STYLE WISE, by Colleen Heather Rogan: Holiday Shopping - Store Ambience and Inspiring Displays are a Must!

‘Tis the season to be jolly and for most of us, searching out gifts for family and friends has us popping into more stores than at any other time of the year. Which got me to thinking, what draws us to one store over another? For me, along with value and selection, visual presentation ranks high. After all, if I’m going to run myself ragged during the holiday season, shouldn’t I be able to enjoy some of the experience?

With time to find my sack full of gifts steadily ticking away, the holidays are stressful enough so the last place I want to shop is at a homogenized big box or discount store packed to the gills with tense shoppers. I am so over shops and merchandisers who think it’s all about the ‘get’, forgetting the importance and fun of the frills.  I don’t have the patience to canvas endless aisles, shelves and racks where the chance of finding something special is rather slim. Sure, these stores have their niche to fill, and yes I’ve shopped them, but when it comes to buying things that matter, I feel my money is better spent supporting those independent retailers who’ve put time and effort into thoughtfully presenting a well-edited selection of interesting merchandise that’s both invitingly displayed and easily shopped. 

In this economy, parting with money isn’t easy. Shoppers deserve and appreciate the appeal of say, a bath and body shop that incorporates a relaxing and soothing ambiance, a furnishings store filled with well styled engaging home decor vignettes or a fashion boutique’s spot-on interpretation of current style trends.

Attractive store design and eye catching visual merchandising is much more than window dressing, it’s smart business. Retailers worth their salt understand that one of the best ways to entice shoppers to buy and come back again is to provide them with a complete (and often transcendent) shopping experience.

Luckily when it comes to crossing names off my list, I can count on lots of local stores to deliver plenty of choices in enough new and clever ways to keep shopping interesting.  A few I’ll be heading to this season are Broadway Paper for terrific cards, artful wrapping paper and unusual ribbons; Embelezar, Juxt,Magnolia & Co., The Garden Room, Past Basket, Xenia, and Cranston for a potpourri of out of the ordinary gift items perfect for anyone on my list; Blush Beauty Boutique for a unique selection of quality men and women’s bath and body products and of course, since entertaining is such a staple of the season, George Watts & Sons is a must see for a peek at their always inspiring tabletop displays.

STYLE WISE, By Colleen Heather Rogan: Finding Retailworks and "I LOVE That Display!", Pink Tool Belts, and White Chocolate Cupcakes

Fortunately an education in fine arts, inherited skills of critique and observation and years of working in Manhattan’s fashion and magazine worlds have offered up an opportunity to explore my creative expression while also learning the powerful seduction inherent in all manner of style and design. Indeed, my career path has brought plenty of visual merchandising, photo styling and showroom design experiences as well as years of writing both national and local shopping features. That’s why it just seems to make a certain kind of sense to me that here I am singing the praises of entrepreneur Lyn Falk and her company Retailworks.

I first learned of Lyn’s unique talent as a retail designer when I wrote about Olive a really terrific home and fashion store promoting fine organic living, for my Savvy Shop feature in Milwaukee Magazine. One step inside the well-designed retail space and I felt immediately embraced by its aesthetically soothing palette and overall design. Better yet, the combination of well-displayed merchandise, artful fixtures and intrinsically cohesive layout made the store a breeze to shop.  Learning more about the full scope of creative services Lyn’s company has to offer has made me an even more enthusiastic fan. Frankly, Retailworks is one of the best resources in the city for any store, restaurant, salon or other business seeking expert design consultation, effective branding, professional architectural or interior design services as well as custom fixtures, furnishings and lighting and sales producing window and store displays.  Whatever the need, Lyn and her talented crew can be counted on to achieve it and always with tremendous style. Why they even manage to look stylish doing it! Just take note of the hot pink tool belts (available at Safetygirl.com) that designers Holley and Emily were wearing when I tracked them down at Kesslers Diamonds as they were busy dressing up the store for the holidays as part of Lyn’s, "I Love That Display!" division. Want a hint to how well Retailworks clients are treated? The team showed up with a tray of signature cupcakes custom made by the Milwaukee Cupcake Company to pass around. Yeah that’s right, I said cupcakes. Oh, and if you’re wondering who’s responsible for the cool contemporary overall design this fine jewelry store? Well no surprise, Retailworks, of course.