Sunday, October 12, 2008

Display Cabinet - A Work in Progress!

Literately this IS a work in progress. As of right now I am only 1/3 finished so I decided to blog about it while I let the paint dry.
So, last week at Gingerly Dressed I was talking to my friend Ginger and asked her why one of her vendors did SO well while the rest of us are along the mediocre lines. Her response was enlightening and so I thought I'd share it with everyone.

First, she said Molly has all her own displays, they are similar in color scheme and design no matter what shop you go in, people KNOW its a *Molly Said* product.

Second, she told me Molly's philosophy about keeping things stocked. I've been SO used to the internet way of only stocking things one at a time that I wasn't showing full stock there. It looked like slim pickings and who wants to purchase a product when there isn't a large variety? Ginger tells me that Molly's stocking philosophy is let them decide "which one do I want?", not "do I want one?" Ah HA! So, as you can tell, Molly is the one who is making all the profits while I am making sales, but not lots.

So here is the beginnings of the cabinet, how I found it and the current status of it:

Yesterday, before going to the Foothills Fall Festival (where incidentally Molly's booth is packed with product AND customers) we stopped by a garage sale on my road. I walked up to them and said I know exactly what I need BUT have no idea what it is! They looked at me a little strange, but once I explained the dilemma of needing a display cabinet and not knowing if I need a wall hanging shelf unit, a free standing unit, or what they pointed me toward the other side of the driveway where the furniture is.

TA DA! It was like a beam of light came down from the heavens and shown right on this old stereo cabinet! It had been marked 50% off already and she went down even more. For $22 I got a wood cabinet that was going to get a coat of paint and be ready to go... or so I thought.
It started this dark mahogany wood color (as pictured on the still unpainted door), I picked up a can of kilz (paint primer) and a long handled yet narrow roller. I knew this was going to not be a spray paint job as the shelves were too narrow to spray paint so with Maddie's "help" we started the fist coat of paint.
After I took her to visit with her grandparents I did a second coat thinking "OK, that should do it." And now I've put three coats of KILZ primer on and am thinking that I need to go get some semi-gloss white to put over the primer.

I plan to do the cabinet doors in the same shade green that "Mommy's" shirt is in my logo and put something to block the windows out (maybe a large print pic from each logo on the back of the glass) and keep the doors closed with that area as back stock.

So, after the third coat I was sitting on my bum looking up and noticed that the shelves were screwed in and could have / make that CAN be removed. I am now thinking of removing those shelves (when the third coat is dry) and painting them the same green as the cabinet doors to make it more interesting. Also, I plan to ATTEMPT to stencil the shop name "Mommy's Little Helper" on the sides of the entire unit. Did I mention that I am very creative, but NOT so artistic? We'll see how this goes and I will post the final pictures of it when its complete as well as the ones of it in the shop and fully stocked. For now, back to it!

4 comments:

Robin@creations-anew.com said...

Nice work so far Mommy...I can't wait to see the finished cabinet.
Robin

Unknown said...

Wow-Great job! Can't wait to see the finished project.

LilacAve said...

love the comments about the other shop's philosophies...merchandising is soo important. love the shelves by the way...that'll make a great display.

MayRae said...

Can't wait to see it all done. Sounds like a good way to display your lovely stuff!

Duck Tales Inflation Lesson

COPYRIGHT

Please note that all designs sold by Maddie & ME, Children's Handcrafted Couture AND Mommy's Little Helper, Bath & Body for the Soul are the intellectual property of the owner and are subject to all Copyright protections as provided by law.