Top Trim Tips
Meredith Schwartz -- Gifts and Dec, 7/25/2011 5:55:59 AM
Miss Cayce's puts trees on tables — or pianos — and puts more merchandise underneath.
BECKY MCCRANEY of Miss Cayce's Christmas Store and Show Me Decorating gives her five top tips for making holiday sales look up.
Take your decorating displays to new heights - literally. Because fl oor space is at a premium, we have utilized our vertical space to the max. Bulky and oversized ornaments, balls and decorations can be hung from chains attached to ceiling supports to create an interesting and color ful display "column" from ceiling to floor. Chain can be purchased at the local hardware store and decorative items are attached to it with S hooks, ornament hooks or clips, depending on the weight.
2 Hanging wreath trees free up the floor space in a small area to be used for more gift items and decorations.
3 Upside-down or umbrella trees are great on top of pedestals and shelving. For example, in our Christmas Sports area, we used an umbrella tree on top of a yellow shelf unit (we secured the shelf and tree to the wall for safety). This allowed us to use the shelf to display the gift items for this theme underneath the tree.
An upside down tree atop shelving stores extra goods at Miss Cayce
4 Elevate your Christmas trees on top of tables! Skirted tables hide back stock merchandise and allow for more gift items and decorations to be displayed.
5 Raise ornaments to eye level. We use vertical peg board and slat board displays to bring our ornaments up off the floor and out of baskets. Customers can easily view ornaments without bending over and digging through baskets - this also helps with breakage! We had a huge jump in sales of our ornaments when they were out of the package and easily accessible to the customer. It also frees up floor space.
JULIE O'SHAUGHNESSY of One Hundred 80 Degrees shared the following tricks from the company's showroom design experts.
Chains suspended from ceiling supports lets Miss Cayce's create a "column" effect.
1 Use thematic props. To show off the company's Space Theme ornaments, "Instead of a tree, we mounted globes to the wall and suspended the ornaments from the globes, helping tell the story that they are from outer space! Many retailers took photos of this and were going to replicate in their stores," says O'Shaughnessy.
2 Branch Out. Long Branches can be weighed down with ornaments, springs, birds and icicles on purpose to recall a forest laden with snow and ice.
3 Shelf Help. Stack props, such as old TVs, to create impromptu display shelves. You can even make "shelves" in tree branches to hold larger items.
Staple storybook pages to Foamcore to recreate this simple effective background at One Hundred 80 Degrees; or collage a different paper for a different theme.
4 Give a background story. To add depth and interest to a simple display, use old pages from storybooks as the background. (This could also be done with maps, scraps of wrapping paper, etc.)
CHRIS TKACHUCK, Midwest- CBK's director of visual merchandising, agrees with McCraney about the importance of looking up, suggesting "Showcase ornaments and garlands on wreaths or chandeliers suspended from the ceiling."
1 Turn shutters and ladders into unique display fixtures in tight spaces. Use the slats or rungs as spots to load up ornaments.
2 Frame it up! Hang large frames on the wall and suspend ornaments from pretty ribbons for a polished look. Or try cork bulletin boards or ribbon boards.
3 Tabletop trees can be used in tight spaces such as on a table or counter, window ledges or secured to a wall. Or show multiple tabletop trees in a row or clustered on risers of varying heights. 
Stacked props create impromptu shelves to showcase product at One Hundred 80 Degrees.
Large glass apothecary jars and vessels make a big impact in a little space, and can even fit on the register counter. Fill with similar ornaments - for example, all glass baubles or all the same color - for maximum drama.
5 String clotheslines across the wall in several lines to showcase soft or unbreakable ornaments - or even hats, mittens, scarves and other holiday wearables - against a flat backdrop.
6 Faux or real evergreen wreaths display ornaments on walls and doors. Evergreen garlands are skinny enough to fit in corners and other slim spots.
7 Found objects such as antique post office wall bins provide unique settings for holiday displays. The nooks and crannies provide ample space to tuck ornaments, figures, tabletop pieces and other items.
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