By Anthony Turner

When that all important fourth quarter comes around, savvy retailers know it is time to make it or break it! Your customers are busy decorating and preparing their homes for the cozy fall and winter holidays and purchasing gifts for loved ones. Make sure your shop looks its best by presenting beautiful and inspirational merchandise displays that motivate your customers to visit frequently and buy.

One unique way to bridge the barrage of holidays, decorating, and gift buying is to create a captivating transitional display that sets the tone for your shop through the fourth quarter — and beyond!

Determine a staging area for your display. It can be in a main display window, centralized area right inside the front door, or in the middle of your store. The challenge is to create a themed display that tells a story and seamlessly transitions from one season and holiday to the next without having to reinvent the display each time.

A perfect example is that lady down the street who leaves her Christmas tree up all year long and decorates it repeatedly for every season — you know the one! But with this idea, you set up a full scene that changes its look for the holidays.

The Transitional Garden

Create an outdoor garden display with a pair of Adirondack chairs and an outdoor table, along with a wooden arbor anchored on a dozen or so patio pavers. Start your display with a strong fall look by adding in real tree limbs with colorful faux leaves wired to the branches and scattered along the floor.

Add in cozy fall pillows and throws on the chairs and a pair of stoneware coffee mugs on a pretty tray, a basket of apples to the table, along with a coordinating runner and a fall-colored throw rug under the table. Incorporate a gathering of pumpkins and gourds around the base of the arbor and an autumn garland

along the front of the arbor. This would be a suitable time to include some whimsical Halloween touches as well!

Transition your base display into a Thanksgiving look with turkey-motif décor on your side table, baskets of dried corn cobs, and lots of fall candles. Change out the pillows and throws and add some seasonal signs that say “Give Thanks” or a similar sentiment.

Move straight into Christmas by removing all the fall leaves but leave the bare branches. In front of the branches, place various sizes of faux evergreen trees bedazzled with tiny lights and ornaments. Add bright Santa and snowman pillows to the chairs, along with Christmas mugs and other gourmet food items you carry for the holidays such as hot cocoa mix, holiday candy, and nuts. Complete the look with some piles of wrapped gifts and finish with a dusting of faux snow over the entire scene.

The Transitional Room

Pull together an interior scene of a cozy dining room with a chandelier hanging over a dining table and chairs artfully set in front of a china hutch. Place a seasonal throw rug under the table.

Create an over-the-top fall tablescape by setting the table with tableware from your store offerings. Create a large autumn floral arrangement with amber, rust, and orange flowers, along with twisted branches cut from outdoors.

Finish the tablescape with pumpkins and gourds and a scatter­ing of faux leaves. Fill the china cabinet with warm kitchenware and cozy fall textiles. Going forward, tweak your table by adding turkey and Thanksgiving décor.

Transition your display into Christmas by swapping out the throw rug for a holiday one. Clear the table and create a holiday scene complete with rolls of colorful wrapping paper, gift boxes, and ribbons and bows. Feature some of your best giftware on the table as if someone is actively wrapping gifts. The key here is to create a bit of controlled chaos.

Add a decorated and lit tree beside the china hutch and a lush pine garland over the top of the cabinet embellished with bright bows. Swap out the inside of the hutch with nutcrackers, Santas, candles, and other festive holiday décor from your shop. Later, you can remove the wrapping scene and set the table for a lavish holiday dinner complete with a holiday table runner, faux greens centerpieces, candles, and a scattering of shiny ornaments.

New Years and Beyond

Transition your garden display into a simple quiet winter look or begin to add little signs of spring. In my shop, I normally ignored the doldrums of winter and went straight into a cheery pre-spring look with pots of tulips and daffodils, for example.

It is easy to set your dining room table up for a New Year’s party with champagne flutes, hats, noise makers, and scattered confetti. A fun idea would be embellishing your table with an assortment of different clocks and clock faces all set to midnight.

At this point, you will be ready for a fresh look in your display area. However, you could continue your transitions into Valentine’s Day and beyond.

Getting the Most Out of Your Display

Feature and make a big deal out of your transitional display in all your social media advertising. Get your customers inter­ested and involved. Played correctly, they will stop by and shop frequently to see how your display changes with the seasons and holidays!