I had never heard of Wegmans supermarkets until I read about them in the Cincinnati Enquirer. But millions of shoppers swear by them. And it’s not just because of the food and other merchandise they carry. It’s because of the employees.

Stories like this underscore how important customer service is to the shopping experience. Like other successful retailers, Wegmans treats its employees as assets. They receive formal training on the products Wegman carries, plus detailed information on cooking or innovating with those products. Customers love it, so they become very loyal to Wegmans.

“Employees believe they have ownership in the company’s success, and that translates into their taking responsibility for how the company performs” is how a business school dean describes Wegmans’ philosophy.

Think about the retail stores where you know you’ll be treated courteously, with respect, with the salesperson’s full attention. Some that come to mind are Nordstrom, Sharper Image, Men’s Wearhouse, REI, Williams-Sonoma, even Outback Steakhouse. It’s very evident that these firms train employees to “get it” that the customer is priority one. No one at these places has ever called my wife and me “you guys.” (Well, maybe once or twice at Outback.)

There’s no reason your staff can’t be instilled with the same kind of customer focus. It doesn’t have to be a formal training program. Just some important do’s and don’ts about how to greet, inform and assist your customers. If you can’t come up with any ideas, take your staff to a store you admire. Be a mystery shopper for attitude rather than merchandise. Or look online for customer-service tips on sites like About.com.

I’ve noticed lately that the staff at places like Vons, Cost Plus World Market and Coco’s are more helpful than before. They look you in the eye, listen to your questions and are eager to help. If these guys–I mean these staff member–can do it, so can your guys, gals and other valued employees.

Anti-Fatigue Mats From TRIO Display
Help Boost Employee Comfort

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

SAN DIEGO, May 9, 2007 – Retail employees who spend a lot time on their feet can find relief with anti-fatigue floor mats from TRIO Display.

“The soft surface of our mats causes subtle muscle movement that increase blood flow and, subsequently, combat fatigue,” said Jeff Grant, president of the retail design and store-fixture firm.

According to a formal study by ergonomist Mark Redfern for the University of Michigan, anti-fatigue mats can reduce employee discomfort and fatigue by up to 50 percent. The thick padding also cushions in the event of a fall.

“For employees who stand behind a counter for hours at a time, our open-cell anti-fatigue mats can boost morale and productivity. We even carry tradeshow mats that are a real lifesaver for staff working at exhibit halls, which are known for their hard floors.”

Mats from TRIO Display provide the following benefits:

* Durability: The top surface is an elastomeric material made of 100% polyurethane, the same material used for spray-on truck bed liners.
* Safety: Edges are gently beveled to eliminate tripping hazard.
* Lightweight: A 3-foot-long, 2-foot-wide, half-inch thick mat weighs just 3 pounds.
* Easy Maintenance: They wipe with soap and water.
* Guarantees: Each mat comes with a one-year warranty on manufacturers’ defects and a five-year warranty on wear-through of the top surface.

The mats are available in various lengths and thicknesses, and in a variety of colors. Prices range from $69 to $599.

To view TRIO Display’s selection of anti-fatigue mats, visit www.triodisplay.com/mats. To talk to a customer service representative, call 800-454-4844.

About TRIO Display
TRIO Display is a retail design and store-fixture company based in San Diego, California. 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

Badges, and the earning of them, is a cornerstone of the Scouting experience, but merchandising them proved to be a knotty problem.

Birds nesting, Spring Break, St. Patrick’s Day, opening day of baseball…and swarms of fierce green-clad girls descending upon unsuspecting neighborhoods and malls nationwide peddling addictive baked goods. The Girl Scout Cookie drive is now firmly entrenched as a rite of spring, and this year it included knocking on the door of TRIO Display. The girls in green wanted to design their new Irvine, California, store. “Who can say ‘no’ to the Girl Scouts?”� said Jeff Grant, TRIO Display President and Head Designer.

Gina Magee, Girl Scout
Council of Orange County’s Senior Director of Membership and Sales, gave Jeff and the design team a complicated design directive: Make the 1000 square-foot space feel like “Gap Kids meets Roxy” and reflect the Scout core values of courage, confidence, and character.

TRIO Store Designer Bill Mondigo started with the window display, building out a six-foot backing wall to compartmentalize the display while still allowing as much natural light to filter through to the interior as possible. The display allotted space for the big graphics so integral to any teen marketing endeavor on the back wall and raised mannequin platforms.

Badges, and the earning of them, is a cornerstone of the Scouting experience, but merchandising them proved to be a knotty problem. After much brainstorming, the TRIO designers came up with a custom floor display involving mini-bins made of clear Lucite. Slatwall pinwheels, display tables, and H-units fill out the rest of the floor space.

Magee opted for painted surfaces—bright, energetic colors like lime greens and bright pinks—and carpet floors to soften the space. Track lighting makes the lighting design flexible and quick to respond to changes in merchandising.

The store is looking at a July grand opening. (And to the inevitable cookie query: No, you won’t find Samoas there out of season.)

I remember the early days of Crate and Barrel. Their funky-looking stores seemed out of place in the large shopping malls they inhabited. Some even had real crates and barrels as part of the decor, as I recall.

How times have changed. C&B’s mall stores are among the most inviting anywhere, usually in prime locations. But their standalone stores are something else altogether. They’re gorgeous inside and out, with strong geometric design, lots of glass to let outside light flood in and great traffic flow for customers. Take a look at their online store locator for a few exterior photos. A new standalone C&B is opening in San Diego this summer and I can’t wait to experience it inside and out.

A recent article on the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s website talks about how the CEO/founder obsesses on good architecture and good design. “Beautiful things have a longer life than ugly things,” he says. “And they make people feel better.”

Of course, he can afford to follow through with outstanding design now that C&B has an in-house architecture department. But he started out small. He understood that consumers wanted stylish home accessories at affordable prices. Now that he’s got a successful merchandise mix, he’s turned the stores themselves into eye candy. And I, for one, love it. So do my friends and family members who’ve shopped there.

The lesson: Customers are attracted to retail stores that are visually exciting. It doesn’t have to cost you a fortune. Some new paint, new fixtures and a clever window display can get you started.

I encourage all my clients to visit places like C&B, Ikea and The Apple Store to see what the design leaders are up to. It’s a great education that won’t cost you a cent–unless you give in and buy something, like I usually do.

It used to be that retailers opened a real store first, then migrated some or all of the merchandise to an e-commerce website. That’s what I did, anyway. But eventually I dropped the brick-and-mortar store in favor of e-commerce.

Now it looks like the opposite is happening for some savvy merchandisers. I call it “retailing in reverse.” This great article in the Chicago Tribune tells how successful online-first retailers are getting into real storefronts with good reason: to drive more traffic to their websites.

It can make good sense. As a researcher says in the article, “…it doesn’t hurt to be where most consumers are still spending their money.” With online sales still only grabbing only 4.7 percent of total U.S. retail sales, physical stores are going to be shoppers’ main destination for quite a while.

If you’re reading this, you probably have a brick-and-mortar store yourself, and possibly an e-commerce website. You probably owe it to yourself to learn if your online-only competition has any plans to retail in reverse. Even if their websites don’t mention it, call or e-mail the main office. Say you want to learn if they’ll be opening a store in your area soon. If so, start tweaking your merchandise so you can compete head-on.

We’re pretty close to opening a retail store to support our online surf-art gallery, www.WaveridersGallery.net. It seems like a good fit in the surfing haven we live in, San Diego’s Pacific Beach. It will be a good way to find out if the reverse-retailers have the right idea. If the real gallery boosts sales at the online version, I’ll know for sure that this trend isn’t all wet.

Two articles about retailing caught my attention today. Each addresses the importance of visual merchandising to ensure repeat customers. One is about frequently redesigning your store, the other is about frequently changing your window displays.

In my experience, each approach is vital for keeping customers interested in your place of business. I’m not sure you need to change the inside layout almost daily, like the home-furnishing store does. Nor do you need to come up with a new window display every three weeks, like the clothing stores do.

A lot of storeowners tell me they’re so busy with inventory, pricing and buying that it’s hard to devote time to interior and exterior merchandising. I tell them they don’t have to. Plenty of full- and part-time interior designers and window dressers are willing to help out at reasonable rates. You can even consider students at local art or design schools. Put an ad on Craigslist.com that says you’re looking for talented people and I think you’ll be overwhelmed by the response. Or search the Resumes section to find potential candidates.

Keeping your store fresh-looking signals that you’re giving customers a new experience every time they shop. They’ll keep coming back not just for the merchandise, but also to feel like they’re buying from someone who’s dialed in to retail.

Go ahead. Be a trendsetter. Your customers will reward you for it. The home-furnishings guy has a great outlook: “We never followed trends. We like to create our own.”