Radiant Orchid, Eyes & Butterflies!
Retailworks' designers and display artists headed down to Chicago earlier this week to attend the International Home + Housewares Show where exhibitors introduced thousands of new products.
Keynote speaker, Leatrice (Lee) Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute, discussed the 9 color palettes for 2015, and the chosen color of the year, "Radiant Orchid." She also mentioned that butterflies, bicycles, women's eyes, and men's mustaches will be popular trends. Our designers and display artists loved seeing the beautiful and sometimes innovative ways housewares can be merchandised, but were most impressed with the way the 9 color palettes were displayed in 2-D and 3-D. Check out a photo-tour of their favorite things. They got a little snap-happy!
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Lyn and Bambi Headed South to Jacksonville To Lead Downtown Revitalization Workshop
That's Jacksonville, Illinois, not Florida. But hey, five hours south is five hours south!
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Product Profile: Bike Furniture Design
As we wait for the snow to melt (and stop falling!) we may not be able to comfortably ride our bikes in the Midwest yet. But purchase one of Andy Gregg's creations and we can at least sit down in the saddle!
Bike Furniture Design specializes in making contemporary furniture made primarily from recycled bicycles and motorcycles. Steel, aluminum, wheels, handlebars and frames are all utilized in his creations.
His collection includes chairs, tables, clocks, mirrors and more. We love the instant conversation pieces these items would bring to a space.
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Client Spotlight: Afro Fusion Cuisine
We are delighted to be working with Yollande Tchouapi Deacon, owner of Afro Fusion Cuisine. A native Bantu from the Bamileke tribe of Cameroon in West Africa, Yollande moved to Milwaukee in 2001 to pursue her MBA scholarship at Marquette University. Thankfully, for local foodies, Yollande made Milwaukee her home. She was raised in a family where social interactions were centered around food making. She has combined her African heritage with the tastes of Jamaica to create her mouthwatering line of recipes and products.
We have been working with Yollande to create a booth display, complete with a table covering, banner signage, wood risers to showcase her sauces and spice pots, and coordinating props that infuse her booth with her African heritage. We're also designing display containers for her products in retail stores.
You can find Afro Fusion at Good Harvest Market, Outpost Natural Foods, Sendiks store Mequon, Sendiks New Berlin, Cermak Milwaukee, Oilivia Market Chicago, Riverwest Co-op and coming soon at Whole Foods.
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Retail Rally Hits Racine/Kenosha
Don't miss speaker Bambi Grajek-Specter as she shares customer service secrets learned from her years at the Milwaukee Art Museum where she served as Director of Store Operations and then as Director of Visitor Experience on the senior management team.
Other dynamic speakers will discuss the value of an online store, share marketing tips and give answers to your retail questions.
The class will be held at WWBIC Racine, 245 Main St.
Suite 102, from 7:30 to noon.
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Spring Ahead:
Nature Used in Design
Bringing the outside in is so appealing to people, particularly in colder climates. With the winter that just won't quit this year, being able to escape to a retreat-that at least makes you feel like you are someplace warm and sunny- can do wonders for your disposition.
The RH flagship store in Boston did just that when it renovated the former Boston Society of Natural History building and created this beautiful, serene space complete with towering olive trees. (View the restoration here.)
No wonder extending the olive branch is viewed as a peaceful gesture. This space complete with warm lighting exudes a serene, zen feel, yet is hip and trendy at the same time. RH also uses nature throughout the space in their displays, a softscape against many of the hard wood tables and strong lines of RH furniture.
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Did you Know?
Banks Don't Need to
Be Boring!
We've all gotten so used to stopping at our local bank, complete with drab carpeting and furniture, uninspired artwork, and an overall generic feel, that we've never expected anything different.
Retail Design Institute's 2013 Store of the Year Award is challenging those preconceptions with their new bank/gathering spot /commu- nity center/super cool design space.
You won't believe this is a bank! Watch this short video to see their space in action.
And call us if you work for a financial institution that could use an uber-cool interior! We'd love to create a space that gets your community talking abou ( and banking with) you!
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Display Tip
Oversized Props Get Attention! Large-scale props are fun and attention-getting! They make people, smile, laugh, and engage with the display. (Selfie in front of the ginormous fill-in-the blank, anyone?)
So put your thinking cap on and think about what would be a good oversized prop to put outside your front door. And then prop that door open and give curious onlookers a warm welcome.
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"Never underestimate the power of a well-designed environment." ~Lyn Falk
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