Example of a winning idea of an in-store vignette

As a marketing executive, I occasionally get asked by our customers to help them with their showrooms. Sure, I’ve taken a visual merchandising class or two in my day, but as a supplier it is a difficult position to be in to help with a showroom that isn’t mine. In my experience the customers that have successful showrooms are the ones that are aggressive and take responsibility for creating a cohesive showroom.

What do I mean by that?  Below are 5 things that I’ve seen successful showrooms do that not everyone else does. My experience applies mostly to the glass and glazing trade,…but also to retail home fashion.

1 – Get the product out on the sales floor for customers to touch and feel for themselves

Too many times, samples and swatches stay in boxes and binders behind the desk. However, people in the design phase are visual, and are looking for a tactile experience. Allow them to explore that need for themselves.

2- Show off your expertise with your in-store installations

Unusual and difficult projects that not everyone can do can help explain your particular expertise.  Show vignettes of the product in an amazing room environment; the more difficult, far-out, or unique, the better. You want people to ask about it. And change them up periodically. Challenge yourself to continually “wow” the returning customer as well.

3- Form a mission and stick to it

You have a mission statement for your business, right? Treat a showroom in the same way. Have a philosophy for what your showroom can be, and be sure that every piece of signage, every installation, and every sample leads back to it. You have to believe it and live it.

4- Commit to the finest suppliers

Enter into a real partnership with them. Have them in for a face-to-face. Give them any concerns or questions. See how prepared and open they are, because that is the type of service you are going to get from them if you choose them as your supplier. Do they know what LEED is? Do they have testing data? Do they have a warranty? If not, look for a different supplier.

5- Commit to some expense

Don’t rely on the displays your suppliers may provide. They may not  necessarily fit in with your showroom’s mission. In order to create a showroom that is distinctly yours, you will have to spend some funds. But that financial step should just further solidify your commitment to the vision and success of this venture. If it’s done half-way, the customer will sense it immediately.

What is your one tip for your showroom success? Post a comment by March 7th sharing your best idea, and you could win a $10 Lowe’s gift certificate!

As January is rolling forward, I wanted to review some of the big color announcements and compare/contrast them with each other. As a company that works with color every day, we don’t always see the trends immediately. We are a little different. So before I unveil what we see, I wanted to review what three big names in color are touting as their “color of the year”.

Pantone’s Color Of The Year for 2011

Pantone’s Color Of The Year for 2011 is “Honeysuckle”.  Read their official press release with comments from Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute®, at http://www.pantone.com/pages/pantone/pantone.aspx?pg=20824&ca=10 . Where I live, honeysuckle flowers are yellow or white, but this color is a fun, coral-y pink.

• A vibrant & energetic pink
• Creates a healthy glow in clothing
• Adds a shot of excitement to home accents

Glidden’s Color of the Year 2011

Glidden Professional released their Colour of the Year 2011. What is interesting about this one, is that, like the Honeysuckle, it is fairly bright and cheerful. #89YY 78/269 is particularly airy and light with a feel of “fizzy sherbert” and “new growth”.  Sounds fun. Download their report on Colour Futures at http://www.glidden.com/inspiration/colour-futures.do .

• Light and airy
• Citrus greenish notes
• Appreciation is the theme
• Accent with deep berry violets, crisp blues, or other airy pastels

Benjamin Moore Color for 2011

Benjamin Moore announced their color for 2011, and it’s called “Vintage Wine” The swatch, on its own, looks very taupe/gray, but in environments it’s a sophisticated purple with flexible brown notes. See it in room environments at http://www.benjaminmoore.com. Definitely a different direction than the above two colors, but wouldn’t this be great as the “ground” for the other two to use as pops of color?

• Comfort of a brown
• Luxury of a smokey violet
• Soulful
• Accent with yellow green (see Glidden’s color above?), cream, teal, or terra cotta

In my next blog post, I’ll share with you the Dreamwalls prediction for 2011, based on what we’re sampling for designers and architects these days. Will it be close to one of the above?

After spending the better part of 24 hours just getting here, I wasn’t able to see a great deal today. I adore Hong Kong as a city, though. It’s so different than US cities, the way it’s carved into the mountain sides. It’s really beautiful. And it’s terrific to see all the glass and mirror used in the new “western style” hotels that have sprung up everywhere. I’m actually staying tonight in DongGuan City before moving on to Shunde in the morning.

However, in my hotel bathroom, I encountered an issue I get asked a lot: “What is the difference between acid etched glass and sandblasted glass?” Sure, both appear frosted or etched. And both give the soft transmission of light. However, sandblasted glass can not be subjected to moisure, chemicals, or oils. The below picture of a sandblasted glass piece in my hotel bathroom illustrates why:

2010 Crystal Achievement Award

On September 8th, Glass Magazine announced its 2010 Crystal Achievement Award winners. Dreamwalls Marble Glass was declared “Most Innovative Decorative Glass Product” by a panel of judges representing all segments of the glass industry. The annual awards recognize the best products and glass applications the commercial, retail and fabrication markets have to offer.

Dreamwalls Marble Glass Pattern Samples

Dreamwalls Marble Glass, from Gardner Glass Products, North Wilkesboro, N.C., features a high-resolution digital image taken from a full-size stone slab, while other comparable glass products use photos of small pieces of stone that are digitally tiled. The image is captured and mounted to the glass using a powerful adhesive that is placed on the image side of the photo without distorting the image or compromising the bond. This also protects it from heat and moisture. As with other Dreamwalls products, Marble Glass uses PPG Industries’ Starphire Ultra-Clear glass to allow the true pattern of the digital image to shine through. All fabrication is applied to the glass prior to the application of the image, and the image is trimmed to the edge for perfection.

“The clarity of the pattern is the most unique aspect of this product,” says Mandy Marxen, vice president of marketing, Gardner Glass Products. The image is such high resolution, and the adhesive that is used is so clear, as is the Starphire substrate. All of those things combine to create a perfectly clear product that looks like marble.”

The product offers 65 patterns applied to glass to bring the effect of nature into a building’s interior. It is a cost-effective solution that provides the look of stone to any commercial space in need of an instant makeover. It can be used to enhance the design of any area and coordinates with virtually any color, as well as with the Dreamwalls Color Glass product line. Numerous stone options are available to provide architects and designers a sleek design with a clean look for any commercial environment, all at a fraction of the price of real stone.

Dreamwalls Marble Glass Countertop

“Dreamwalls Marble Glass opens up an entirely new revenue category for the glass industry,” says Crystal Achievement Award Judge Mark Pritikin, president, Creative Mirror & Shower, Addison, Ill. “Potentially anything done in marble or granite can now be done with glass, and its inherent advantages.”

“From decorative glass products and applications that dazzle, to buildings that push the envelope in terms of design and functionality, to an ad campaign that tickles the funny bone, the Crystal Achievement Award winners serve as a reminder of our industry’s ingenuity and vast potential,” says Jenni Chase, editor, Glass Magazine.

The Crystal Achievement Awards are featured in the Sept. 7 edition of e‐glass weekly and the September issue of Glass Magazine. The 2010 Crystal Achievement Award winners can be found at www.glassmagazine.com

Shaun Kennedy and Bear Glass

In Vegas we got a chance to really strengthen relationships. Our industry has had a tough time in this recession, and decorative glass products are one of the few things everyone can get excited about.

According to a GlassBuild America press release: “Consistent with this year’s theme of ‘Let’s Roll Forward’ our industry set the stage for future growth in 2011. Sparked by strengthened customer connections, better than expected buying and selling opportunities, and exceptional best practices learning that will shape the industry in the days and months ahead, GlassBuild America stood tall in 2010 for those designing their own economy.”

Thanks to our good customers, who are “designing their own economy” we had a very successful show. We appreciate each and every one of you who made it by the booth.  We’re already looking forward to Atlanta for GlassBuild 2011 – September 7-9 in Atlanta, Georgia at the Georgia World Congress Center.

Let's roll!

Glass Build America 2010

Mark Melvin - The Man To Meet

After a hard day of set up, the Dreamwalls team is ready in the Las Vegas Convention Center for GlassBuild America. We’re in a cool isthmus of a booth – #1056, near the Innovations Pavillion. Tommy, Randy, John, Mark and countless sales reps will be available to answer all your questions in person.

GlassBuild Excitement for Tuesday:

We’ll be adding picts to the set as we get them from our team and the show begins at 10:00am. In the meantime, please peruse all the happenings and events at the official GlassBuild America blog: http://glassbuildamerica.wordpress.com/ . They have a mystery vendor you can help find with their clues, so look for “Columbo” walking the show floor on Tuesday. You could win $100 cash for the casino floor! And don’t miss our ad in the show guide.

Dreamwalls GlassBuild Show Catalog A

Dreamwalls Giveaway:

The first 5 people to the booth to speak to Mark Melvin, give him a card, and tell him, “Mandy sent me“, will receive a free sample box of our Dreamwalls Color Glass mailed to them. So you don’t have to carry anything home, and it’ll be waiting for you upon your return from Vegas. It’s our way of saying thanks for reading the blog and for spending a little time with us.

In design, color has the power to set a mood, spark inspiration, nurture renewal and ignite culinary passions.

As Leatrice Eiseman pointed out, combinations are key to creating unique effects.

Textures are getting more complex, pastels are dusty & soft and we are seeing more vibrant color in kitchen & baths. Turquoise, Pantones color of the year, in glass ware is simply amazing.

3 indicators for 2011 color :

exquisite

exclusive

expressive

So how have you used color in 2010?

Visit our Facebook Page and post pictures of your most colorful projects and we will feature select Designers and their firms in future posts.

Leatrice Eiseman is executive director of the Pantone Color Institute and founder of the Eiseman Center for Color Information & Training. Lee has been named in the group of 50 top style makers by HFN for the fifth year in a row. Fortune Magazine has featured her as one of the top decision makers. Lee has authored seven books on color, including “Color: Messages & Meanings, a Pantone Color Resource” and “More Alive With Color“.

Visit her blog for some colorful inspiration.

L e e’ s   B o o k s

Color Messages & Meanings:
A Pantone Color Resource

The Color Answer Book

Colors For Your Every Mood

Pantone Guide
To Communicating With Color

More Alive With Color

Alive With Color
(Out of Print:
Limited Availability)

The Pantone Book of
Color
(Out of Print:
Limited Availability)

Dreamwalls Marble Glass has won the Silver Award in Best of NeoCon for Surface Materials

After winning the Gold in the Best of at NeoCon 2009 - We are excited to bring Dreamwalls Marble Glass to NeoCon 2010.

Dreamwalls Marble Glass combines the simple practicality of glass with the natural beauty of stone granite, and marble.