Semester Project
Haley Ross Visual Merchandising II Kate Schaefer Fall 2016
Mintel Research Furniture Retailing - US - July 2016 Executive Summary Furniture market outlook appears promising
Furniture retailing is big business with a lot of players vying for market share. The industry has been rebounding YOY (year-over-year) since the recession and the housing market bust, and eclipsed the $100 billion mark last year. Furniture purchasing is largely discretionary, so when the economy is better, and people feel more confident about their finances, furniture retailers typically benefit. This year, consumer expenditures on furniture should reach $107.6 billion which represents a gain of 4.4% over 2015. Some 56% of consumers purchased furniture in the past two years. Fueled by a stronger economic climate, a rallying housing market, and a thriving DIY (do-ityourself) industry, consumer expenditures on furniture are expected to continue along this same positive trajectory at an annual average growth rate of 3.4% through at least 2021 when the market should reach $127.5 billion (+18% versus 2016). However, the pace of growth will decelerate after this year. Speculation about another housing crash and the results of the upcoming presidential election could change the shape of the furniture forecast. FIGURE 1: US consumer expenditures and fan chart forecast for furniture, at current prices,
2011-21
Source: Based on Bureau of Economic Analysis/Mintel
Proposal: Home Décor/ Furniture Retail Based on the research gathered from Mintel pertaining to the furniture market, I will be creating a new retail space specializing in furniture and home décor. According to the research based on the Bureau of Economic Analysis, the furniture market is project to see a growth rate of 18% over the next five years. I therefore believe it would be profitable and on-trend to enter into the furniture and home décor retail market.
Target Consumer Group: Affluent Millennials The Budget Shopper - US - December 2015 Splurging Key analysis: In alignment with more personalized offers and deals discussed inBudgeting Actions Taken, retailers can likely increase brand loyalty by offering specials or even subscription services on the types of items that consumers are going to splurge on anyway. They can also infuse an element of choice into loyalty programs whereby customers can pick from a list of items they’d love to have. Another idea is to offer buy one, get one promotions given that more than a quarter of consumers do splurge on gifts for others. Finally, playing up themes of treats, rewards, and self-worth in messaging would likely resonate with budget shoppers who may feel like they often have to restrict themselves from such material indulgences.
FIGURE 35: Items splurged on, by generation, September 2015
"You indicated that you splurge on items you really want even if they are outside your budget. What items do you typically tend to splurge on?" Base: 1,131 internet users aged 18+ who splurge always, often, or sometimes Source: Lightspeed GMI/Mintel
Based on the above research regarding the different generations of consumers and their willingness to splurge on various product categories, my target consumer group is millennials. This generation of consumers is more likely to splurge on home goods than any other generation, which makes them the ideal consumer for the highquality merchandise I plan to offer. More specifically, my target consumers are affluent millennials that typically reside in large cities that are beginning to buy/rent their first homes/condos and are therefore in the market to purchase new furniture and home dĂŠcor. My target millennial consumers are typically couples in their late twenties to early thirties that are living together and/or are married and may even have kids, and both of them have successful careers that allow them as a couple to invest in high-quality products such as home furnishings.
“A Day in the Life Of� Pinterest Board
Link: https://www.pinterest.com/hayjay09710/day-in-the-life-of-the-consumer/ The Pinterest board is a compilation of various images that depict the lifestyle of the affluent millennial consumer. They live in large cities such as Chicago in neighborhoods like Lincoln Park and River North. Their choice of home includes anything from a high-rise downtown to a single-family walkup in a family-friendly neighborhood in the city. They love to eat at the newest, chicest restaurants in the city that offer up a trendy environment (preferably with a rooftop or patio) and a high-quality menu. Some of the places they love to frequent include Girl & The Goat, The Allis at Soho House, Mindy’s Hot Chocolate, and 3 Arts Club CafÊ at Restoration Hardware. On the weekends, the women love to get drinks with their girlfriends at chic places like RM Champagne and Expat. When they do cook, the couples love to purchase high quality ingredients from places like Eataly, and cook healthy meals like chili lime salmon with tomato, cucumber, & feta salad. In their free time they love to go to yoga class and Soul Cycle classes to stay fit and active. They also enjoy attending local street festivals like Renegade Craft Fair to find trendy local art and products and to socialize. In their houses, some things you may typically find include bar carts and terrariums because they are very on-trend currently. You can find these consumers typically shopping at stores like Zara for clothing, Louis Vuitton for handbags, and Land of Nod if they have kids. Some of these consumers may even sign up for monthly services like BirchBox and Winc. The men may sign up for services like Trunk Club. They enjoy these services because they are convenient in their busy lives and also offer quality products.
In-Store Experiences 1. Create a design studio within the retail space where customers can sit down with our designers to discuss concepts for their homes. 2. Offer interactive software on computers in-store that will allow customers to view the furniture they like in all the available fabrics. 3. Host fun events like DIY classes in the store that anyone can sign up and attend.
4. Have a small coffee bar in the store where customers can grab a latte & hang out and stay in the store longer.
Store Interior Mood Board
Part 2: Competitor Analysis- West Elm and Crate & Barrel
West Elm
Store Observations The first impression of West Elm’s store environment upon entering was that it is bright, inviting, and organic. The newest furniture and key seasonal trends are featured in the front of the store right when you enter. They utilize the large floor-to-ceiling permanent wall bay fixtures on either side of the front of the store to merchandise two different key seasonal trends. Once you enter the store, there is no clearly defined path to follow through the store because the furniture footprints are all over. The only sort of visual guide designating where to walk and not to walk are the area rugs grounding each furniture footprint. The customer tends to naturally avoid walking on the rugs and instead sticks to walking on the hardwood floors. As far as flooring in the store, most of the floors are the same hardwood. The only difference in the flooring is in the space they call “The Loft”, which has slate tile flooring. This slate flooring is important in designating “The Loft” as a separate area because this area houses a totally different style or trend of merchandise than the rest of the store. West Elm also utilizes different paint colors to designate different areas, trends, or footprints in the store. They change the color of the walls to coincide with the trend living in a particular area. As far as fixtures, West Elm’s main fixtures are the permanent wall bays throughout the store. But they also have a wedding cake shaped fixture with several different tiers, étagères, rolling carts, nesting tables, and high-density fixtures for sale merchandise. West Elm frequently uses the furniture, such as dining tables and bookshelves, to merchandise product as well. Signage is everywhere inside West Elm and for good reason. They use signage on every piece of furniture to provide product information like names, dimensions, and prices. They also use signage to notify customers of sales, events occurring in the store, seasonal branding, special product information, collaborations, and short descriptions about how a special product was made or who it was made by. There is signage hanging from the ceiling, placed in large sign holders standing on the ground, placed in upper bays of the wall units, and set out on furniture and fixtures. Props are used everywhere
throughout West Elm in conjunction with merchandise in order to style each footprint and make them feel like a lifestyle statement. West Elm uses props like plants, alcohol bottles, risers to add dimension, some nonperishable food, and even larger props like a fake log cabin that they built for this holiday season. West Elm likes to use imagery to communicate the values of the company. They currently have an entire window display dedicated to one of the values of the company, which is working with artisans from countries around the world to sell their handmade products in West Elm stores in order to make these artisans’ lives better. The imagery used in the window display depicts these artisans at work so that West Elm customers can really get an idea of the people behind these beautiful handmade items.
Strengths 1. Wall Bay Fixtures
West Elm effectively utilizes their large permanent wall bay fixtures to make a statement. They use these large floor-to-ceiling wall bays to present their main trends for the season. This large display of merchandise makes it possible to fully communicate the trend to the target consumer, who tends to be trend-driven.
2. Store Segmentation
West Elm is able to successfully create the illusion of being in different spaces within the same store by using different flooring, paint colors, and creating room vignettes with the furniture. This is beneficial to the target consumer because they need to be able to fully visualize the trend they are trying to achieve.
3. Traffic Flow
West Elm has created an organic flow of traffic through the store by providing no clear path through all of the furniture and fixtures. This is beneficial to the target consumer because it allows them to take their time
walking through the store and fully assess all of the season’s trends to choose from. This organic traffic flow prevents consumers from feeling rushed. The idea is that the longer they stay in the store, the more money they will spend.
Weaknesses 1. Cleanliness
Even the smallest details make a lasting impression in a store, and something that West Elm needs to work on is the cleanliness of the sales floor. There are dust bunnies and dusty surfaces all throughout the store. It is a very large store with a lot of square footage, but the staff should make it a priority to maintain the sales floor and dust daily. The target consumer demographic is more upper class and tends to have more money to spend, so their expectations for a store are higher; therefore, these expectations should be met.
2. Sale Signage
While a lot of signage can be good and especially helpful in a store that sells furniture, West Elm’s sale signage can sometimes be confusing for the customer. Sometimes West Elm does not have a sign that describes what specific sale is happening and instead just places small signs indicating “sale” or “30% off” in front of the merchandise on promotion. This can be confusing to the target consumer because the sale merchandise is not separated from the merchandise that is still full price, so the customer may think that all of the merchandise in that particular area of the store is on sale when in fact it is not. This can leave a negative impression in the customer’s mind.
3. Furniture Tagging
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The tags that West Elm uses for tagging furniture with product name and price are made out of paper and pinned to the furniture. This makes it extremely easy for tags to get ripped off, unpinned, or poke a customer. When there are no tags on the furniture, customers are then having to walk around to find a sales associate just to ask them the price, or the customer may not even consider that piece of furniture. The target consumer needs as much information as possible and as quick & easy as possible.
In-Store Experiences 
Design Lab: West Elm offers its customers the experience of complimentary inhome design services, and that experience begins at the in-store Design Lab where customers can talk with sales associates about their living spaces & see fabric and paint samples.
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Furniture: At West Elm customers are able to sit (and even lay) on all of the furniture to test it out and really get the experience of what each piece feels and looks like. The sales associates will even move around furniture like coffee tables so that a customer can see how it would look paired with a certain couch.
Crate & Barrel
Store Observations Upon entering Crate & Barrel, the store’s aesthetic appears to be clean, bright, organized chaos. Crate & Barrel carries so much merchandise that it could be very overwhelming, but somehow they manage to merchandise all of the product so that it makes sense and is visually appealing to the eye. They showcase all of the seasonal trends and merchandise towards the entrances of the store (there are two entrances). Crate & Barrel
utilizes a wide variety of different fixtures including floating shelves, tables, “floating walls”, permanent wall bays and stand-alone bays, bookcases, and furniture that is merchandise as well. Most of the fixtures are either white wood or lacquer. The flooring used within the store is a mixture of hardwood, slate tile, and white tile. Crate & Barrel uses these different types of flooring to break up the space so that it does not feel monotonous. It seems that they utilize the slate and white tiling flooring more in the kitchenware and dining areas of the store, while using more hardwood in the living spaces. Most of the walls in Crate & Barrel are painted white; however, they do use other paint colors to call out a trend or concept. For instance, they painted some walls blue for a concept they call “Once in a Blue Room”. The traffic flow in Crate & Barrel seems more established than in West Elm, but it still feels organic and there are several different paths a customer could take through the store. It seems that customers tend to walk to the left when they enter the store. Crate & Barrel uses some props such as alcohol bottles to create lifestyle moments throughout the store, but they mostly achieve this by using merchandise. Signage is everywhere in Crate & Barrel due to the fact that they carry so much merchandise and the store is so large. There is signage for almost every piece of merchandise notifying the customer of the name and price of the product. There is also directional signage, sale signage, trend signage, and signage for in-store experiences like the Wedding Registry area. Upon observation, there was not a lot of use of images throughout the store most likely because the lifestyle moments Crate & Barrel has created throughout the store speak for themselves.
Strengths 1. Creating a Lifestyle
Crate & Barrel embodies the concept of lifestyle brand. They create such detailed lifestyle moments in the store for every room of the house that their customers get a vivid picture of how their homes could look filled with
Crate & Barrel merchandise. This is essential for the trend-driven target consumer when making purchasing decisions. The target consumer is more likely to purchase when they are able to visually experience a fully realized concept. 2. Traffic Flow/Walking Paths 
Crate & Barrel is successful at subtly creating a natural traffic flow without making customers feel like they are following a forced walking path. They place the fixtures & furniture just right so that there are walking paths, but the layout still feels organic and not like a department store. It is important for the target consumer to feel relaxed in the store environment so that they stay in the store for a long period of time and therefore hopefully purchase more product.
3. Signage 
Crate & Barrel has perfected the art of clean & simple signage. Almost all of the signage is the same simple white paper with black font and not a lot of wording. This is absolutely essential so that the target consumer does not feel overwhelmed or overstimulated because there is already enough going on visually in the store. If the target consumer felt overstimulated they would not know where to focus their attention and may end up leaving the store without making a purchase.
Weaknesses 1. Lack of Staff 
When I was inside Crate & Barrel (on a Tuesday afternoon) it seemed difficult to locate sales associates on the floor, especially on the second and third floors. This could negatively affect the target consumer because they have high expectations for customer service, and if they cannot locate
associates within the store to assist them then they may just leave without making a purchase. 2. Disorganized Clearance Area
Even though Clearance areas are typically meant to be messy, the Clearance area in Crate & Barrel was quite messy and disorganized. Everything was thrown about on the shelves and it felt like this merchandise was the leftover scraps, which may be the case but a store never wants to present them in this manner. The target consumer does not tend to shop the Clearance area, but sometimes they might or it could just leave a negative impression of the store if they went over to that area.
3. Bath
Compared to the amount of living, bedroom, kitchen, and dining merchandise that Crate & Barrel offers, the bath merchandise selection seemed to be far smaller and sort of an after-thought. This could be an area of great money-making potential for Crate & Barrel because beautifully designed bathrooms are a huge trend right now where there are being treated with the same amount of design consideration as any other room in the house. The target consumer loves the latest trends and has the money to execute them, so if Crate & Barrel were to carry more bath merchandise they could potentially see a large growth in sales.
In-Store Experiences
Wedding Registry Table: Crate & Barrel had a table in the store designated as the Wedding Registry table where couples could sit down with an associate and discuss registering.
Table Your Ideas: Crate & Barrel has an interactive display in the store called “Table Your Ideas” where a customer can use a computer to set a table using Crate & Barrel dinnerware to reflect their personal style.
Listening Room: Crate & Barrel has an area in the store called the “Listening Room” where customers can sit back & relax and listen to music. In this area Crate & Barrel now also sells records as part of a new partnership with Capitol Records.
Commercial Space
I have chosen 1152 W. Randolph St. in Chicago, IL. for several reasons including the store exterior and the location of the space. This space first caught my eye because I feel that the exterior matches the aesthetic that I am trying achieve, which is contemporary industrial yet cozy. I also liked that the existing interior already has a lot of the key design elements that I want to include in my interior, including exposed brick walls and woodbeam ceilings. I was then even more thrilled with the space because it is located in the heart of the West Loop, which is a Chicago neighborhood that is very popular amongst
my target consumer. The West Loop is an area that my target consumer frequently visits to eat because it is inundated with some of the best restaurants in the city; however, there is very little retail activity occurring in the neighborhood currently. So I chose this space to be innovative and be one of the first major retail locations in the West Loop, so that when all of my target consumers are in the area on a regular basis to eat they will have no choice but to flock to my store. My thought process is that by choosing this location in the West Loop that I could be the first to start a trend of retailers opening locations in the neighborhood and having it become a new retail hub in Chicago.
Fixtures
Wedding Cake Fixture
Permanent Wall Bay Fixtures
Nesting Tables
Étagères
High Density Fixture (Sale)
Part 3: Store Interior, Store Experience, & Planogram
Store Interior
Mood Board Explanation The overall aesthetic of the store interior will read as contemporary industrial yet cozy. The neutral color palette used throughout the store will make the customer feel comfortable and at home in the space. The paint color palette will consist of a soft tan color and various shades of gray that will be used to designate different areas throughout the store while still making it feel cohesive. There will also be two different types of flooring used to differentiate between spaces or trends within the store. Reclaimed wood flooring will be used to lend to the industrial aesthetic. Multicolored slate tile flooring will be used in other spaces of the store to add interest and an element of texture to the interior. The reclaimed wood and slate flooring are different enough from each other to clearly be a visual guide to the customer that they have entered a different section within the store, but still both match the overall aesthetic. There will be a mixture of 3 different light fixtures that will serve different purposes. First there will be industrial chandeliers to act mainly as visually appealing focal points throughout the store. These will serve as the eye catching light fixtures that the customers will pay attention to. The second type of lighting will be the industrial track lighting that still matches the store aesthetic, but serves more of a functional purpose to properly light the merchandise so that customers can see it well. The third type of lighting will be industrial spotlights that again match the aesthetic but serve the functional purpose of directing the customer’s eye to a certain focal point or merchandise. All the fixtures throughout the store, except for the permanent wall bay fixtures, will be reclaimed wood and metal industrial fixtures. The majority of the fixtures will be wood and metal in order to create consistency and reinforce the aesthetic. Most of these fixtures are also on wheels to allow for ease of movement throughout the store so that it will be easy to switch up fixture placement. The permanent wall bay fixtures will all be white because so much wood throughout the store can start to feel very dark and heavy, so the white wall bays will
lighten up the atmosphere and stand out as the fixtures that house the main merchandise trends.
In-Store Experience Design Lab- There will be a Design Lab within the store where customers can meet with in-house designers that will create floorplans for them and help choose the furniture that best fits their space. The in-house designers will also help customers choose everything from paint colors to curtains to coffee table accessories. If necessary, the in-house designers will even visit a client’s home. This in-store experience is appropriate for my customer demographic because a majority of these customers have the income to fully furnish an entire home and want it to be done well. Instead of going through an interior designer, the customer can come straight to the source and receive design services and the furniture in one place. Most of my customer demographic lead busy lives and do not have much time to spare, so the Design Lab offers them a simple solution to receiving superior design services.
Digital Experience Digital Product Customization- Customers will be able to customize their furniture instore using iPads. Not only will we have fabrics swatches in the store for customers to see and feel, but we will also have iPads where they can then select their custom fabric to see what their furniture will look like in that particular fabric. It is beneficial to have fabric swatches for the customers to see, but often times they have trouble visualizing exactly how the furniture will look in the fabric that they have chosen. The iPad customization will take all of that mystery away, and customers will now be able to see exactly how their custom piece of furniture will look. This digital experience is appropriate for my customer demographic because a majority of these customers have the income to pay extra to customize their furniture. They have
enough money to buy what they like and not just settle for what is in stock at the store. These customers are paying a lot for their furniture and they deserve to know exactly what they are getting, so the iPad customization is the perfect way to show them.
Planogram 1st floor: 3,195sqft
Scale: 1”=10’ 71’
Cash Wrap
Entrance
45’
1
2 1
3 Fixture Merchandising 1
(Fixtures labeled on Planogram)
Legend
1.
Nesting Tables
High Density Fixture (Sale)
2.
Nesting Tables will hold decorative accessories Table will hold corresponding throws Wall Bay will hold corresponding pillows and more decorative accessories
Etagere
Table
3.
Wall Bay
Rolling Table
*The nearby furniture displays will be styled with corresponding ‘add-ons’ like throws, pillows, candles, & vases.
Furniture Display
2nd floor: 4,030sqft
Scale= 1”= 10’ 65’
Staircase
62’
Design Lab
Restrooms
Legend
Nesting Tables
High Density Fixture (Sale)
Etagere
Table
Wall Bay
Rolling Table Furniture Display
Part 4: Store Exterior, Fixtures, & 7 Recipes for Success
Store Exterior:
Store Exterior Mood Board:
Itemized List of Fixtures: Fixture # of fixtures Price per fixture Nesting Table 6 $ 100.00 Etagere 9 $ 88.00 Wall Bay 7 $ 200.00 High Density 2 $ 75.00 Table 6 $ 120.00 Rolling Table 4 $ 140.00 Total
34
Total $ 600.00 $ 792.00 $ 1,400.00 $ 150.00 $ 720.00 $ 560.00 $ 4,222.00
Recommended Merchandise for Fixtures:
Nesting Tables o Holiday: Gifting ideas/ Gifting stories (Gifts for Him, Gifts for Her) o January: Sale items grouped by type (all Decorative Accessories, color story, etc.) o All other months: Merchandise grouped together by trend (throws, pillows, decorative accessories that are all apart of the same trend/color story)
Etageres o Holiday: Holiday dinnerware, gifting ideas, or holiday candles o January: Small grab & go sale items near cashwrap o All other months: Point of purchase items, Dinnerware collections, picture frames, candles, throws, small decorative trinkets
Wall Bays o Holiday: Holiday color stories & trends (throws, pillows, decorative accessories) o January: Some could hold sale pillows, and others towards the entrance of the store could feature new the Spring Collection
o All other months: Trends & color stories (throws, pillows, decorative accessories)
High Density Fixtures o Holiday: Ornaments o January: Sale (assortment of everything on sale) o All other months: Sale (assortment of everything on sale)
Tables o Holiday: Holiday candles o January: Sale candles o All other months: Candles, throws, decorative accessories, or jewelry boxes
Rolling Tables o Holiday: Holiday trim items (wreaths, garland, lights, tree toppers, etc.) o January: Any leftover sale Holiday trim, or other sale items (throws, decorative accessories, etc.) o All other months: Smaller trend collections, or could sometimes hold sale items if there are large quantities of one particular sale item (sale dinnerware collection, sale throw collection, large quantities of sale vases/decorative accessories)
7 Recipes for Success 1. Shorten the wait time
In the store, there will be screens near the cashwrap that will be playing videos of the making of that current season’s catalogue photoshoots. Another way to shorten the wait for customers will be by having some mobile cashwraps where customers that have been working with an associate can pay on an iPad.
2. Price Perception
Since this is a higher price point home goods store, customers will experience superior customer service. The store will be staffed properly so
that every customer gets the attention and assistance that they deserve. The associates will be attentive and knowledgeable about all of the products and their features, prices, fabrics, shipping etc. There will be a team of skilled home stylists that will assist clients in the expert design of their spaces. The store will be kept clean at all times, which will be the responsibility of not only a hired cleaning service to come multiple times a week, but also the responsibility of all associates to maintain the store appearance and cleanliness. The shopping bags and packaging for purchases will be made of high quality materials that will not break or rip when carried, and the design will be sleek and communicate the quality of the brand. 3. Meeting the needs of Senior Citizens 
The store will obviously have plenty of seating areas for senior citizens since it is a furniture store. There will also be an easily accessible elevator in the store that is not hidden in a corner or all the way in the back of the store. The staircase will also not be too steep in case senior citizens are able to take the stairs. Since it is often times harder for senior citizens to see, the important signs within the store (floor directory, elevator, bathroom, sale, etc.) will be bright, bold, and large fonts.
4. Keep customers in the store longer 
The customer’s senses will be immediately engaged upon entering the store in order to invite them in and encourage them to stay for as long as they want. The most popular candle scents will be burning throughout the entire store. The music will be the perfect volume and pace so that the customer feels relaxed and not in a rush. Customers will be encouraged to sit on the furniture and stay for a while and will not experience rude comments or looks for hanging around too long. They will in fact be offered bottled water, which will be kept in stock in the back room of the store. The store will remain styled and put together at all times so that the customer feels inspired and not like they have just walked into a mess.
5. Trigger impulse buys
Near the cash wrap there will be etageres that house POP items, such as candles, small trinkets, hand cream, lower price point throws, small plants, etc. The etageres will be kept tidy at all time so that these items appear enticing rather than an afterthought. Another way impulse buys will be triggered is by having all of our furniture styled out with throws, pillows, and decorative accessories. A customer may come in only to purchase a couch, but when they see the couch will all of the added touches, they may feel like they need to buy those as well.
6. Include shopping conveniences
In order to make the customer’s shopping experience more enjoyable, there will be several conveniences provided for them. There will be a free parking lot for customers. Upon entering, there will be umbrella bags in case it rains. There will also be shopping baskets for customers to carry their items in, but associates will also be walking around offering to place customers’ items behind the cashwrap if they are still shopping. A registry kiosk will be located near the front of the store for customers to look up a variety of different registries (wedding, bridal shower, baby shower, house warming, etc.). In the case that a customer is able to walk out of the store with a larger furniture item, associates or members of the stock team will offer to help them carry the item out to their car.
7. Create a state of flow
Every customer will have an enjoyable shopping experience from the moment they enter the store. They will be greeted by a friendly associate ready to guide them to a location in the store or assist in any way possible. There will be shopping baskets by the entrance that customers can grab as they are walking in. If an associate notices a customer with large shopping bags, they will offer to safely secure them behind the cashwrap so that the customer does not have to carry them around. Not only will there be plenty of associates to assist customers, but there will also be signage to guide the customer through the retail space. The shopping experience will
be focused around creating a lifestyle for the customer. Every available space will be used to style out the merchandise in order to inspire the customer to recreate this lifestyle in their own home. The furniture will be set up like room vignettes that are completely styled with accessories to make the room feel like home. There will also be skilled home stylists that are able to help customers bring their vision to life. The customer will never feel like they are lost in the store because there will always be associates nearby to assist in any way that they can, and when an associate is not near the store signage will provide all of the necessary directional information as well as product details. Up until the moment a customer leaves and even after, associates are ready and willing to help and continue the relationship by giving the customer their business card.