CHICAGO FASHION DESIGNERS

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ARTICLES: SPECIAL FEATURE

CHICAGO'S ULTIMATE SHOP GUIDE & RESOURCE

An article by Dario G. 10.07

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We all do it and it is a phenomenon that involves anyone, all ages, all ethnics and both genders. But why do window displays pick our curiosity and awake that need to buy? Because window shopping is about that! It can be the difference between a potential client stepping away or the step to get a customer inside a store.

In other words: Window displays are not only the advertisement aiming to your neighborhood or target market, but they are also the presentation and image of your company.

"It is like a restaurant card: if the menu is poorly presented in the card, and the layout is done without any creativity, professionalism or consideration for detail, the interest to order something decreases the moment we open the card", says fashion insider Alejandra Pivelli with Chicago Fashion Designers.

"It is like a restaurant card: If the menu is poorly presented in the card..."

Department stores do not seem to mind spending thousands of dollars every month decorating their windows as elegantly, uniquely, and as detailed as possible.

Most of the large department stores even have a creative department or at least one person on staff for this purpose.

The reason is simple; the window is the representation as well as the first impression, of a store to their customer. In addition, it is an impact to our community in the form of a new trend or as previously mentioned as a phenomenon.

If you are a Chicagoan, you are familiar with the former tradition of Marshall Field's Holiday Windows. For years, Marshall Field's delighted us at Christmas time with the unveiling of their windows and it became a ritual for many locals and travelers to visit their stores prior to the holidays.

These fantasies behind glass were a huge marketing success for the company, but they have come to mean much more to the people of Chicago. They became a tradition that now Macy's is desperately trying to conserve.

With the Holidays around the corner, it is important that retailers, boutique owners & store managers, think wisely about these marketing strategies and analyze what the high-end corporations are doing to attract bigger markets.

If you are a Window Shopper reading this commentary, then you are aware that when expensive clothes are not affordable, but still desirable, the only choice is "window shopping" because looking at them doesn't cost a thing.

Uncomfortable, as we all know, is the feeling of not being able to purchase what is so perfectly presented through the glass. On the other hand, each one of us can identify with the fact that we work better if we have a goal to work toward or something to reward ourselves after a completed task.

So next time you find yourself "window shopping" - separated by a glass and that unique piece of "happiness", don't just stand there, come inside your local store, ask the sales associate the price, material quality and anything else you can think of and let this be the motivation you need to stop being a "window shopper" and become a customer by supporting your local boutiques and stores.

After all, If everybody could afford the latest fashion trends without hesitation, the part of being a trendsetter, being unique, would lose its attraction.

...You're a window shopper, In the jewelry store, looking at things you can't buy

...You're a window shopper, In the dealership, trying to get a test drive

...You're a window shopper, Mad as hell when you see me ride by... (Lyrics 50Cent, Window Shopper)

Chicago Fashion Designers is looking for the most beautiful, detailed, and prettiest Fashion Store Window. Do you own a boutique? Do you think your favorite boutique has what it takes to win the award of Most creative Window display in Chicago?

Then send us an email with an attached picture, with the name of the store, to: webmaster@chicagofashiondesigners.com.

Window Shopping involves anyone, all ages, all ethnics and both genders.