are trays of wheat grass and clear glass tables all sitting in a tray of coffee beans. Burg uses all woods and earth tone carpets in the design, which can be downsized to fit most stores and even mall kiosks.

Cosmetic manufacturer Clinique, a division of Estee Lauder, New York, hired the Oklahoma Fixture Co., Tulsa, Okla., to design and build a modular merchandiser designed for in-store selling or mall corridor kiosks. Now headed for an undisclosed Tennessee mall and other locations, including university bookstores, the plastic laminate (color core) merchandiser is white to suggest a clinical look. The strategy behind the design is to eliminate the traditional counter that acts as a barrier between customer and salesperson.

Subliminal touches include the 23-degree angle of the display, which is more inviting and private than straight lines, plus the rounded edges and corners which emulate the trends in today's autos and housewares.

Instead of masses of shelves for books, bookstore trends point more toward personalized merchandising, as depicted in a display by Electra Communication, Islandia, N.Y. A single title can be emphasized or an entire category such as gardening with various titles can be romanced, said the company, which showed its prototype at GlobalShop.

"Bookstores no longer want to sell just the bestseller that all the mass merchants are selling too," said Carlo Alessi, president of design/image conception firm, Jensen Alessi & Associates Inc., New York, which Electra hired for this project. "With a change of focus, booksellers like Barnes & Noble or Borders are looking for new designs that stray from the wood and warmth of the past to a more industrial look with metals, glass and faux masonry," Mr. Alessi said.

Electra also provided an example of romancing a store name for brand awareness with a coffee area. It displayed this prototype using its own corporate name for identity. By private labeling as many things as possible under a store logo, the image of the store is increased. Thus, name recognition tends to stay with customers long after they leave the store, said Mr. Alessi, who conceived the merchandising for Electra.

Design Performance Group, Knoxville, Tenn., designed a merchandising concept for outdoor wear and footwear manufacturer, LaCrosse. Playing on the outdoor theme, DPG used floor tile simulating water and stone from Amtico International, Atlanta. The entire appearance simulates a camping outpost or lodge. DPG went to great lengths to gather and custom design weathered-looking materials such as the steel slatwall brackets that sport a surface of rust under a clear glaze. Designer Judy Fenton, senior projects manager at DPG, said the prototype will roll out to 50-100 department stores, recreation equipment outlets and hunting/fishing shops this year.