Retail Doom & Gloom: Crisis or Opportunity?

by | Jul 6, 2017

Mid Year State of the Market:  Maurisa Potts, in a mid year “state of the market” presentation sponsored by the Alexandria SBDC featured a headline stating, “Soft economy hitting big retailers hard.”  There are, I might add, some small ones not...

Designing for Various Retail Environments

by | Jul 18, 2016

Recently Carrie Rossenfeld wrote and article for the Globest.com dealing with current changes in the retail environment that are affecting how architects and designers approach a project.  The title, is The Changing Art of Designing Urban Retail Projects, is...

Store Design: Exploring the “Unbrand”

by | Sep 24, 2014

If you are a sometimes visitor to this site you may have seen me ponder the impacts of “unbrand” in previous posts.  With this recent article on “AdNews” I find myself again bestirred on the subject.  The gist of the article is that...

The Landlord Got it Right

by | Jan 4, 2014

      What does it say about a retailer when the most visible storefront window in the shopping center where they reside is a vacancy for rent by the landlord. I have blocked out the signs for these retailers and put them up in a gallery so as to show how the...

Advanced Visual Cognition

by | Nov 14, 2013

I guess I am too much of a cynic to think that this storefront design was anything other than a happy accident, nevertheless it demonstrates my principle of visual cognition, mistake or not.  The texture and pattern of the leafy backdrop causes the merchandise to...

The suggestive power of real display merchandising.

by | Sep 12, 2013

<►>Heals, UK Spring 2012 Is it time for a return to old fashioned department store display merchandising?  The allure of Heal’s colorful spring program is undeniable, fresh, maybe a new view of bygone expos?  The color is expertly used to glue the...