Bringing Home the Holidays
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For the second consecutive year my classmates and myself from Handelsakademin created in the local Coop store a unique customer experience for the 2012 Christmas holiday period. This year not only did we have to develop the idea but we also were responsible for executing it across more areas of the store than the previous year including the window, store entrance, home and delicatessen departments along with the checkout area.
In the window we wanted to recreate a kitchen scene where the viewer sees all the hustle and bustle of preparing a “julbord” (Swedish Christmas buffet). On a paper kraft back drop I hand drew in real life scale a kitchen working area where the “glögg” (Hot spiced Swedish wine) was cooking on the stove and the “julskinka” (Christmas ham) was waiting to be carved. The viewer’s eyes were always reminded from top to bottom of these memorable moments with little details such as the fresh baked “knäckebröd” (Swedish crisp bread) hanging up in the air or the soft fluffy sheepskin on the floor.
Deck the Aisles
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In the delicatessen department our overall goal was to recreate the atmosphere of an outdoor Christmas market where customers purchase traditional holiday ingredients. To bring the outdoor feel inside the store we attached ribbons and garland along the fridges. We also hung dried orange slices, cinnamon sticks, ginger bread cookies, mini bags of nuts and spices as ornaments to stimulate the senses.
Pick Your Table
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In the home department we focused on displaying table settings of baking “pepparkakor” (Gingerbread cookies) and the “julafton bord” (Christmas dinner table) set on traditional Swedish linen tablecloths. To help reinforce the authenticity of the “julafton bord” we used natural elements found in our local forest such as moss, pinecones, birch wood, willow catkins and fir branches.
The result transformed the entire store’s atmosphere into a festive & cheerful customer shopping experience where they were more enticed to purchase Christmas items and be inspired. The store ended up making an increase in sales of 17% compared to the previous year. Because of the high quality of work we delivered the two past years Handelsakademin and Coop developed a long term relationship that gave the exclusive opportunity for future Visual Merchandising students to create their Holiday concepts year after year at Coop.
