Magazines Archives - 2009 December

Kuala Lumpur retailers set the stage with dynamic displays
Story 7 - Focus

Window displays were so important in the early 1990s in Kuala Lumpur that Patrick So did a course in window dressing at Australia’s Melbourne College of Decoration. He came back and worked
as a window dresser for big department stores such as Metrojaya and Printemps, then Jayajusco.

Now advertising and promotions manager for 1 Utama Shopping Centre, So works on how to sell the shopping centre image.

“It’s family-oriented so we use themes, ideas and inspiration to attract children and their parents. You
must have the promotions linked with the visual merchandising. Visual merchandising presents the store and its merchandise to the consumer with coordination of the right advertising, merchandising, theme and display,” he tells Retail Asia.

Visual merchandising is one of the most competitive aspects of retailing: it defines the store’s image and shows the latest merchandise and trends from the store with flair. “It is seen as a significant part of modern marketing and a silent salesperson. It’s a sign of having,” says So.

A storyline is a must in a window display but this is seldom seen in windows here, he says, citing the example of Harrods in London as having the best display at Christmas, for instance, where everything in the window is weaved dressaround a story. Many window dressings at Christmas in Singapore department stores follow this classic trend too, he adds. “It’s richer, more fun and colourful,
and [it] stands out.”

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