Door displays: An entry to sales

Entryway buyers often shop intent on choosing a standard, plain, low cost door. A display can illustrate the benefits and improvements offered by higher end items, with no extra selling effort on the part of the retailer.

"A display functions as a comprehensive silent salesperson for a category of customers who prefer limited personal interaction with sales people at the point of purchase until they are ready to finalize their transaction," says Dennis Vehr, marketing manager for Perma-Door.

Key elements in today's more popular displays include traffic-stopping graphics, clear and concise product information, operability to show the entire door in use, and selling accessories such as brochures and videotapes.

R. L. Day Sr., Economy Building Products, Pueblo, Co., initially was interested in selling lower-end doors, assuming his market could not afford better. Pease Industries talked him into displaying top of the line models with etched glass inserts. He couldn't believe how well they sold.

Many displays are also designed for flexible in-store use and can be easily transported to special events such as fairs and home shows.

Story at a Glance

Displays open the door between wary shoppers and a bigger sale. how information helps upgrade customers. newest displays are flexible, portable, operable and profitable.

Perma-Door has introduced three new models which include an actual door and frame, operability, and a space-saving design to function as an island or as a backdrop positioned against a wall. In addition, a new foursided merchandising center showcases an operable door and two stationary units. The fourth side has a merchandising panel offering an architectural design selector guide, order forms, installation photos and data, and two brochure dispensers.

I INKNOWING door customers can mean low sales. |lJSalesmen-shy shoppers can mean no sales. To solve these problems, door manufacturers have devised a variety of ready-made merchandisers, proven to provide bigger profits for dealers all by themselves.

The prize is a larger portion of the wide open door market. The National Wood Window & Door Association predicts 47.5 million doors will be sold this year, bringing in sales of $9 billion. Of those totals, l7 million of the doors (3.6 million exterior, 9.8 million interior and 3.6 million patio entrances) will be bought for renovation, resulting in almost $4 billion.

Bennett Industries' Pic-A-Door display unit features a finished steel-supported hinge which may be set up in any configuration, be it a star, a square, or a gatefold. This allows a number of hardwood panel doors to be displayed in whatever space is available.

Pease Industries has begun an entire Leading Edge merchandising program to help dealers increase sales of top of the line doors. A movable door display, training tapes, and other in-store selling tools show offas many of the entry's benefits as possible.

In the words of Dan Shade, a dealer using the door display, "the more you can show people, the more confidence customers have in you." And your doors.

A VER 4.4 million kitchens will \J ue remodeled nationwide this year with homeowners spending $38 million. How much of this money will you claim?

The interest deduction for home equity loans, increasing income, decreasing unemployment and the continued aging of 100 million housing units are positive reasons for increased kitchen sales.

Another positive market indicator is return on investment of kitchen installations. State of the art kitchens help sell a home, according to a Wall Street Journal survey. The average kitchen remodeling will cost $19,500 with all but 10% being recaptured when the home is sold.

Story at a Glance

What a dealer can do to get his sharc of $38 million kitchen re modeling market... understanding what custonrer wants. how to make a project run smoothly.