Home Center Merchant

BILL FISHMAN

Bill Fishman & Affiliates

11650 lberia Place San Oie;. Ca,.-g^Zg make their bigticketdecisions. Merchants today are using that wall space to sell their company creed, credit plans, delivery programs and the company's liberal guar-

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is some_ opportunity to maximize sales, there are times worse than no signing at all. It many in the home center and building cheapens the merchandise. Don't be foolmaterial industry who slil/ neglect to util- ed by the carefully hand lettered printed ize our most economical selling tool . signs you find in today's chain and wareSIGNING! house operations. Theirs is not a slip shod

Consider first permanent in-store sign- production. Those signs are very carefully ing. With the similarities in interior store conceived and professionally lettered to designs, mass merchandisers have learned connote low price and value-not cheap that today's mobile, fast paced shopper quality. sometimes needs to be reminded of which choice of equipment, however, is far less important than the creating of the systems and procedures to make sure that the signs are ordered, produced, delivered to the store, installed at the proper location, and removed when the event or pricing has expired. When promotional signing is ordered for advertised specials, consider ordering even more impressive signing for the step-up merchandise.

Standard sign sizes are derived from a fulf sheet sign material that is 22" x ?3'. Typical signing therefore is: ?2' x ?3', 14' x 22", ll " x 14", 7' x ll', 5h' x7', and 3Vz' x SVz ". Choosing the correct size for the sign is not always an casy chore. While some leaders in our industry are using such phrases as "The merchandise is the message," others are still oversigning stores and allowing the signing to hide the merchandise. Order your large merchandise signing with discrcion. Remember, if everything shouts nothing shouts.

Just as in advenising, sign oopy should sell the benefits as well as list the features. Keep it brief, but make it punchy enough so that the value overshadows the price. Most importantly never put the sign making authority into the hands of

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In developing a signing program, the

There are a number of different types store they are shopping in. The store of machines that can economically make name should be prominent on the peri- showcard signing. The most common meter walls. Boldly lettered wall and equipment is either a flatbed press utilizhanging signs must also identify depart- ing handset type or the Reynold's Printments and product categories. Even more A-Sign which operates similarly to the old important, the wall that the customers see penny arcade machine that punched out when checking out should contain mes- your name on a strip of metal. sages that give them the confidence to