A new project. Display fixtures for a local pro shop.

John Pollman

Member
Messages
1,332
Location
Rochester Hills, MI
It's been a busy day and I'm tired, but I got something accomplished today and that feels good. The day started out with talking to the client and discussing dimensions and ideas. The middle portion of the day was procuring materials. The last part of the day was spent fabricating the prototype. It's about 75% finished now but I'm tired so I'm going to hang it up and watch football and baseball for the rest of the evening.

The good news is that they had originally asked for two of these units, but it looks like I'll probably end up making four of them. They are clothing displays for the local skateboarding pro shop. They are 3x3 cube cubby units. The cubes are 13" square and 16" deep. I think they're going to like them and now that I know that it works, the next three should go pretty quickly. I only spent about 4 hours going from two sheets of 1/2" MDF to this so that's not too bad.

display_cube.JPG
 
Yep, I've built most of their display units for their store. Other than a glass display case and a couple antique tables that they like to use, I've built the rest. They must like my work. :)
 
Prototype is finished!

The client dropped by a couple hours ago and liked it. But I want his wife to see it, SHE is the final word! ;)

Talked to her yesterday and she wants them painted. She wants them to look old and distressed. I can do that, but it's harder to do a paint job that looks bad than to do a paint job that looks good. LOL I'm assuming that they want me to paint them but I'll give them the option to do it themselves. Here's the final product ready for finishing.

display_cube2.JPG
 
Last edited:
I really like the configuration in the top photo. Why don't you suggest to her that one cabinet like that would make the display more vibrant. The top, left square could be left empty for the overall Gestalt effect or it could have a decorative lamp on it to call attention or it could have an illuminated sign, or an illuminated half-barrel action photograph, or a display of one or two skateboards on end, or -----, or ---.

You get the idea. Sell the interest that the display, itself, can generate in the product. Something that keeps all displays from having the same configuration (kind'a like a seventh-chord). They could have a few mirrors, just the size of one of the sides. With some products they could slide a mirror along one side (shoes, trucks, etc.) to stimulate the visual interest---for other displays remove the mirror(s) and put them in the store room.

A couple other guys and I owned an optical store. I did the displays. The store had ordinary cabinetry when we purchased it. I started placing different objects like a stuffed Wiley Coyote in with the glasses frames. I changed the types of fabrics (or removed them in some areas) at least once a month. The people coming in with their glasses prescriptions interpretated this as, "You always have the most modern styles on display." The styles did not change that much, HOWEVER, the patients interpretated it that way. In other words we made the displays have a bit more interest than the other places.

Gabby aren't I?

Enjoy,

JimB
I have no hold on the above info. If your clients can use any of it they are certainly welcome to do so without owing me anything.
 
Last edited:
Hi Jim,
it's funny you said that. I had planned on fabricating all of the boxes and then assemble the unit in the morning. After I had about five of them done, I decided to start assembling it and see how it went. It was working well and was going to try to finish the basic assembly that night. I then realized that I had cut enough material to create all of the boxes, but I had used one of the pieces to start the assembly of the unit so I was one box short. They wanted the unit to look thicker and heavier so I decided to just glue and staple the 1/2" boxes together, that would give me the nice thick and heavy appearance they were looking for. Once the boxes were done, I cut four pieces of the 1/2" and attached the boxes to the bottom piece. Then stacked the rest of the boxes and wrapped the outside with the rest of the pieces. I had originally planned on using one piece of MDF for the shelves/dividers and doing an interlocking configuration and then put a 1-1/2" face frame on it for the appearance that it was thicker. Then I'd use a piece of 1/4" luan on the back to keep the unit square and stabilize it. But this thing is so solid and stable that it doesn't need a back. It's ROCK solid and HEAVY. (this thing is probably pushing 150 lbs) I made a 1-1/2 base for it that is set back about 2" from the front and ends so it will appear to "float".

I thought the configuration looked pretty cool that way too but these four units are going in place of the lower bar in the display unit I built for them about 2-1/2 years ago when the opened. They currently have an upper and lower bar with shirts/jackets hanging on the top row, and pants hanging on the lower bar. They just got in a bunch of new merchandise and are out of room to put it. They currently only have 30 pair of pants hanging in each 45" wide opening. With this cube display, they can fold and stack the pants into the cubes. I was over there last night talking over the color scheme and found that they can get at least 10-12 pair of pants in each cube. That means they'll be able to get at least three times as much merchandise in the same space! There was a lot of wasted space because of the hanger and about a foot of wasted space that was empty down below the hanging pairs of pants. This is a pretty good size store, but space is at a PREMIUM and they need to use it as efficiently as possible.

They know a lot of the other downtown store owners and have had others ask where they got all of their displays. They give them my name but I haven't heard from any others yet. Maybe down the road someone else will need a similar type of display and maybe I can try a little different configuration out. I think it would look pretty cool,,
 
Last edited:
Prototype is finished!

The first photo is an old box that she gave me for reference for color and condition. She wanted the color to be similar so I took it to the paint department and had it color matched. It doesn't look like it in these pictures, but it's surprisingly close in real life. She wanted the cabinets to look old and distressed, kind of like they came out of an old warehouse or something. Again, it doesn't show up to well in these pictures but it looks really cool in real life. I'm taking it over there shortly to install it. I think she's going to be pleased.

tool_box.JPG


display_cube_done1.JPG


This one is a closer shot of the distressing and it really doesn't show up well because the shots of the cube were flash shot and the pic of the tool box didn't need a flash so the color is not as bright but sitting side by side in the same light, the colors are pretty close.

display_cube_done2.JPG
 
Very cool, John. Looking at the toolbox, I think just a few black and white paint splatters on the display cabinet would also help to sell the distressed look.
 
Top