Fixtures no longer simply serve as racks for merchandise – they also play a vital role in communicating a retailer’s brand message. When conceptualized to meet specific needs, fixtures’ designs and materials work together to support the brand, capture shoppers’ attention, provide merchandising and storage flexibility and density, incorporate signage or lighting, are integral parts of the store design, fit into retailers’ budgets and last a long time in pristine condition. Not a small task for these soldiers of retail.

The three case studies on the following pages offer state-of-the-art examples of this brand-centric approach to fixturing. Anne Geddes, who gained fame for her iconic photographs of infants before launching a line of baby clothing, expected her first bricks-and-mortar space to draw lots of parents with young children in tow. So her store, in the Downtown Disney District at Disneyland in Anaheim, Calif., is outfitted with rounded fixtures that are easy for stroller-wheeling foot traffic to get around and don’t have sharp corners that kids can conk their heads on.

Alltel, the Little Rock, Ark.-based owner/operator of one of the nation’s largest wireless networks with more than 10 million customers, wanted to make its 350 stores more shoppable and interactive. Designers downsized the stores’ fixtures and gave them sleeker lines more in keeping with the high-tech mobile phones displayed on them.

Sigrid Olsen, the specialty sportswear retailer, targets mature and sophisticated women. To attract that audience, the retailer’s new store prototype is as if shoppers were visiting her home – and it uses residential-appearing fixtures to support that strategy.

Anne Geddes

Alltel

Sigrid Olsen