Despite all my throwing around of the word ‘LA’, we actually spend very little time in the actual County of Los Angeles – we spend about 5 weeks a year visiting with our friends who live in Orange County California and MAYBE a day or two out of that we drive through or go into LA for a day… we don’t even fly in & out of LAX anymore -we use the local airport – it’s great! We can be on the freeway within 20 minutes of landing at the John Wayne Airport – we can’t even get our bags at LAX in that time!
As a Visual Merchandising Consultant I am always looking for new ideas and inspiration for store layout, merchandising, displays and window design. This morning I woke up early and wandered around Fashion Island in Newport Beach. I fell in love with this mall a few years ago because of its outside shopping center style and the large cabana style seating areas – not to mention all my favourite stores.
Unfortunately, today I only had my husbands 7D camera… not exactly a discrete camera to take photos where you are not supposed to… taking photos in a store or mall is a BIG NO-NO, security often acts like it is illegal… I’ve been given the choice many times to either put away my camera or be escorted out of the store or mall, so I have learned to be careful not to get caught… and this time I didn’t get may good photos… I, like all the other visual merchandisers, marketers and designers have to pretend we are checking messages on our Blackberries to snap a photo on our phones or gather in groups to hide the camera to quickly grab the shot… we all steal ideas! I remember working in catalogue marketing years ago and we would order the competitors catalogues & flyers so we could look through them for ideas on layouts and product shots. What was really great was when we see our ideas being recycled in THEIR catalogues! I took it as a compliment! and I still do today – I saw Lululemon using MY idea in their window this winter!
I just LOVE these Anthropologie widows – they made two dresses out of drycleaner hangers! The widow doesn’t have any of products they actually sell but it’s so creative and fun!
I LOVE Kate Spade…
But.,. even with a great marketing campaign:
Colour is a cleaver thing.
It makes the world bolder, brighter, better….
I still can not embrace the florescent colours… twice. I was part of it in the 80’s and I will not be participating this time around.
This was not the only store I spotted the florescent colours – they were EVERYWHERE… i am beginning to think i might have to come around on this one and pull out my oversized Frankie goes to hollywood RELAX tee.
But those aren’t merchandising & Display trends… stores are still selling though the winter stuff , so today I spotted lots of sale windows still… as the new product comes in the windows are starting to transition into wonderful spring inspired themes. RENOVATIONS are a HUGE theme this year… in ladies & men’s fashions… do you find that odd too?
Many of the stores had ladders, paint cans and one store went as far as a pile of staircase spindles and mannequins were planted amongst them – it wasn’t a particularly attractive window and me with my BIG camera, I didn’t want to get kicked out by taking THAT photo.
This is just one of its nearly 40 restaurants in Fashion Island… there’s also a CheeseCake Factory!!!! I love that it feels warm to me but they have the patio heaters on for the native Californians!