Visual Merchandising

During the oil crisis of the 70's, one clever store owner put gas pumps in his display window and people stopped and gawked. Stopping and gawking is, of course, the name of the game in sales, and Visual Merchandising is the tool that savvy retailers use to accomplish that end. Lynne D. Schwabe and four other experts in the field talk about projecting an image, exterior and interior displays, the importance of proper lighting, building displays around themes and calendar events, and bringing together disparate merchandise to create a "look" which sells the customer an ensemble of goods rather than a single item. To the extent that the program presents talking head advice (with pans of displays) rather than actual hands-on work, this is not the optimum "how-to" on the subject. Still, it offers a good introduction to the principles, and would be a useful addition to a good small business collection. Recommended. (R. Pitman)