A lot goes into getting a trade show booth together for a big trade show event like PGA. It's kind of like a store opening in that you've got mannequins to unpack, dressed and styled. Walls need to be merchandised, furniture placed etc. But with a new store, you can push back the opening date if you need to. A trade show is more like a stage show in that it has a finite opening and closing - you've got to have it ready by the date the show opens. Sometimes that means staying very late the night before. The exhibit company gets to the show site days before I do - freight load in - start building walls etc.
The Bobby Jones booth here - a 40' x 50' - also has a double height banner that - without the theatrical lighting company that we contract - just would not look the same:
The clothing samples themselves can be problematic because you are working a season ahead and there is a finite number of samples - sales reps need theirs for their sales calls, the showrooms etc + they may still be in production and simply not be ready.
The mannequins patiently waiting to get dressed and styled:
This is a Bed Bath & Beyond in the River North area of downtown Chicago. It's situated on the ground level of a residential high rise on a very busy pedestrian street. The architect had given them an awkward, very large (18' high !) display window that was right in front of an escalator - which made for a partial back wall. It also made for visual distraction in the background. This is not a very good pic - a scan of a not great print from a digital image - I lost the original pic in a computer crash several years ago. You can actually look down into the display window as you go up the escalator.
The store staff had been putting a fully made bed in the window with a nightstand, a mock up of a shower etc. There was no "Visual" person per say - just some staff people. Vendors rotated usage of the window. The store needed a versatile display set up that could be used for multiple categories of merchandise.
I project managed the design and installation of this set up with local display manufacturer Opto International. The posts can hold shelves or graphic holders and is very adaptable to different products. I've seen them in the past few years with the Dyson vacuum cleaners and I also used Simple Human waste containers in a later installation.
A marketing company specializing in medical studies was able to get a suite of offices in an old industrial building located in Chicago's West Loop area. It was a suite of offices that the client would be able to customize the interior - a rare opportunity for a lease. I was brought in mainly to design the reception area and project manage that aspect as well as advise on art purchases for the entire suite of rooms.
The client had missed another space opportunity with an exposed brick wall - so rather than paint all the walls - we added a grass cloth wallpaper to one wall for texture. This was carried over to the reception half wall too. As well - even though the client was aware that this building owner was marketing the office suites as "loft conversions" and the exposed HVAC and the rough plaster columns were part of the package - the client at least wanted a solution to bring the columns up a grade. I contracted an artisan who specialized in faux paint finishes and he came up with a design that utilized the rough plaster with our color palette so the columns blended in to the overall design scheme.
Merz Apothecary in Chicago had a decades old charming vintage store in Chicago's Lincoln Square neighborhood selling holistic and homeopathic wellness products. They also had a "Shop-In-Shop" on the main floor of the Macy's flagship store on State Street in Chicago's Loop. They were growing out of the Macy's location when an opportunity came to have their own store in the newly rehabbed main floor shops area of the Palmer House Hilton a few blocks away. In addition to my Visual Merchandising Project Management business, I am a Sales Representative / "Key Accounts" specialist for a custom furniture shop in Chicago. One of my contacts, a Chicago Architecture & Design firm was designing the Merz store in the Palmer House Hilton. The lead designer needed store fixtures designed to look like antiques. It was a very quick turn around time once the contract was awarded - 6 weeks. I project managed the fixture manufacturing to keep us on schedule, advised on budgets, contracted out the delivery as well as styling this display window for Merz utilizing some of their of antique apothecary items. The large wall display cabinet is the showpiece of the collection.
Any display set up for a company like Cartier is an event in itself. Logistics, not really enough time, deliveries, guards - not to mention the goods. You only have so much time for set up before the event starts. In a venue such as this one - the Mid-America Club on the 80th floor of the Aon Center building in downtown Chicago - there's also delivery schedules to be coordinated for the event materials with hopefully enough time to put the display components together to allow enough time to properly display the product. The product arrives separately delivered by armed guards who remain for the duration of the event. The event starts, visual merchandisers go away, have dinner, then come back as event ends. Guards take product, merchandisers break down the display set up, delivery service packs up display components. This is the event I set up with a corporate Cartier Regional Visual Merchandiser in 2010.
MRKET Las Vegas is a semi annual Men's Fashion trade show at the Sands Expo portion of the Venetian Hotel & Casino in January & August. MRKET is owned and operated by MR magazine, a trade publication serving the men's wear industry. MR also operates a MRKET show in New York in January & July. Sands Expo is a smaller and more intimate venue than the Chicago Merchandise Mart. I project manage the HMX labels Hart Schaffner Marx, Hickey Freeman Sterling & WORN for the MRKET Las Vegas show. It's a booth that is shared among the labels and the style of the booth is still evolving. We utilized show provided tables, chairs and end cap fixtures. We shipped in HMX owned wall logo banners and custom vintage industrial style pipe clothing racks to dress the booth up. These photos are from the February 2012 show showcasing Fall / Winter 2012.
For the past several years I have project managed the installation of the Chicago Cartier boutique's exterior Christmas decor. It is a two day install with many weeks of advance work to coordinate shipping, electrical outlets, pricing etc. As an outdoor project, it can be difficult to install in regard to the weather. In 2011 we had several rain delays.The garland and ornaments are designed in Paris. The last two years the ornaments have been variations on the iconic Cartier gift box. The gold metal box of 2010 had lights inside each box. The red box of 2011 was so realistic that passersby were trying to open it - which caused parts of the garland to become unattached. A creative solution was found to keep the garland intact.
In 2009 I sub-contracted with a California company to install the "Holiday Lane" shops in the 18 Macy's North stores which included the State Street flagship store and stores in Wisconsin & Indiana. The job was to be fast paced and the look was to be lush and full. The themed Christmas trees were to be used as store fixtures to allow the customer to shop right from the tree.
Some close ups of individual themed trees - the first one is "Martha's Garden" by Martha Stewart.
