Inspiration is EVERYWHERE

After a very long hiatus I am back! With the help of miss Viviana the blog is back  in action!
My goal is that I stay current on this, in turn, keep you current on all things visual and creative
I have taken pictures during my hiatus....so sit back and get caught up with what's happened...it will all be posted over the next few weeks!

"Inspiration is everywhere"

Last April (also around the last time I posted) was the opening for my pet protect Sweet XO. A labor of love that I did the buying and merchandising for...weeks of shopping and weeks of set up.
I sort of thought, well, that's it, on to the next project....but not so, I stayed on. Probably the most happy and most content I have been in years! A buying and merchandising project that is not micro managed...a dream project of someone saying (literally) "you know what needs to be done, just do it"....so I did....mind you, I will run as far as I can till someone says stop...well, no one said stop so I'm still going....that did not come without a price though...terrible creative burn out...
This last season of gift shows I had the chance to return to New York. It's been almost 8 years since my last visit!
Amazing how much has changed and how I see it now. I have always walked the areas to see the windows but never really looked at it as a whole experience...from sun up to sun down one day I traveled on foot...it literally was 100 plus blocks. Upper east side to Soho to Central Park. All along the way stopping and pausing to really look, taste and smell the city! It's the most inspired I have been in weeks, no, scratch that....months! So here is a little sampling from the streets of NY through my eyes
Xo

"EXTRA EXTRA READ ALL ABOUT IT!"

Hi all! Here is the latest article on Sweet XO's project! Can't wait for everyone to see it in person!

xo

New Agoura Hills Shop Aiming for the Sweet Spot

RETAIL: Developer Scott Ehrlich offering an eclectic mix for customers of newest project. By Angela Melero Monday, March 19, 2012

Store: SweetXO opens its doors April in a former Blockbuster Video store aiming to be a neighborhood hot spot.

SweetXO, a new shop opening next month in Agoura Hills, will combine a yogurt bar, candy store, cupcake stand and gift shop under one roof.

The project’s developer, Scott Ehrlich of Woodland Hills-based InSite Development, is putting a modern twist on a neighborhood five-and-dime store in a bid to lure consumers of all ages to the store with an eclectic mix of sweet treats, apparel, accessories and gift items.

“We wanted to create a place where customers could hang out, shop and have fun,” Ehrlich said.

SweetXO, located at 5825 Kanan Road, will host its grand-opening event April 1. But the developer’s vision for the SweetXO brand extends far beyond Agoura Hills.

“Every step we take is with the intentions to go across the country,” Ehrlich said.

He and his team at InSite Development have a track record for tackling major projects. The company has helped to transform Lancaster’s downtown area into a city gathering place with high-end retail, entertainment, residential and office segments. And several of the businesses on Lancaster Boulevard will be supplying products for SweetXO.

Many small specialty retail stores — even those that have been Valley mainstays for decades — are struggling amid the challenging economy. Competition from big box retailers, coupled with more frugal consumer spending patterns, has put pressure on sales and forced many specialty stores out of business.

But Ehrlich is optimistic about SweetXO, and he has invested about $500,000 in launching the store on the market. “I think this will be a huge success right out the door,” he said.

Rae’s Cup+Cake Bakeshop will supply the cupcakes. And the store will feature a frozen yogurt station with 18 flavors and more than 500 toppings. The bulk candy sold in the store will serve as toppings for the yogurt bar, Ehrlich said.

Zipz Shoes, a tennis shoe line that offers exchangeable tops will sell some footwear. Nothing But Bling Boutique, a shop specializing in selling custom bedazzled apparel, also will be a local supplier for SweetXO. The shop will also include items such as Jonathan Adler stationary, Trina Turk pillows and colorful sleepwear from Mudpie — selected by veteran retail merchandiser Michelle Craig, who assisted with Ehrlich’s downtown Lancaster project.

Ehrlich said he and business partner Rick Gutierrez are using grassroots neighborhood marketing techniques to spread the word on their new project — partnering with local schools, charities and local establishments. SweetXO also is looking to hire about 20 employees, who will be cross-trained to sell food and merchandise.

SweetXO’s wide array of product offerings helps to differentiate it from the other specialty shops on the market, said Craig, whose clients have included retailers such as Anthropologie and Fred Segal.

Patricia Norins, publisher of Specialty Retail Report, said there are three things retailers must take into consideration when launching a new retail concept. First, it must be viable and be in demand. It must also be the right match for its location and have a strong visual display that communicates the brand, she said.

Instead of opting for a spot near a high-end retailer or at local mall, Ehrlich said he selected the location at 5825 Kanan Road, the site of a former Blockbuster store, because it’s a high-traffic area close to a supermarket and Starbucks. The goal is to be a neighborhood hot spot, he said.

As SweetXO prepares for its grand-opening, Ehrlich is already planning another location. He’s scouting locations in Manhattan Beach and expects to open a second store by the end of the year.

As the concept grows, Ehrlich said he would prefer to keep the SweetXO brand a corporate-owned operation, though he’s building in some flexibility to allow for possible franchising.

Despite the challenging retail environment in recent years, Norins said there’s good news for retail entrepreneurs stepping onto the scene.

“There’s a lot more new location opportunities than there used to be,” she said.

Products We Love

For the past 3 months I have been crazy busy buying in order to fill a 5000 sq shop. One must shop non stop to fill it. Not just "fill it" but fill it with amazing things that are fun, bright and not found everywhere! Sweet XO's will have kids merchandise,gift and home decor, women's accessories and apparel, tabletop items and so so much more! All of which I have been scouring the country for! Now that I have a chance to catch my breath I wasn't to show you some of my favorite items! Enjoy!

Sweet tooth anyone?

Christmas came and went- my Forge store project has come to a close for now but my work with the investors and owners of Forge is not over...rather just beginning...
The people behind Forge are a group of investors and developers. Forge is a small part of a huge re development project of the city of Lancaster California. The city and the men I have been hired by have taken a 6 lane highway and re developed it in to a 2 lane street filled with shopping, restaurants, a museum and low income housing. It has given Lancaster residents and nearby folks a place to gather, to see a movie to have an ice cream and to just hang out. Its been an amazing project and group of people to have been blessed to be involved with.
Fast forward to today....The same group of guys have decided to open a concept shop in their own backyard of Agoura Hills. A 5,000 sq foot shop/gathering place/party space. A mecca of cupcakes, candy and frozen yogurt with more toppings than you have ever seen. Now cross merchandise that with fun gifts, home decor, apparel and accessories and you have it! You can get your party supplies, grab a gift, get cupcakes on the go with an cute cake plate to serve them on...all in this one stop shop!
Its bright, fun and fresh! Think Jonathon Adler meets Kate Spade mixed with some Trina Turk!
I have been lucky enough to have been hired to do the buying, the decor and the overall set up....I am beyond excited to see it come all together!
I will be posting pictures from the very beginning- so, with that said, here is the first look at Sweet XO's!

Newest project for Birds Eye View! Concept shop combining a sweets and high end gift and home! Think Jonathan Adler meets Kate Spade! Bright, fun and fresh!

Outside of the new project

4,700 Sq foot space

First phase demo! Walls beginning to go up.

Hard walls starting to be built! I love this part..you can start to visualize the space.

View from front door.

'Tis the season to be jolly

I am a Christmas baby...I was born on December 29th. My mom made a huge deal of the holidays. She was a single parent of two so almost everything was handmade....the ornaments, the gingerbread men, the decor and the cards. I was blessed to have my own Martha Stewart. While I don't sew and making things by hand is very difficult for me ( I have the worst ADD- so creating small detailed items make me loose interest) I have learned to have a huge appreciation of all the small details. It is the big picture that drives me and pushes me forward.

By trade I am a merchandiser, I need to see the big picture and I need to see change and progress by the end of each day. So when the holidays approach I get very antsy....I know change, big change is on its way. Each of my stores or showrooms have very different looks and concepts. Concepts that we have put together for months, shopped for and by the time its being delivered to the stores I can hardly contain myself. Its the same feeling I used to get when my mom used to start taking out the boxes of handmade ornaments and decor.
This year we added Forge in Lancaster California. I was brought on to help guide the store in buying, merchandising and the set up fall through Christmas. For Christmas we went with candy and ice cream themes. The holiday bake shop was the most fun to create and buy for. Bake kits for cookies and cute serving dishes to put them on. Everything was bright, fun and merchandised as the one stop shop the hostess gift you needed.
The other was a woodland feel with white feathered owls and tartan ribbons.....chocolates and specialty cocos were placed here...again, easy hostess and teacher gifts....my favorite detail was the choice to use the champagne flutes in the Christmas trees by tying them on with the tartan ribbon......more out of necessity due to how many we had but ended up being the best part of the display.
Set up for a store this size is a solid week of long long days, but you know what, I live for it...the hours, the excitement to see it finished and to hear the customers feedback and wonder of it all....Its all worth it, and I have my mom to thank for my love and drive of it all things Christmas.

Ice Cream & Cupcake ornaments

Mens window-notice the reclaimed wire spool from a local construction site-great visual piece that went well with the mens vibe!

Bake-shop- aprons, mixing bowls and lots of sweet baking mixes! Cross merchandising to increase sales!

My favorite table top..white feather owls, specialty chocolates with champagne glasses ties to Christmas trees with tartan plaid ribbons.

All Things Pretty ♥

Wilshire Beauty is one of our clients in the mid Wilshire area of Los Angeles. They have been known to be the first version of Sephora- a literal warehouse of all things beauty..hair, makeup, facial products and everything in between the only thing is they have not up dated, up graded or re invented in the last 10 years or so. Much of the old way from days long gone by were still in place. Many of the areas had nothing in them or worse had grown way out of the space that it was in- Why you ask? Fear of change, fear of what if it does not fit once moved etc...so there it stayed till we came along! My whole theory is you cant move forward if you are stuck in the past-change is a good thing..mistakes are the only way you are going to start seeing things differently- even if wrong you see it differently than the way its been for the last however long its been like that....
Thus is with Wilshire Beauty's cosmetic department. A mecca of beauty products in 15 different places and all free floating in the middle of two different departments..not pretty and not cohesive in anyway shape or form...We moved it forward- up to the entry, up where there was natural light and up to where there were actual walls we could do something with.We designed new cabinets- black with mirrored tops, re skinned the old counters with new black Formica so they would be cohesive with the new cabinets and re painted walls a charcoal grey to compliment the amazing Designers Guild wallpaper from Osborne and Little. With the new space we are able to make it all look cohesive, special and most of all pretty...

Click the links to visit the Wilshire beauty & Osborne and Little website

Thank god for Vivian!

Please help me welcome Vivian to our team here at Birds Eye View! She came to us via our good friend Sig, where she had interned at Kravet in the LA Mart! Miss Viv will be working on our blog and helping us with holiday set ups!
So, keep your eyes out for new displays, videos of how to's, links to great products and tons and tons of inspiration, photos and new ideas!
Its all about to change to hang on and enjoy the ride!

2 years later....

Monday, August 10, 2009

A new chapter in Birds Eye View

When I had someone suggest that I do a blog for both our clients and for the general public I kept thinking who is going to read this and how do I do it...
Thanks to Micheal Garret here we are...thank god for the younger generation-the thought process that usage of the internet will forward your business. It's not something we old school-ers are used to...nor do we or me accept it with open arms...

My business is retail and wholesale consulting. My whole job is to push the envelope, push what the general public sees in windows and in store layouts as well as what the retailers see when they come to purchase for their stores for the coming seasons.
I have 2 mantras..
1-"change is good-change is good-change is good"
and
2-everything happens for a reason

In order to push yourself or your company you have to change..you can't stay safe or complacent..you have to push the envelope-not everyone will get it but it will make
those think about it..
Simon Doon the brilliant man who does the windows at Barney's NY has pushed the envelope
for years-he never stays safe and is constantly pushing the world of visuals forward-my favorite story he tells is of him doing a christmas window...Simon is not traditional- you will not find the normal holiday windows. One year they decided to do the typical nativity scene but in a total non-traditional way..Simon in his brilliance used hello kitty in lieu of baby jesus..while I find the humor in it the catholic church did not and put a full page ad in the NY Times...
The up side of all of this was the best free press and long long lines of people going to see the window display with hello kitty...that is pushing the envelope-that is not staying safe-that is what I love about this industry.

Everything happens for a reason...you may not see it at once but its always there...I lost all my stores after the earthquake- I was devastated..it was all I knew..it was my ego, it was my job..it was essentially what I thought was me-however, that me was a snotty 27 year old that yes pushed the envelope but not in the right direction..thank god that earthquake happened. I can't picture what I would be like now..or where I would be now...
I had to re-learn retail, re-learn what worked and what did not- how to drive traffic to a store, how to drive your buisness thru visuals and simple floor planning. I had to re-learn what customer service was and how to utilize it. I started my company 6 years ago and never looked back-I have never had to go out and look for work- all my buisness has been through word of mouth. I am very lucky and I know it..there are a lot of us out there and a lot of us all jocking for the same jobs..

This blog is for my retailers and the general pubilc- it will later be turned into a subscriber service for my clients who want the upper hand in retail solutions.
I will post windows I see, inspiration and ideas. I will list items and places I love etc...

The subscriber portion will have trend forcasting, show overviews (for those whom only make it to the reginal shows) and detailed display how-tos.
Hope you enjoy it and hope it brings inspiration to you!
m-

Who knew?

WHO KNEW...I certainly did not when I signed on to open Forge's store in Lancaster that I would go from retail consultant and merchandiser to a buyer again...and,for men's no less....
I have not been a buyer for menswear in almost 20 years. Once a very long time ago I had three
stores in Fred Segal Santa Monica that I loved very much. I was very young and did pretty much what I wanted. I made a lot of friends, I made a more than a few people pissed off, but most of all I found out what I loved to do and I had the opportunity to learn it in an amazing arena!
There is nothing I would change about my education of the fashion world...nothing. I may have lost it all...but I would change nothing....
So, who knew when this opportunity came up that I would be submerged again in not only what I know like the back of my hand, but also men's and women's apparel buying...
Who knew that I would be nervous my first day back in the showrooms that I once knew, ruled (only because of having a store at Fred Segal) and understood so well...
Who knew?
But, just as riding a bike, it all is coming back....the eye, the verbiage ( and it does have a vocabulary to its own, let me tell ya!) the sizing, the delivery dates and so on and so on...
So, here I sit...scanning sites for new upcoming lines, re learning how to walk the walk and talk
the talk...and you know what, I am loving every minute of it...
WHO KNEW?
xo

cat got your tongue?

I know, I know....its been waaay too long.....
In my business and life it seems its either feast or famine...at this moment, its feast!
Summer means sun and fun to most but in my industry it means gift show set ups! The
national shows are all in the summer months, peppered throughout the country, gift stores,
catalogs, home stores, decorators etc all shop the shows for the 4th quarter buys. I set up
showrooms like Peking Handicraft, Gus Dallas and this year a new addition, Roost! It is also
first show in the last few years that I am not involved in the California Gift Show set up....
It was a little bittersweet but all and all, it felt pretty good not to be so burned out by the time
I turn into a buyer (my other job)...
I added a new client to my retailers... Forge. A combination gift, home and apparel lifestyle store
in Lancaster...
I know what you are thinking....Lancaster...yep, Lancaster. The city and investors are re-developing downtown. I have to admit, as jaded as I am about retail not being so interesting
these days, not being fun and not adding anything new, this is new! A mix of old and new they have added restaurants, a moca museum, a bowling alley/club and now the latest addition- a movie theater/retail space.
The brilliance of moving traffic thru the retail space to purchase tickets, food and ultimately the theater has not really been done yet...Sure, Cracker Barrel moves you through retail space in order to get to the restaurant but really, who is in the market for singing frogs and bedazzled tee shirts these days?
Its Urban architectural adds so much to the street...so much so you really do forget you are not in Lancaster anymore.
I am excited to be on board with this project-I will be involved with everything from the buying, merchandising and display- its really a dream project!
I will post pics soon as well as pics of the latest show set ups for Peking Handicraft!
xo

"sew sweet"

I think the sweetest thing you could do for anyone is
make them a valentine..crayons, felt tip or pencil
they are the sweetest when made from scratch and
made from love....
I'm thinking for my valentine I will take felt, cut
a heart and hand sew I love you on to it....

Top ten merchandising tips!

Go to Birds Eye View facebook page for the top ten merchandising tips!

click on the link to take you to the video on facebook

Top Ten Merchandising Tips.

California Gift Show cross merchandising seminar 2010

Last seasons gift show I was hired by the California Gift Show to do 4 seminars on
how to cross merchandise and create mini shops within retailers own spaces.
So many retailers don't cross merchandise.. I am not sure why, maybe not understanding how to do this? Maybe not wanting to change? I am not sure. I do know that lifestyled and cross merchandised shops like Anthropologie are the future- they are constantly re-working and re-inventing the new and the old inventory to create mini shops that draw your attention and entise you to buy...

This is what I do- teach retailers how to cross merchanidse and create fun and exciting vignettes and displays. I chose 4 concepts that retailers could relate to..ones that would make them think outside the box and create some excitement that they could re-create within their own shops...

The only concept not shown was the seaside living which I am sad to say I forgot to shoot...

enjoy!

xo

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Birthday shop was created to show retailers how to cross merchandise kids party planning

products and gourmet...its all about bright, fun merchandise that grabs your attention...

first plan of attack, inventory set up...

we decided to paint a huge happy birthday song on the wall...again, so easy and

so effective!

The finished opening tabletop- its supposed to feel like you just walked into

a kids party

The finished display!

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Halloween is the #2 most retailed holiday next to Christmas....

That being said, you may not feel like your shop translates to
a holiday like Halloween but trust me...this is a opportunity
that you don't want to skip over.
Even my apparel shops touch on Halloween- a little story of
black apparel cross merchandised with some candles and
specialty chocolates and ta-da! Instant Halloween statement.
Make sure you place it up front and have it set up by mid
September and you should be sold out of it way before the
actual holiday...

floor set up of the Halloween shop

opening statement table top...

finished! Notice the detail on the back wall... grapevine attached to wall, orange and black ribbon running through with Halloween lanterns hanging from it...so easy, so cost effective and so fun..... That is what its all about after all- making it fun for you and your clients!

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Nappa style was a cross merchandised wine/gift shop- showing retailers how to cross merchandise furniture, gift product and gourmet into one life styled vignette...

setting the floor at the convention center and laying electrical...the beginning of it all

opening statement of the nappa style shop

the overview of the entire shop complete