Hart of the Manor

Sara Emma Hall opened her decorative accessories and gift store, Hart-Hall Ltd., in 1981, in a historic house located in a one-time residential neighborhood of Meridian, Mississippi. Situated on a former trolley line that connected residents to nearby downtown, the house and neighborhood have seen a lot of changes over the years. Today, the neighborhood is zoned for light commercial use. Merchants, such as Hart-Hall, and professionals, such as lawyers and doctors, have saved many of the old homes for use as places of business.

Operating a business in a 3,000-square-foot house that celebrated its 100th birthday a few years ago presents many challenges — particularly keeping everything clean and organized, according to Sara Emma. But it also presents a number of unique opportunities. For one thing, there are all those rooms, which create self-defined departments. "We categorize by room," Hall explains.

A tour of house begins at the side entrance, which Hart-Hall uses as it's main entrance for better traffic flow. Beyond the foyer is the front room, which showcases china, crystal, linens, and other high-end bridal product displayed in table settings. Across the hall, a second room houses decorative accessories, and another room showcases lamps and rugs. Still another room presents casual china, linens, and pottery — as well as gourmet treats during the holidays — in a brightly colored atmosphere with a distinctly "coastal" flavor.

A small bathroom and dressing area have been converted into a baby boudoir, showering shoppers with sterling silver and personalized goods, baby albums, and a wide range of receiving blankets. There is also a "smell-good" room full of candles and potpourri. The former kitchen at the rear of the house now serves as the study, a refuge for masculine gifts. The center hall that runs the length of the house holds bed and bath products. Fireplace mantels in each room serve as visual merchandising fixtures, and the glassed-in front porch is used for seasonal window displays.

In Hart-Hall's foyer, Sara Emma set an objective to visually merchandise different styles of home accessories in order to show how well the different styles can work together. She wanted to inspire her regular customers to take more chances with their own decorating by incorporating unexpected elements to create distinctive looks.

As a background for her displays, Hall painted the foyer walls a rich tangerine. She used turquoise paint for the trim and decorative grillwork over the doorways. The fireplace mantel remained Chinese red with gold-painted highlights. The room's decorative columns and matching display pedestals were treated with a verdigris (antique copper) faux finish to add a sense of surprise and excitement at the thought of visitors approaching a Queen Anne-style home, then passing into such an exotic setting on the other side of the door.

Adding to the exotic air of the interior, Hall set about merchandising the foyer with an eclectic mix of product. The placement of traditional Western pieces alongside Asian and contemporary merchandise encourages customers to expand their own ideas and options.

A highly decorated Asian chest is accessorized with lamps sporting pink-striped, beaded shades. A low Chinese scroll table handsomely displays jade-and-verdigris-colored urns.

Elsewhere, a black piano-style bench is upholstered with a kilim fabric. Persian rugs lay underfoot, framed prints of exotic fruits and flowers adorn a wall, and a vase filled with peacock feathers sits on the mantelpiece. These represent just a few of the exotic vignettes Sara Emma Hall has designed.

The rich setting also permits Hart-Hall Ltd. to offer some more expensive accessories. Most importantly, however, as Sara Emma explains, "It allows us to present familiar merchandise in a very unfamiliar way."

And how have Hart-Hall's customers responded to all these changes? Sara Emma says that the dramatic visual merchandising statement resulted in a tremendous boost to sales of small furniture pieces, rugs, and lamps (especially those of unusual designs).

Since these items represent the larger ticket prices in the store's inventory, their increased sales have impacted the bottom line nicely. Hart-Hall's annual sales have reached as high as $600,000.

There aren't many house tours that can claim that.