Store Displays and Fixtures For Specialty Stores

If you manage an ice cream parlor, bakery, yogurt shop, or any other kind of specialty food shop and you think your shop wouldn't benefit from a snack display because it already sells specialized food items, think again: Snack displays are lucrative ways to add additional merchandise to your customers' menus!

If you're not sure how to get started, ask yourself the following four questions.

1. What Kinds of Snacks Would My Customers Like?

No one knows your customers better than you do, but as you're considering the kinds of snacks to include in your snack display, keep in mind you also want to match your snacks to your current food items.

For example, if you manage an ice cream parlor that caters to lots of families with children, sweet treats like wrapped candies or lollipops might be the very things children want to get their hands on. On the other hand, if you manage a bakery that caters mostly to adults picking up a bread roll for dinner or a birthday cake for a party, gourmet chocolates might be the best way to go.

2. How Much Traffic Does My Shop Experience?

In addition to your display space (see below), the amount of traffic your shop usually experiences will help you determine how large or involved your snack display should be.

If your shop stays fairly busy, chances are a large snack display would work well; however, if your shop doesn't experience a high volume of customers, a small display will work just a fine.

3. What Display Fixtures Should I Use for My Snack Display?

The kinds of display fixtures you should use for your snack display depends both on the kinds of snacks you want to display as well as the amount of display space you have to work with.

Once you know exactly the kinds of snacks to display, spend some time browsing the various kinds of display racks.

Plastic containers work great for small kinds of snacks, like wrapped candies, and you can use them alone or situate them on wire countertop display racks.

Small wire display racks with flat or angled shelves are great for holding small boxes of bagged candies or snacks like peanuts, and larger wire display racks are great for larger bags of chips.

4. Where Can I Situate My Snack Display?

The best place to situate your snack display is at your shop's point of purchase, or POP. This is the area in your shop - usually the countertop where the checkout register is located - where your customers pay for their purchases.

One reason POP snack displays are so effective is that they promote impulse purchases. Don't misunderstand - you're not "tricking" your customers into making a purchase they don't want; rather, you're presenting them with merchandise they do want but might not have purchased otherwise because it wasn't right there within their reach.

Which brings us to another reason POP snack displays are effective: Customers don't have to walk anywhere to retrieve them, nor do they have to pick them up on their way through your shop and carry them to the checkout register. It's not that your customers are lazy, but it IS that they are often busy with other things. Maybe they're managing a couple of rowdy children, or maybe they already have their hands full with bags from another store. By placing the snack display in your POP, all they have to do is grab it, pay for it, and go.

If you manage a party store, you know that there are just as many different kinds of party supplies as there are parties! However, the one staple that seems welcome at almost every kind of party is candy. So, it only makes sense that your party store should have a candy display.

How do you create an effect candy display for your party store? One that offers convenience for your customers and a lucrative stream of income for your party store?

Start by asking - and answering - the following three questions.

1. What Kind of Candy Supplies Does My Store Sell?

This is the simple part: The kind of candy your party store sells will help you determine which plastic containers you should use for your displays as well as where in your store you should situate those displays. For now, just get a mental visual (of course, a spreadsheet doesn't hurt!) of the kinds of candy your party store sells.

2. Which Plastic Containers Would Best Display My Candy?

Do you sell bulk unwrapped candy ideal for pinatas? Do you sell bars of candy great for gift or treat bags? What about lollipops, gumballs, and novelty candy?

Party stores cater to a variety of party candy needs, so it's probably safe to say your party store sells a wide assortment of candy. This means you're going to need to look at an array of plastic containers and other display fixtures for showcasing that candy.

The most important things you should consider about your candy as you're determining the best display fixtures include:

The size and weight of you different candy types.

Whether your candy is wrapped or unwrapped.

Of course, you can't make a final decision on the kind of display fixtures you're going to use to create your party store candy display until you decide where in your store you're going to situate those displays.

3. Where in My Store Should I Display My Candy?

Where you situate your candy display depends largely on both the amount and types of candy you're selling and the kinds of display fixtures you're using (or want to use). Just as there are display fixtures suited for every kind of candy, there are also display fixtures suited for certain areas of your store.

Countertop and Point of Sale (POP) Displays: Creating a candy display on your party store's candy display and POP areas works best if you're using small kinds of candy. Plastic containers of various sizes as well as small wire display racks work great for countertop and POP displays.

Floor Displays: Floor displays of party store candy are great for every size of candy. Create a floor display if you're displaying large candy like candy bars, or just large numbers of small candy like bulk wrapped and unwrapped candy. For floor displays, you can use everything from plastic containers situated on wire display racks or convenience store racks to tall rotating displays like 30-bucket rotating racks.

Wall Displays: Because they're hanging from the wall, it's best to only use small, lightweight kinds of candy for wall displays. Look for display fixtures such as slat walls or pegboard racks, as well as the plastic containers, cubes, and pegs that go with them, or consider wire bucket racks designed to hang from or mount to your wall.

Because of the unwrapped nature of the products, acrylic bins and containers are some of the best display fixtures for ice cream parlors and yogurt shop. Acrylic containers help keep unwrapped products like sprinkles and other toppings for ice cream and yogurt fresh and safe from debris. Actually, depending on your state's health department, acrylic containers might even be mandatory for displaying these kinds of food items.

Consider the different kinds of acrylic fixtures below to help you create your displays - no matter where you plan to put them!

Acrylic Fixtures for Countertop Displays

When you need to create a countertop display, acrylic fixtures for candy toppings at ice cream parlors and yogurt shops include:

Acrylic Round Face Bins. These bins come in a variety of sizes and include scoops to help your customers retrieve the toppings they want.

Acrylic Mini Bins. Similar to round face bins, only these containers are usually square or rectangular in shape and without scoops (you'll need to provide them for your customers).

Acrylic Gravity Bins. These containers are designed to keep a constant level of toppings available in the bottom of the bin.

Acrylic Towers. These tube-like containers are available in a variety of heights and work great to add visual appeal to your yogurt or ice cream topping displays.

Yogurt Topping Dispensers. Unlike some of the other containers, yogurt topping dispensers are designed specifically for the kinds of toppings customers want for their yogurt or ice cream.

Note that these display fixtures not only work well for countertop displays; you can also use them for table displays.

Acrylic Fixtures for Floor Displays

The best way to create floor displays with acrylic bins and containers is to pair any of the above fixtures with floor display fixtures such as wood, metal, or wire display racks.

Be sure to choose sturdy racks and position them in areas that are both convenient to your customers and out of the flow of traffic.

Acrylic Fixtures for Wall Displays

Finding acrylic fixtures to create a wall display of ice cream and yogurt toppings might seem tough, but there are actually two easy ways to do it:

1.Install or use existing shelves. If you have shelves installed on your walls, you can use any kind of acrylic fixture with the shelves to create a display of ice cream and yogurt toppings. You just have to make sure the fixtures are the appropriate size for your shelves.

2.Install or use an existing slatwall display. There are plenty of acrylic display fixtures designed specifically for slatwall displays; however, you want to choose the ones that provide the most protection for your ice cream and yogurt toppings. Ideally, those will be the round face bins and mini bins.

Whether you already own or manage an art supply store or you're looking to open one, or even if you own or are opening a store that will sell items similar to those found in art supply stores, you must make sure you have the right kinds of art supply containers and racks to display your merchandise.

Below are five kinds of art supply containers and racks to get you started.

1. Clear Plastic Containers

Because of their versatility and durability, and the convenience they offer both store-owners and customers, it's no surprise to see clear plastic containers listed as an ideal display container for art supplies. Art supply store managers and owners can use clear plastic containers to display everything from small tubes or packets of glitter and sequins to buttons, beads, and other baubles. These kinds of containers are also great for holding loose paint brushes and drawing pencils and pens.

Of course, clear plastic containers also work great as storage containers. You or your associates can keep them under your countertops or in your stockrooms to organize anything from work-related tools such as rolls of sales stickers to thumbtacks for hanging wall posters.

2. Acrylic Round Face Bins With Scoops

Similar to clear plastic containers, acrylic round face bins with scoops work well to organize and display loose kinds of art supplies like beads. The round face design of these bins add visual appeal to displays while the scoops make it easy for customers to retrieve the amount of product they want.

Also similar to clear plastic containers, acrylic round face bins with scoops also work well as storage bins.

3. Slot Paper Shelves and Racks

Slot paper shelves work with slot paper racks (see below) and are designed to hold paper or similar art supplies. You can find slot paper shelves in various sizes and with one, two, or three slots and you can use them to hold everything from regular paper and construction paper to sheets of stickers and stencils.

Slot paper racks are designed to hold slot paper shelves and art supply store managers and owners can find these display racks in both floor and counter top models.

4. Bucket Display Racks

Like clear plastic containers, bucket display racks are found in a variety of retail establishments because they work so well to organize, store, and display various kinds of merchandise. You can use bucket display racks to organize and display everything from small art supplies like packets of glitter and small tubes of paint to larger items like loose paint brushes, rulers, scissors, and art pens and pencils.

5. Mobile Scrapbook Centers

Mobile scrapbook centers are crucial for art supply stores that sell scrapbooking tools. These display racks are complete with display fixtures such as slot paper racks for holding sheets of scrapbook paper as well as flat metal racks for holding heavier items and on-roll shelves for conveniently displaying rolls of stickers.

Mobile scrapbook centers also work well for any kind of store that doesn't necessarily sell scrapbook supplies but does sell similar items such as sheets or packets of paper and stencils as well as rolls of stickers.

Aside from the fact that they sell pets, pet stores aren't that much different from any other kind of retail store. Pet stores sell plenty of other kinds of merchandise - merchandise that needs display fixtures - and below are the top three display fixtures that every pet store can use.

1. Clear Plastic Containers

If you've spent any amount of time at all in the retail business, you're probably already well aware of how useful clear plastic containers are. These containers are sturdy and durable, available in numerous shapes, sizes, and styles, and can be used as both display tools and storage tools.

You can use clear plastic containers to organize and display small pet toys, sample packs of pet food or treats, and even collars, rolled up leashes, or cute "hair accessories" for pets!

Note that clear isn't your only option when it comes to plastic containers - you can find them in a wide variety of colors that are translucent enough to allow you and your customers to easily see what's inside. Colored plastic containers are great ways to spice up your merchandise displays or organize the merchandise you're display.

2. Acrylic Gravity Bins

If you're not quite sure what acrylic gravity bins are, think of the kinds of bins you see attached to counter tops and walls that hold food merchandise like dry cereal, coffee, and treats like trail mix or peanuts.

Acrylic gravity bins are excellent display fixtures for pet stores for the same reasons they're great for other kinds of stores that sell edible merchandise - they present attractive and convenient solutions for display edible items while keeping them fresh and safe from dust and other debris.

You can use acrylic gravity bins in your pet store to display and keep fresh products like small dog or cat treats, bird feed, or food pellets for hamsters, gerbils, and guinea pigs. Note that if you choose to do this, of course, you need to also provide some sort of container or baggie so your customers can transfer the food or treats from the bin to the checkout counter, and from the checkout counter to their homes!

3. Display Racks

You're probably not at all surprised to see display racks listed as one of the top three display fixtures for pet stores - or any kind of store, for that matter. Unless your store is full of table and counter tops (which would make things a bit awkward for your customers!), you need fixtures on which you can situate your merchandise. Display racks are perfect.

There are many different kinds of display racks you can choose from for your merchandise displays, and the kinds you choose will depend largely on the amount of display space you have to work with, the kind of merchandise you want to display, and the overall décor or theme of your store. You can find traditional stationary convenience store racks with shelves, fixed-position wire display racks with shelves or with mesh containers, fixed-position or rotating bucket racks, and even wooden display racks with baskets.