Use Gallery Design That’s Ahead of the Curve

fter 25 years of designing and planning stores, I can say that gallery owners are more concerned about the appearance of their store than 90 percent of the retailers I meet. Our typical gift shop client is very concerned with budget and less concerned with looks. They want cheap commercial carpet, fluorescent lamps, slat-walls, and customer traffic moving into and out of their store as expeditiously as possible.

Our typical art gallery client is looking for minimalism in store design with the art kept front and center: white walls, pedestals, spotlights, concrete floors, artist info, a sales desk and a closing room.

Craft galleries are different from both gift and fine art retailers. Several years ago we were involved in the design and construction of Gallery Alexander, a craft gallery in La Jolla, Calif. The attention to detail the owners exhibited was much more significant than what we normally saw. When I interviewed David Brooks, owner of Appalachian Spring Galleries in the Washington, D.C., area, and Donna Milstein, owner of Hanson Galleries in the Houston area, I was struck by that same attention to detail. Both of these gallery owners spent quite a bit of time with their architect or designer in determining the appropriate flooring, lighting, cabinets, cases and overall display presentation. Both Brooks and Milstein were involved in their respective projects throughout the process, from c onstruction to merchandising the store and seeing that all store displays fit the standard they were trying to achieve.

At each of the Appalachian Spring Galleries locations, including the newest gallery in Richmond, Va., shown here, choices in flooring, lighting and overall display were all carefully considered in the context of how they relate to good design.

Create a strong storefront

In addition to their attention to detail, I found that all these craft gallery owners relied on common design principles. The storefront should sing.Make it big, bright, multi-layered, graphically strong and fun. It's nice to have a name like Smith's Gallery, but add a descriptive tag line, such as "Traditional American Crafts," so every potential customer knows just what you sell.

Window displays that never stop selling

Build up your window displays to a comfortable visual level. Make sure the display is fun and interesting. Change the windows often. Use halogen lights to punch the display up and put the lights on timers so the windows keep selling after you've closed.

If it fits into your budget, find an experienced window trimmer and create memorable windows on a four-week and/or seasonal basis. Your display windows can do more to attract new customers than any single design element you can place inside the store, so be consistent and don't cut corners.

The first few steps into the store should make a statement about the exciting merchandise within. Create a strong visual component in the entry foyer with a seasonal display that "has" to be noticed. Your store also should have an interesting ceiling. Forget T-bar ceilings with fluorescent lights. Shoot for high, open space and add intimacy with space frames or dropped soffits and wood or beams.

Floors: beautiful, practical and comfortable

We typically suggest resilient flooring at the entry such as slate, granite, tile or wood and often inset a steel or mosaic logo into the floor to reinforce the brand. The balance of the flooring is often carpet. It's a little softer when merchandise is accidentally dropped, and depending upon the quality and color, has a richer look.

Many of our retail clients are now using simulated floors that look and feel like real wood without the upkeep, or they are using acid-washed concrete floors. Wood provides a warm timeless look while concrete gives an "urban" look.

We won't buy what we can't see

Lighting has more of an impact on your store then any other design aspect. Both Hanson Galleries and Appalachian Spring rely exclusively on incandescent lamps. Brooks, of Appalachian Spring, says his galleries use a combination of lamps that include 50-watt halogen MR16, cable-hung lamps, MR16 and PAR 30 halogen track-lamps and some pendant-mounted droplights at select locations. These halogen lamps provide a crisp, white light that draws customers through the store.

Other lighting typically includes halogen down-lights inside the wall cabinets and the showcases. If you're selling jewelry, pay close attention to the various lighting opportunities available. These range from fluorescent lamps to linear or mini-halogens. Use focus lights inside the cases rather then trying to shine track lamps through the glass tops, which can create glare.

Display cases can serve double duty

The point-of-sale area can be used primarily as check out/wrap centers or can cross over into a sales center by using jewelry cases as counters. Craft galleries typically require a fair amount of merchandise packaging that may take place on a back or side counter adjacent to the front counter. Customers have to wait and we often place showcases at the counter to add impulse purchases to the overall sale.

On the other hand, Brooks points out that he uses separate, enclosed jewelry case centers to house all of their jewelry. In his opinion, it's important to provide a location for both the customer and the salesperson to focus on the jewelry and not the checkout process.

When my company designed the jewelry section for the "Titanic" exhibition in Boston, we wrapped casework around an 8-foot-long by 2-foot-high model of the ship on a back counter between the jewelry cases. The ship attracted attention, the cases sold the jewelry, and the percentage of sales was highest in this department.

At Hanson Galleries, great care has been given to customer-friendly design from the moment someone enters the gallery.

Wall and floor displays

Craft galleries, for the most part, use very few standard, off-the-shelf displays. Custom wall cabinets and cases are the standard and most often they are segmented into 48-inch-wide sections up to 96 inches high and 18 inches deep. Shelves are supported by either pegs on the outside walls or recessed standards built into the case. Halogen lights are set into the ceiling of the case and, for the most part, thick glass shelves are used to support the merchandise and allow light penetration. Wall hung artwork is often attached to painted sheet rock walls that are repaired and repainted regularly. Some galleries use a coarse wall fabric that hides the nail holes. Both work well although we prefer sheet rock walls because they are easily painted and the owner can change the look of the store quickly with a few new colors. To add wall space, some galleries would do well to follow Milstein's lead. She says Hanson Galleries utilize mid-floor, fixed walls to create vignette areas that encourage the display of mixed media, wall art, crafts, etc.

Floor displays such as pedestals, cubes and build ups in a variety of sizes and finishes are a great way to display mixed media. Acrylic risers, small signs and, in some cases, glass tops can be added to the pedestal mix to add interest. Also, many of your fixtures should be on casters or easily movable so you can periodically "reinvent" your shop to keep your customers interested.

Millwork can be finished in a high-pressure laminate (Formica) or a clear or stained wood veneer with solid wood edges. A wood look often strengthens the "craft" image and other natural materials such as granite floors, stone or brick wall-detailing, sponge-painted walls and wooden beams, will all add texture to an environment that should be warm and inviting.

Finishing touches

Sound is a powerful emotional element -- it can pull your heartstrings and open your checkbook. Sound encourages customers to stay in your store longer and to come back more often. Call Muzak or another music provider to find music that will appeal to your customer base. Don Gorenberg of CRAFT (Craft Retailers Association for Tomorrow) sells a selected grouping of CDs at Seldom Seen Gallery in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. The music is played while customers shop, and often, customers will be interested enough in the music to buy the CD.

A computer desk with a series of pre-set, artists' Web sites or a CD loaded with images of more works that are not on display can add inventory without the need for additional space or large financial investments.

Many craft galleries are ahead of the curve when it comes to design. They have merchandise that's relatively exclusive and often a rapidly growing customer base. Gallery owners say they want their gallery to be their customers' "favorite." We should all work to do what it takes to make that happen.

Jeff Grant is a consultant for CRAFT and the president of TRIO Display. A retail designer with 25 years of experience, he is the auther of "The Budget Guide to Store Planning." To contact him, visit www.triodisplay.com .

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