Display is a part of merchandising, and merchandising is all about creating an environment that begins when the customer pulls up in the parking lot, and continues all the way to how the gloves are arranged on the rack.

If you want to stand out, you have to make the space your own. It isn't enough to line up a bunch of bikes against stark white walls, throw in the odd rack, and call it a display. This will serve the basic purpose of displaying the wares, but create a memorable or engaging experience for the customer it will not. Dan Witmer and Mary Teasdale own Gear Head Canada in Ottawa, ON, which won a Best Display award from Dealernews this summer for a Vespa display that the judges said was simple and effective, while conjuring up fun and excitement, says Witmer. “It was also non-threatening to a first time (typically female) scooter rider as it did not promote speed and power.”

The display was positioned at the store's front entrance and featured five different coloured Vespas, fanned out on silver diamond plate with a small pyramid of scooter helmets in the centre. On the painted block wall behind were phrases – such as, “mellow yellow” and “blue by you” – related to the various colours the machines came in titled, “Choose your Mood.”

The showroom layout itself is in “streets” connecting “neighbourhoods” of related products—islands of sport bike gear and accessories around and on sport bikes, and similarly appropriate items around cruisers, ATVs, and scooters. “We encourage customers to ‘walk the streets’ to get to their area of their interest,” says Witmer. “The displays are changed frequently, and we have lots of mirrors to encourage shoppers to try on items, and also for security and to brighten and visually enlarge the space.”

The interior design was modelled to accomodate a “gear” theme with silver and grey to off-set the Gear Head logo, which has bright, primary colours. The building's design, with exposed galvanized heating ducts suggested a brushed aluminum slat wall, chrome grids, and silver aluminum diamond plate for an industrial theme. Bare concrete block walls asked for a two-tone, warm paint scheme, and on the floor they used vinyl tile with an abstract meshing gear pattern. The entrance way uses ceramic tile in a circular wheel motif.

“We had a minimal budget to work with and couldn’t do everything we wanted to do, such as a cobblestone floor treatment and stucco walls with inset brick and wall planters for our Italian cafe,” says Witmer. “This will come in the next phase of interior design.”

Wrought iron tables and chairs are currently part of an Italian outdoor cafe theme with an espresso maker where customers can relax with motorcycle encyclopedias and classic bike information cards to keep them entertained.

Different themes work through each area of the showroom as well, explains Witmer. “In the customer lounge we have low leather chairs and a glass topped coffee table with mangled engine parts displayed under the top—bent rods, holed pistons, valves broken in the tops of pistons. We continued this ‘ancient and dead’ theme with some fossils of fish and dinosaur eggs and a baby alligator head.”

In the pair’s travels around the world, they’ve picked up tribal masks and spears and wooden skulls and have integrated these into wall displays.

They add an element of interest and give customers something different to look at—some artifacts are used as display props and dressed in motorcycle gear.

Witmer warns against including too many elements in a display, which can make it confusing and ineffective. He says the formula for an award-winning display is simple: "Have a theme. Make it fun. And inject a sense of humour."

Display Tips You Can't Do Without:

Segment the showroom by bike type and provide at least one central display in each section that presents everything a person would need to buy into the entire experience. (You do carry everything a person would need to buy into the entire experience ... right?)

Stock items you wouldn't necessarily find in a shop such as street shoes, hats, and watches, and tie them into the rest of the store with similarly designed racks or artwork.

Display basic accessories throughout the store to encourage walk-though traffic.

Impulse items work in the grocery store; they can work for you. Try sunglasses, toques, stickers, etc.

In specialty sections, experts recommend ordering in small quantities to keep the section fresh and to create immediacy —If I don't buy today, will this still be here next week? Take a lesson from department stores and group items by brand to encourage people who buy into an image or are obsessively brand-loyal.

Use lifts for a multi-dimensional effect and to highlight new, custom, or specialty items. Rearrange the show room often and keep bikes clean and charged for test rides.

Re-evaluate inventory and remove anything that a customer can't understand and move towards buying without a help from a staff member; anything out of season; and anything you're going to have to get creative to move.

Instead of stacking item upon item to get the most of a small space, try space-saving rack fixtures designed to give a multidimensional look with a forgiving footprint.

Take advantage of themes relating to special events and holidays. Plan ahead for costumes, food, music, advertising, and specialty focal pieces that tie products in to the holiday theme with colours and props.

A bike loaded with aftermarket accessories becomes an upselling prop for the sales department, while taking it a step further with a poster or sign explaining the value of each accessory turns a great display into an educational tool for the consumer.

Have a large, powerful display in the centre or most eyecatching place in the store. Resist the urge to formulate a display that only an experienced rider can understand. Accessory departments should be eye-catching and clutterfree, and every area should have focal point.

The view from every angle in your store should be incredible. Look around. CPT