The Essentials Issue
THE ESSENTIALS
EXPERIENCE Advice on merchandising the essential accessories category to get them noticed. / By Holly Wiese, 3 Dots Design
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n the busy world of run specialty retail, it’s easy for the accessory category to get lost in the shuffle. Let’s face it, footwear is the product that creates all the excitement and gets the big attention from both retailers and consumers alike. This makes it no big surprise that finding time for curating and merchandising your accessory assortment (and a few other essentials) often falls lower on the “on to-do” list behind the myriad of other things that happen every day and night to keep your store running smoothly. Although they tend to be less glamorous than cutting-edge footwear or beautiful new apparel collections, accessories are the sleeper of the run specialty world. They quietly keep runners and walkers more comfortable, hydrated and safe while the heavy hitter categories take the spotlight. From performance-enhancing gear to fashionable accents, the variety of accessories available can significantly impact a runner’s experience, so it’s worth your time to step back, take a few minutes and put a little extra effort in to displaying them well for your customers. This article will dive into a few of these essential accessory categories that can be tricky to merchandise, but that can really shine when displayed effectively and can add significant sales dollars to your transactions. Over the decades of merchandising running stores and hanging every kind of accessory you can imagine, we’ve picked up some great tricks along the way. These tips will be helpful for run specialty retailers as you reset your 12
runninginsight.com
Merchandising essential accessories – especially technical products – takes a little bit of creativity, such as with this Tech Bar recently implemented in the Runners Roost Denver remodel.
store with new product arriving or if you’re just looking for fresh ideas to breathe new life in to your existing displays. GPS PRODUCTS/TECH Everybody knows how tough it can be to sell these products without customers touching and feeling them. So why not set up your electronics department to be more hands on? Whether it’s all GPS watch-focused and you include security watch cables at a bar or kiosk
area, or it’s massage guns that are displayed in cradles with charging capabilities hidden out of view, the ability for your customer to touch and use these products will greatly increase the likelihood of them making a purchase. For the tech or electronics category, we often design a custom cabinet display with hidden storage below for backstock inventory. Then we drill some holes on the top of the counter and run the charging cords down to
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