A Display Philosophy

Just one year ago, The Burlap Horse in Boerne, Texas, won a REA Gold Award for store design. Owners Jeff and Melissa Haberstroh designed and built their 2,450-square-foot antiques, home furnishings, and gift emporium in this tourist town 30 miles from San Antonio. The style they selected was a traditional home of the region (settled in the 1800s by English and German immigrants), utilizing limestone, reclaimed long leaf pine, and other indigenous materials.

Once the new location opened for business, the Haberstrohs set about presenting their merchandise in the best possible light, showcasing it in inventive displays.

Melissa and Jeff run their business based on a philosophy, which they presented in their entry materials for the 2005 REA competition:

“Melissa believes that a successful boutique-style store offers an experience and an atmosphere. It lures the client with a friendly environment, pleasant music, enticing aromas, good conversations, and a warm welcome. From the beginning, she mastered these elements to set herself apart from the big box retailers in nearby San Antonio.

“Melissa uses visual merchandising to bring in new shoppers, bring back established shoppers, and keep both curious. She strives to create fullness without overcrowding the store — an edited, gallery-style setting allows her clients easy movement and elevates products to a higher status. Her clients know that she and Jeff carefully hand-select each product and display it in unusual ways. This style provides the best of both worlds for an educated, busy clientele. If they have the time, they can meander through the store and experience the surprises; or if they're in a hurry, they can purchase with confidence, knowing that the Haberstrohs have carefully selected each product from the multitudes available.”

The Haberstrohs work professionally when creating displays. Melissa sketches ideas in her composition book, adds pages from trade and shelter magazines, and makes notes. Jeff, a skilled woodworker and contractor, executes concepts such as an L-shaped wall unit constructed of plywood and architectural trim with an antique pine door. A white wire grid at the top of the unit adds rigidity and provides a merchandise hanger that adds verticality to the display space. The unit can also be broken down for storage or for off-site use.

Another of Jeff's creations is an interior canopy that hangs over the front window. Like a large valance fashioned from crown molding, the canopy disguises a wire grid for suspending merchandise, which is then visible from both inside and outside the store. The canopy is supported by handsome wall braces, giving the whole the look of an historic storefront. These somewhat elaborate display merchandisers are necessary in The Burlap Horse because of its open-floor design, high ceilings, and multitude of windows.

The elements Melissa seeks to include in her displays are theme, color, realistic setting, and last but not least, whimsy. Well known in the area for holiday windows that mix whimsy with tradition, Melissa realized that many Burlap Horse customers would make only annual visits, drawn by the store's elaborate displays. What she'd failed to do was include that whimsical element in her other displays throughout the year.

But all that has changed. Enter The Burlap Horse today, and you're likely to see a fantastically dressed frog in a swing next to petite Spanish bookcases, or a scarecrow sitting on a cake plate surveying the pottery that surrounds it. Though it may seem effortless, Melissa is the first to admit that combining elegant antiques and home furnishings with humor and whimsy is not always easy.

Among her favorite items for product styling are garden elements; beans, rice, and coffee; branches, stones, and moss; and, of course, burlap (for curtain panels, tablecloths, and bedding). The Burlap Horse displays also feature prices and product details, accompanied by a photo from a manufacturer's catalog.

In the end, Melissa knows that a display works if it fulfills her concept of “Hill Country French,” the tag line of The Burlap Horse inspired by her love of the Texas hill country and French-inspired design.

The Haberstroh's emphasis on effective displays showed up on the store's bottom line in 2004, including a 10 percent increase in sales over the year before, an increase in customer time spent in the store, and an expanded loyal customer base.

Working from a specific retail philosophy in designing, building, and merchandising displays with professional skill is the reason Gifts & Decorative Accessories selected The Burlap Horse a 2005 REA Gold Award winner for Visual Merchandising.