Fashion Accessories

"Eye-candy"

Think outside of the box....We have started to add small collections of handbags and scarves to our pharmacy's with great success! Create a small area with bright bags and scarves...cross merchandise with some hard candies in jars and ta-da! Instant swing shop!

Contact info;

Melie Bianco

1101 S. Main Street

LA, CA 90015

213) 749-3889

Gym inspiration

Now that my schedule is beginning to pick up and my days are starting at 4:30 am and ending in the office at 5 or 6 pm, I am having to find time in other places to go through inspiration......
Somehow the gym is the one place I can go through magazines with a clear head and really look at what is going on in the world of design. I am not sure if its due to no phones, loud music on my ipod or just that its un interrupted time....but, true to my multi tasking a.d.d. personality I really do get more done this way...

While on the bike last night after tearing through the new House and Gardens I came across 9 by design on one of the 6 tv's playing on the gym walls....AMAZING!!! The couple behind some of the coolest projects and their life in design with family. Everything about it I love..from the concepting process to the split screen interviews..so inspiring and so fresh in the world of a billion design reality shows!

So...you never know where you are going to find inspiration...for me, its apparently at the gym on a bike!

I LOVE THIS!!!!

Think of your signage in your shop...clean, graphic and simple!

"Inspiration"

The rule of any collection shown in multiples is done soooo well here! Entire window from top to bottom filled with old singer and other sewing machines! Fixtures are made out of massive press and weaving machines...it gives a great contrast to the exquisite details on the apparel....

Gaps Pop Up Shop !

I have always loved the ideas of pop up shops..especially when they are done well! The theory of opening up in sometimes random neighbourhoods to either just do a fantastic short term shop or to test drive a new division or brand is brilliant to me...

Gap's 1965 brand pop up shop is on 3rd street holding its own with the high end competition. I think what I love the most is the bare bones fixtures and the price points...nothing over $100..and in this neighbourhood of $500 dresses this is a daring move that will prove that Gap is back!

Gap's pop up shop brilliant fixtures...industrial shelving with plexi over back to create a shop separation and storage....also visually- "anything in multiples"..it's striking to see stacks of perfectly folded denim thru the plexi glass

Inspired

Wonder what to do with too much space that you just can't fill with inventory? Oversize displays!

I love the scale of this....right as you walk in and brilliantly painted gold....

Same shop...above the tractor, a milk bottle chandelier!

getting it together!

Well, the blog has been up for a while now and we are pleased to be getting more and more hits! We have just set up face book and our profile there- the hope is to link one to another....
This is not an easy or quick feat by any means! I have been lucky enough to have Sarah Jones of Character Brands as a friend and a source of information and advise on how all of this social media and networking really works...

What I have learned is that while I am busy posting away, those who are searching for inspiration etc...t may not want to go through the pages and pages of info and pictures we have posted.....
The solution...we will be posting by category-Here is a list of categories that we will be blogging on and attaching information on:
Kids
Gourmet foods
Table top
Home Decor
Holiday/Seasonal
Bath
Books/Stationary
Fashion accessories
General gift
and most importantly......Inspiration!
We hope this will make it easier for you to find what you are looking for and what inspires you!

Great modern and whimsical spin on an arm chair...

Get out there...

I have been trying to take small day trips...Big Bear, Santa Barbra etc...its been amazing to get out and see your own backyard- I think we all get wrapped up in our own stores and businesses out of fear of loosing sales or not having the payroll etc - I am equally as bad at this - now getting out and about I'm feeling more inspired, more creative and less stressed about how to essentially re-invent the same spaces we have been re-inventing for the last 4 years....

Get out there, get inspired and get creative....

The beginning stages of the table top and gourmet month display at the LA Mart...

Close up of color copies as the backdrop... Simple, cost effective and eye catching....

End result - when shopping for this concept I just kept going back to that high end, specialty shop look. Easy enough to do in the way of in-expensive fixtures, free wood crates from farmers markets and some color copies out of great cookbooks as a backdrop...

Fantastic idea for those with a garden or patio in their retail space...interactive and fun....not to mention great idea for your clients oversized backyards....

Water fountain in Los Olivos....at Anthroplogie the overall visual experience was based on sight, sound and scent...the water element was always used come beginning of spring....

The single reason I love doing windows with vinyl lettering...bold and with a single catchy phrase you have caught most peoples attention in a single shot! These are the windows that I choose to push the envelope with what we are trying to convey...at mothers day a few years ago we had all of our staff get pics of their moms in early years and framed them for the back drop and the vinyl's read "mommy dearest."

The simple element of orchids in wall vases....so easy to do on an empty wall with either faux or real! Notice the light fixtures....old glass floats drilled out with a simple ikea cord kit to go in and instant chic pendant lamp!

Love these chairs! Nice to see them in a totally unexpected fabric!

Back from South Beach and re-inspired and re-energized! One thing I can say is that there is soooo much energy there! The music is the #1 factor...its amazing to go into a shop that really is not that interesting and have loud or relatively loud music going....the energy of the store changes, you want to start moving around, looking, semi dancing....even if what you are looking at is not that interesting- It is what I have always said...energy creates energy! If you think walking into a dead silent shop you are dead wrong!

W hotel South Beach....artist hipster....funky 70's decor matched with prominent artist of the today....so good!

Can't say how much I love this enough...the contrast of the mirrored cab and the natural grapevine limbs stacked up....gorgeous!

Above the bar detail....anything in a collection is dramatic and beautiful...