Selfridges & Co Window Display's

Hear are some window displays that have inspired me, they are from all kinds of seasons, and are just amazing....

Visual Merchandiser

Visual Merchandiser is someone who designs windows for brands and companies, trying to keep the current costumers and bring new ones in, overall you are trying to increase sales.

As a visual merchandiser you would earning from 12,000 to 16,000 on the first year, then can go up to 20,000 with experience, if you then become a manger you could be earning anything from 25,000 to 45,000 a year.

What the job entails:

• designing ideas for displays, or following a company design plan
• creating special displays to promote a specific product or promotion
• drawing designs and plans by hand or computer
• deciding how to use space and lighting creatively
• creating branded visual merchandising packs to send to each branch of a store
• giving feedback to head office and buying teams
• setting up displays, dressing dummies, and arranging screens, fabric and posters
• hiring, borrowing or making props
• making sure that prices and other necessary details are visible
• coaching sales staff on how goods should be displayed
• taking down old displays.

Hours

In a full-time job you would work 37 to 40 hours a week, often including late evenings to set up displays when stores are closed. Part-time work may be available.

Putting up displays would mean spending a lot of time on your feet, lifting, carrying and climbing ladders. Working in shop windows can be hot and cramped.

You could be based at head office or in store. In jobs with chain stores, you might travel to different branches to set up displays and brief sales staff.

Skills & knowledge you need:

• a good sense of design, colour and style
• creativity and imagination
• good IT skills, for computer-aided design work
• a high level of attention to detail
• the ability to work to deadlines
• good communication skills
• practical skills, such as carpentry and needlework
• the ability to work well as part of a team and also alone
• stamina and fitness.

Selfridges & Co

Selfridges & co

Background information…

Selfridges is the United Kingdom’s high end department stores, coming second (after Harrods) is the biggest shop in the UK and was opened in 1906 March 15^th.

Harry Gordon Selfridge (owner) was born in 1858. He joined field Leiter and company, where he worked for the famous Chicago retailer; he worked hard and made his way up through the firm, he married into Buckingham family and amassed the fortune, which he then built his brand new store in London.

Gordon wanted his stores to be as about entertainment as retail, where mostly women could meet up with their friends and have fun together, he wanted the atmosphere to be a friendly social centre, not a merely places for shopping. He tried to make shopping a fun adventure rather than a chore.

Gordon was interested in education and science; therefore he attracted shoppers with educational and scientific exhibitions. He truly believed that displays would help getting new customers in and the current customers interested and making them want to come back for more if they could see what they could miss out on.

Visual Merchandising…

In 2003 the window displays where so good, that they became a tourist attraction, also being passed by thousands of people on foot, in cars and public transport every day, people can always see what’s new and going on, this shows that window displays are massively important as it increased there business up by 20% (according to VM fashion manager).

When Alison Jackson put her trade mark Tony Blair and David Beckham lookalikes in the window, it brought so much attention to Oxford Street, that police had to tell her she had to finish the project, as it was clogging up traffic and getting way too busy.

To a certain degree Selfridges has become famous for the company and where it has been located in Oxford Street in London. When the Selfridges building was a undergoing restoration, the scaffolding had a giant photograph of stars such as Elton John by Sam Taylor-Wood.

The window displays are always getting attention from tourists, designers and fashionistas alike to marvel at the current designs, styling and fashion trends.

Since 2002 the windows have been photographed by London Photographer Andrew Meredith he has been so successful his work is in things like Magazines such as:

· Vogue

· Dwell

· Icon

· Fame Magazine

· Creative Review

· Hungarian Stylus Magazine

· Design Week

· Harper’s Bazaar

· New York Times

· WGSN

And many more…

(He is someone I will be taking inspiration from his images, such as styling, what angels he has taken his images in and colours he has used in his photographic work.)

Selfridges has stores in

• London

• Birmingham

• Manchester Trafford

• Manchester Exchange square

Selfridges do seasons way in advanced, hear is a press release created on 27th July 2011, the reson for posting this is going behind the sense and knowing whats going on in ever aspect to get to know selfridges really well,


Press Release

EARLIEST EVER CHRISTMAS

EARLIEST EVER CHRISTMAS SHOP OPENING FOR
SELFRIDGES, 151 DAYS AHEAD OF CHRISTMAS DAY FOR
LONDON’S TOURISTS AS SELFRIDGES’ INTERNATIONAL
VISITORS INCREASE OVER 40 PER CENT (2011 COMPARED
TO 2010)
It may only be July, but London is soon about to embark on a more wintery world as Selfridges, the world’s leading
department store announces its earliest ever opening of its White themed Christmas shop which is scheduled to open
28th July, 149 days ahead of December’s big day.
Sales in previous years have proved that customers are ready to start thinking about Christmas in the summer, especially
visitors from overseas. This year, Selfridges’ international visitors have already increased by over 40 per cent (2011
compared to 2010), which has encouraged Selfridges to reconsider its traditional August Christmas shop opening,
bringing it forward to July for the first time.
Last year Selfridges’ Christmas shop celebrated record sales double on the year (2010 compared to 2009) in its first week
of trade. Tourists from countries including China, Russia, Asia, India and USA see choosing a beautiful Christmas
decoration as the perfect memento from a foreign trip flock to Selfridges during the summer months. Last year,
Selfridges’ Christmas shop sold over 2,000 Christmas baubles in its first week of trade, after opening August 8th 2010.
Among the items on display in this year’s White themed Christmas shop will be make your own and pre-lit Christmas
trees, paint your own baubles and wreaths.
Selfridges’ Christmas hot list for 2011 includes faux fur animal hats by Merrimaking, currently enjoying a cult status in
Japan and amongst festival goers. Selfridges’ Christmas shop will offer stag and polar bear styles exclusively for £100.
White trees are also expected to rival traditional green for the first time, with exclusive trees in six, seven and eight foot
from £159.
Selfridges' hot list for Christmas 2011:
• Multi-texture white decorations including boiled wool, wood, felt and glass from £3.95
• Stag and polar bear faux fur stag hat £100 and polar bear hat £40 by Merrimaking
• White Christmas trees (6ft, 7ft and 8ft) from £159
• Union Jack bauble £11.95
• Selfridges first baby’s bauble £5.50
• Bespoke Selfridges neon crackers made from recycled paper £45 for six
• Game crackers to celebrate the nation's favourite board games including Monopoly and Scrabble £18.95 for six
• Make your own crackers by Robin Reed - roll the up and put your own presents inside £12.50
• Paint your own and sew your own novelty decorations by Gisella Graham £8.95
Geraldine James, Selfridges Christmas Shop Buying Manager said: “Christmas is coming earlier each year. I can
see a time when we offer a capsule Christmas collection throughout the year. We are famous globally for our exclusive
Christmas decorations and this year we are looking forward to transforming our customers’ homes all over the world with
our white themed Christmas decorations, which this year we expect to challenge the traditional red, gold and green.”

Downloaded from Selfridges website, www.selfridges.com (click press room)
contact details

• Tel: 0800 123 400
• +44 113 369 8040 (from overseas)
• 9am - 10pm seven days a week

On selfridges website it has services from A-X on services to make it easier for the customer to get help and easier to find things. The website has everything to know about selfridges such as how it all started, whats going on whats not going on, what will be next, sales, new fashion all sorts of things, which is brilliant because its all there when you need it.

Research

Visual Merchandising

Visual Merchandising is active and professional display to maximise sales, this enables you to highlight their features and benefits. The purpose of visual merchandising is to attract, engage and motivate the customer towards making a purchase. Visual merchandising commonly occurs in retail spaces such as retail stores and trade shows.

Why visual Merchandising helps sales…

· Makes it easier for the customer to locate the item they wish.

· Makes it easier for the customer to self-select

· Makes it possible for the shopper to co-ordinate and accessories

· Recommended highlights and demonstrate particular products.

Visual merchandising builds upon or augments the retail design of a store, it’s one of the final stages in setting out a store in a way customers find attractive and appealing. Many elements can be used by visual merchandisers in creating displays including colour, lighting, space, product information, sensory inputs, (such as smell, touch and sound), as well as technologies such as digital displays.

Window displays can communicate style, content and price. Display windows may also be used to advertise seasonal sales or inform passes by of other current promotions, planogram is a diagram or model that indicates the placement of retail products on shelves in order to maximize sales. Planogram allows visual merchandising to plan size, price or some other category, it also enables a chain of stores to have the same merchandise display in a coherent and similar manner across the chain, and Planograms are also known as Plano-grams, Plan-organs schematics and POGs, used a lot in Visual Merchandising. Schematic is a diagram that represents the element of a system using obstract, graphic symbols rather than realistic pictures.

Personal Opinion on Window displays…

I think a window display brings character to the store and shows off what kind of style and price range they are, also makes you think shall I go in and try that on? Really brings your attention only if it’s worth looking at, so needs to be lots going on, colourful and never bland (innless to fits in with the theme or style). Personal Experience I really liked a H&M window display, but I will only ever go in and try it on if there is a price on it, I think this comes down to target market such as Low class, Middle class and High class, because I have noticed that the higher brand displays not always have prices but seems like lower market does nearly every time.

Hear are some images that helped me get to grips of how window displays and visual merchandising works.

You may not think it when you look at this image or when you look in a store but when you are looking for a product, all the products have been placed and coloured to attract your attention, such as when you see red you instantly think sale and buy it, same kind of thing when they create there brands have to think really hard on what they think will attract there costmer and what kind of customer.

Creating outfits really attracts customers, and personally always gets me into the shop, because I really like how they have put the outfit together and I know what to wear with what.