Winter 2006
Tables Set for Casual Chic By Randall Mielke

Trendy Tabletop Displays

Drawing attention to store displays is an important aspect of selling. Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute and director of the Eiseman Center for Color Information and Training, says that the best way that a retailer can display merchandise is through the palette of colors and the theme. “What that does is show the consumer how they might best combine the colors, and could lead to extended sales when they get the big ‘aha’ of, ‘I never thought of using those colors together, but I really like it,'” Eiseman says.

For example, she says that if a retailer chose to display a Melange color palette (including Apricot, Melon and Khaki), they could put a periwinkle-type blue plate with melon color stemware in a more natural shade. “For the consumer who really likes blue, but feels they need a new way to use it, the display would suggest to them that melon is an unexpected combination and very fresh,” Eiseman says. The colors could also be reversed in that the plate could be melon color offset by stemware in blue. “I don’t think it is good to be absolute in the placement of the color as there may not be merchandise to support it in just that way,” Eiseman says, “so an either-or scenario is best.”

Retailers and manufacturers have plenty of tips and display ideas to emphasize the new casual chic look in tabletop settings. Katrina Stevenson, marketing coordinator for DEMDACO, a Stilwell, KS-based wholesaler of tableware and other gift accessories, also suggests the company’s catalogs and showrooms as good places to gather ideas for displays. So does Zaven Kassabina, president of Intrada.

Some retailers suggest getting help from neighboring businesses. “If you have a local florist, do some pretty floral displays for the table,” says Susan Hamilton, co-owner of Pineapple Post, in Jacksonville Beach, FL. “It will sell their flowers and help sell your merchandise.” Hamilton also suggests making the displays fun, and giving customers an idea of what the items would look like in their homes. “We display vignettes of mixed colors,” she says. “We do not set each place setting exactly alike. We keep the same colors, but if one place setting has a chocolate charger, an aqua dinner plate and a chocolate bowl, the next one will have the aqua charger, the chocolate dinner plate and aqua bowl. Then you can have linens that bring in the color and add some pretty candles.”

Tony Damiano, owner of Mango Jam in Ridgewood, NJ, believes that cross-merchandising is a key element in an attractive store display. “You do not just show dinnerware, but also stemware, linens, flatware, et cetera,” he says. “You should play up your best-selling accessories. Another advantage that we have is that we sell open stock. Some stores only sell by the place setting,” Stevenson says. DEMDACO products often have one design carried across the board so cross-merchandising works well. It also helps gift store retailers who don’t feel compelled to stock the entire range of tableware. “Candles, chip-and-dip sets-they work very well if you can’t carry the full line,” she says.

Michael Weems, designer and owner of The Michael Weems Collection, thinks it is all about helping customers understand unfamiliar concepts. “I think it is about helping customers feel comfortable with color,” he says. “Using a fashion reference, sometimes a lady sees a dress in the window, comes in the store and says, ‘I love it just the way it looks,’ and she buys everything—the dress, the shoes, the handbag, et cetera. Retailers should do that for tabletop as well. Some people do not know how to set a table. They do not know about color. It is important to show it to people so they say, ‘I’ll take it just like that.'”