Off-roading is all about wide-open spaces and finding a little room to move. Selling motorcycles, ATVs, and their accessories dictates square footage rarely found outside a NASA shuttle hangar, so the problem of organizing the merchandise is formidable. Faced with the enormity of expanding their 60,000 square-foot San Bernardino showroom, Chaparral Motorsports, one of the West Coast’s biggest off-road retailers, retained TRIO Display to organize the acreage.

“One of the priorities was getting more product out of the back and onto the floor,”� said Bryan Stirle, TRIO General Manager and the project lead. “We also wanted to improve the overall look of the store. It was dated and flat.”

“We also created a directional path into the product showroom, taking the customers past the bikes and into the accessories.”

The client also wanted to improve the buying process. “We designed a central counter and plotted out a couple of satellite counters,”� said Stirle. “With a store this size, you need more than a few counters to expedite the buying process. We also created a directional path into the product showroom, taking the customers past the bikes and into the accessories. The remodel was done while they were open for business, so that complicated the installation some.”

TRIO replaced plain gray institutional style displays with custom wood racks. Different woods demarcate the different product lines, while the huge variety of product sizes and shapes—helmets, gloves, fenders—sent the design team to the boards to draw up custom fixtures. One of more interesting adaptations is a gondola h-unit outfitted with slatwall. This brings the flexibility afforded by the impressive (and inexpensive) array of standard slatwall fixtures to a floor display.

“We changed the flooring out,”� said Stirle. “We went with a broadloom carpet and floor tiles. The carpet tiles are smart for a retail environment like this, where you’ll see a lot of wear. If the floor becomes worn or stained for some reason, all you have to do is replace a couple of tiles rather than re-carpet the whole area.”

The Chaparral project is a clear example of how professional retail store designers can not only help you conceptualize your retail space, but also organize it to merchandise more efficiently.

Custom Slatwall H-Unit	Acrylic T-shirt Display	Custom Helmet Display
The space, pre-organized	Integrated table and form display	Custom Service Counter

By Eric Fairbanks
What is retail store theming and why is it important? Theming is expressing a marketing/brand concept through a store’s fixtures, displays, and merchandising scheme. For example: Trio Display designed a team store for the New York Islanders and implemented theming in the form of custom-built hockey stick clothes racks and gravity-fed puck dispensers, and even flooring that resembled a hockey rink. The store became not just a retail store but a destination for rabid Islanders fans all over the Eastern Seaboard.

This isn’t an isolated example of successful theming—more famously, Disneyland has taken theming to the nth degree in their every retail endeavor to spectacular effect.

As you might guess, the value of theming in retail store design is incalculable—literally. But while it is hard to quantify effects of theming, the power of theming is unquestioned. “There may be hundreds of clothing stores in your town, so theming is the way to set your store apart, make it stand out from the crowd,” said TRIO Store Designer Bill Mondigo. “Theming is especially important for niche retailers as a way to identify and brand themselves in the customer’s mind.” (Branding is the art of establishing an emotional association with your product/service.)

“I usually relate theming to a niche
or the industry,
or I’ll develop an architectural theme,”
Jeff Grant

So how do you theme? “I usually relate theming to a niche or the industry, or I’ll develop an architectural theme,” said Jeff Grant, TRIO Display Head Designer. What you’re aiming for, Jeff said, is a coherent, unified message from floor-to-ceiling and wall-to-wall. Such was the case with the work TRIO did with West Coast Corvette. The TRIO store design department delved into the long history of the most famous of the American muscle cars and designed thematic fixtures that reflected the rich heritage of the brand. Trio’s designers researched period photos and old Corvette images and icons and incorporated them into a consistent design “voice.” The finished result included a store-wide black-and-white checkered flag paint job, branded slatwall fixtures, and the extensive use of Corvette graphics, photo blow-ups, and signage. The net effect: customers felt like they were entering “Corvetteland,” and they loved it.

Theming can range from imprinting your store’s logo in the entry flooring to neon signs in the ceiling. It does not have to be costly but it does take some thought. Even the small details such as the fixturing around the POS counter and service counter can be themed to elevate your brand in your customer’s mind. The more expensive the merchandise, the more important store atmospherics and theming become. Obviously, the intent of merchandising and presentation in a dollar store is vastly different than merchandising in a jewelry store. To put it another way: you won’t find a wire “dump bin”� in a Porsche dealership (maybe a finely wrought “accessory receptacle”� made from brushed stainless steel).

Specialty stores have been, historically, the provenance of retail theming. Marketing to a narrow psychographic offers rich opportunities to theme. Successful surf shops require big action graphics and numerous video monitors running non-stop big airs and bigger wipeouts against a sonic backdrop of flavor-of-the-moment punk or metal. The theming even runs to the staffing—hardcore late teens and early twentysomethings man the counters because they can talk to the customers on a peer-to-peer level. Same note, different symphony: If you were to open a retail store specializing in environment-friendly products, you would retain staff well-versed in the language of the clientele (dubbed the “Organics” by some) and might consider displaying clothing on hangers made of recycled paper. You could even “scent the brand” with artfully placed burning incense.

The increasing rise of specialization in retail stores in response to an ever more crowded marketplace and online shopping means that theming is going to become more vital no matter the product or clientele. It may even make the difference between a stellar or a “so-so” 2007 for your store. How do you get your store themed? Talk to an experienced store designer. Give him your ideas, your products, the demographic, and a budget and let him develop the theme with your help.

Contact: Jeff Grant
800-454-4844
858-539-7550

SAN DIEGO, March 5, 2007 – Retailers can double the merchandising power of their slatwall accessories with economy-priced floor displays from TRIO Display.

“Stores owners can take their slatwall wire bins, duron bullnose shelving, hooks, acrylics, and waterfalls off the wall and onto the floor,” said Jeff Grant, president of TRIO Display. “Our economy-priced slatwall saves money by standardizing wall and floor displays.”

Priced under $200, slatwall floor displays are available in pinwheel, H-unit and tower configurations. They accept any standard slatwall accessory and come in a range of finishes including maple, cherry and white. All models can be ordered online at www.triodisplay.com/economyslatwall or by phoning 800-454-4844.

Slatwall is one of the most popular display solutions on the market, Grant said. When used in conjunction with acrylic, glass or metal accessories, slatwall panels and slatwall displays can effectively present virtually any product including apparel, gifts, books, jewelry, housewares and more.

Slatwall panels and fixtures are available in hundreds of laminates and veneers, which further enhances the versatility of this display system.

About Trio Display
Trio Display is a retail design and production company based in San Diego. Trio specializes in planning and outfitting retail spaces that “look good and sell goods.” Trio delivers effective, intelligent design that builds a relationship between brand and customer. Trio clients include many professional sports-team stores, the Ronald W. Reagan Presidential Library and Museum Bookstore, and the RMS Titanic exhibit store. To order from the Trio catalog, visit www.triodisplay.com/catalog or call 800-454-4844.

About Jeff Grant
With more than 20 years’ experience designing and outfitting successful retail spaces, Trio Display president and chief designer Jeff Grant works with 1,000-plus merchants annually designing stores, supplying retail fixtures and displays, and dispensing advice, ideas and suggestions. He can be contacted at jeff@triodisplay.com

Trio Display ATTN: PR 955 Turquoise Street San Diego, CA 92109

Looks like the days of grubby, grimy tire-dealer showrooms might be coming to an end. At least two tire dealers are making that happen, according to an article in Modern Tire Dealer.

I love what these guys did. One installed a 46-inch flat-screen TV and a Wi-Fi counter in his customer lounge. The other put in a kids’ play area complete with fully stocked toy box to make moms feel more at ease.

Both dealers completely modernized their customer areas to make a normally unpleasant task–buying tires, accessories and services–more of a pleasant retail experience. Both are independent operators, so there was no corporate bureaucracy to overcome when it came to design issues.

A chain franchise tire dealer I went to not long ago seemed to be moving in the same direction. The customer waiting area was clean enough and had comfortable seats. But newspapers and old magazines were all over the place. The TV was definitely not flat screen, and reception was lousy thanks to the rabbit-ear antenna. The windows were dirty (unlike those of a dealer in the article, who makes sure his are cleaned regularly,) which added to the grime factor. I’ll be looking for a more pleasant place to buy tires next time.

Even if you’re not in the tire or automotive business, I suggest you read the article for some great retail advice. As one tire dealer says, “Retailers have to do something to stand out.” And he’s not just full of hot air.

If you like good design, you should know about DESIGN 21: Social Design Network. It’s a new online community dedicated to addressing global social concerns.

“But Jeff, I have enough trouble keeping my own store’s design fresh and inviting,” I hear you say. Well, if you join DESIGN 21 for free, you can learn about design through its articles and member forums.

DESIGN 21 isn’t strictly for retailers like you and me, though. It started in 1995 as the International Design Award to promote a spirit of understanding and sharing among young creators of different cultures.

DESIGN 21 takes in the big picture, discussing how design affects people around the world. It even has a relationship with UNESCO, which is sponsoring a contest open to all kinds of designers. You could win cash prizes and recognition if you:

• Design an awareness campaign to educate the public on the issue of global warming.
• Design an object that encourages children to cultivate their own imagination and creativity.
• Design a temporary emergency shelter for deployment in a natural disaster.

You can get all the contest details by visiting DESIGN 21 online. If you really want to think outside the box�or at least outside your store�think about entering the contest. At the very least, it will challenge you to think of how design affects the world beyond your front door.