Department stores and other retail chains are very limited in what they can do. They are controlled by a corporate vision that they must strictly adhere to. Everything in a store contributes to its image. The types of hangers that they use, the style of garment racks, the color of the wood trim, the volume of the music, and more. The goal when you are creating your brand is to be consistent in enough areas that customers know exactly how your store makes them feel.

Getting customers to feel something for you requires some inventive measures. You’re not really tricking the customer, but rather giving them a certain experience. If you play club dance music in your store, customers are likely to buy things that they would wear when they went out on the town. If you play folk music, they are more likely to buy organic cotton casual wear.

Use your personality and taste to bring the customer into the feeling that you get when you are in your store. Many boutiques adopt the “controlled chaos” decorating scheme where nothing seems to go together, and therefore it does. It’s deliberately chaotic. This can work really well when you want to continually add odds and ends into your collection.

Really, that is a great way to do it. Shop antique stores, garage sales, estate sales, and online auctions to find truly unique furniture and store fixtures. Think outside of the box. You can use a mannequin to display clothing and accessories, this is true. But you could also screw hooks all into a mannequin’s body and use it to display your necklaces or hats. A chair could be just a chair, or it could be discretely hung from the ceiling in a corner for an eye-catching piece of art.

The possibilities are truly endless when it comes to decorating a boutique, but be careful not to go overboard. Cluttered is not necessarily your goal, because it can distract a customer from buying anything. If it looks like work to sift through a garment rack or table display, then most people will skip it. Our eyes are drawn to order. So, even if your store is filled with knick-knacks, your clothing racks can still remain orderly and easy to sift through.

About the Author: John Garvey is on the staff of Only Garment Racks, a leading online source of garment racks including clothing racks. Find a high quality garment rack or clothing rack at http://www.onlygarmentracks.com.

Just about anything can brand your image. From the color and brightness of your light bulbs to the string on your price tags, little details can help customers remember you. You’re not only trying to get people to remember you, but you want them to create a strong impression of your store and brand. You need to plan an attack on the senses that will delight, encourage, fascinate, inspire, and build trust in your shoppers.

The first impression is so important. The window displays, signage, lighting and mood are so important. Think about how you want your customers to feel. Lighting and display designs can induce excitement, relaxation, intrigue, you name it. You really have to decipher how your target audience will respond.

If your shoppers are more likely to make purchases when they are relaxed, then that can have a big impact on your store’s appearance. You will want smaller garment racks with forward facing clothing. Rummaging through a cram-packed clothing rack is no one’s idea of a relaxing experience. You’ll need lower lighting with soft spotlights and lit showcases to draw attention to certain areas without creating a harsh feeling. Colors are important, too. Muted colors, black and dark colors draw light away from the eye and can create a soothing visual while making your merchandise pop into the foreground of the shopper’s mind.

It is important to develop a theme that is congruent with your marketing plan. Don’t diverge from the theme so that the feeling shopper’s get in your store can become part of how they feel when they shop or talk to their friends about you. When they put on clothing or use accessories that they bought in your store, the feeling that they got when they shopped there should return. This is how you create a strong bond with customers. They’ll be subconsciously drawn back to that feeling, time and time again.

Make sure that your clothing racks are always in order. Whether you are running a fast-paced sale or soothing customers into their comfort zones, cleanliness, neatness and ease of shopping experience are always important. Shoppers can become frustrated with a tightly packed or disorderly garment rack. Make sure that sizes are clearly marked and your clothing racks are spaced out properly. When you make the impression that you want, it will be associated with your brand from then on.

About the Author: John Garvey is on the staff of Only Garment Racks, a leading online source of garment racks including clothing racks. Find a high quality garment rack or clothing rack at http://www.onlygarmentracks.com.