Visual Merchandising Display - Fairchild Books

larger retail stores, but there are problems as well. The biggest
problem is that the retailer is inviting stiff competition
into his or her sphere of retailing and opening up how the
store’s own lines are being presented in comparison with
the slick, professional look of most vendor shops. If the
retailer’s lines don’t look as good—or better—then the
retailer’s profit line can suffer.
The answer is to look to the visual aspects of the
business: the store’s design and the lighting; the visual
merchandising of the stock; the displays that add interest,
image, and personality; and the amenities provided for the
customer’s comfort and convenience.
Kiosks and Retail Merchandising
Units (RMUs)
Big-box stores and category killer stores are part of today’s
retail scene, but there is also action at the other end of
the retail scale. We are seeing small and compact retail
stores making an appearance, and some of them are on
wheels. They are moveable and can be brought to where
the shopper is.
Carts have been around since the advent of wheels. All
it takes to make a cart is a flat bed, a railing or fence to
keep the wares from tumbling off, a pair of wheels, and a
vertical post to keep the cart standing upright when not in
motion. Today the cart has evolved for more specific uses
and become a retail merchandising unit, or RMU. This new
hybrid has been appearing with more and more frequency
not only in the wide open aisles of malls and shopping centers,
but also in air terminals, train stations, movie houses,
ballparks, sporting arenas, museums, and a multitude of
other public spaces where people can gather and indulge in
browsing and shopping for fun.
The advantages of the kiosk/RMU are manifold: It is
moveable, adaptable, and compact and can go almost anywhere
and show off almost anything. The unit is readily
open for business and just as simply closed up at the end
of the business day. What makes it especially important
is that in a relatively small space—maybe 5 by 5 feet—it
is possible for a startup entrepreneur to test out a con-
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P a r t 5 : V i s u a l M e r c h a n d i s i n g a n d P l a n n i n g
Figure 26.5 The simplest cart combines a pair of large wheels with
legs that will help keep the unit upright when at rest. It is readily
moveable and can show merchandise on all four sides. There
is even a cash drawer in the compact design. Lighting here
would probably be battery operated. Design: Custom Woodcraft,
Little Elm, Texas.
cept or a new product and its possibilities for success in
the market without having to rent a store and furnish and
insure it. Neither does he have to stock much more merchandise
than needed on an RMU. If the RMU succeeds,
the next stop can be a move into an actual retail space.
In addition to being an incubator for a concept that can
grow and develop, it is also a means of bringing more visibility
to an existing brand name or product by having
it appear in malls and traffic centers in readily identifiable
and recognizable kiosks. Most ballparks and sporting
arenas have souvenir stores where team-endorsed products
can be purchased, but the management has found
that several RMUs spread around the park or arena are