workm e r c h a n d i s i n g

you think this ad describes a construction worker, house

painter or billboard installer, you’d be wrong. It is an

amalgam of descriptions pulled from the web from

companies seeking visual merchandisers.

“Visual merchandising” is the art of implementing effective design ideasto increase store traffic and sales volume. The mainstream big boys employvisual merchandisers to ensure consistency of product presentation, displayand branding. In the last decade or so, more outdoor companies haveinvested in merchandisers for the very same reasons. Most employ “fieldmerchandisers” who visit company retail accounts and company storesregularly to ensure their brand is well represented.

We were curious about the inner workings of this unique job andinterviewed field merchandisers from various outdoor companies. Thegoal was to find out what kind of accounts they work with, what they actu-ally do during visits, and to probe to see if their visits increase sales andbenefit retailers in other ways.

Each field merchandiser we talked to brought a different level of expe-rience to the position:

» Being bought by a multi-billion-dollar company like Liz Claiborneallowed Prana to bring on Lisa Hensel as a full-time visual merchan-diser in the last year after working part time for three years.

» Ali Levy started as a field merchandiser with Cloudveil Mountain Worksin March 2005 after a stint with Marmot as a visual merchandiser.

Meet the people who supporttheir company’s brand image—and your store—by merchandisingconcept shops.

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field

» Patti Roll has been full time with Mountain Hardwearsince April 2003, installing brand shops.

» Jennifer Baird has worked for Columbia Sportswearfor four years as a field visual merchandiser.

» Cathy Weisz has been in visual merchandising atPatagonia for 17 years, starting in wholesale marketingand dealer programming, and now is the director ofvisual merchandising and store design.

SUPPORTING BRAND IMAGEThere is a common thread that motivates these merchan-disers, and that is to support their company’s brandimage. The larger companies focus primarily on creatingapparel-based concept or brand shops for their retailaccounts. Hardgoods are generally merchandised else-where in the stores by category. Accessories are often

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WANTED: People who are enthusiastic, have

a strong work ethic, a positive attitude, extreme

attention to detail, excellent customer service

skills, job flexibility, are in good physical

condition, able to regularly lift and carry 55

pounds, comfortable with climbing ladders and

able to stand/walk for extended periods of time.

if

Cloudveil’s Ali Levy & Miles

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m e r c h a n d i s i n g

In betweenvisits, Roll’s crew provides retailers withthree to five tip sheets that instruct how tohang and fold apparel, how to usemannequins and how to cross merchan-dise. Because they are not necessarily inthe shops when the product is in goodsupply, they will supply photos showinghow to freshen up existing merchandiseand “planagrams” to show how to merchan-dise products on fixtures throughout theseason as inventory levels fluctuate.

Although it varies, most field merchan-disers agree they spend a day in each storethey visit. In the case of Columbia’s Baird,she arranges her visit with a store contacttwo weeks ahead of time and discusses whatis to be accomplished the day of her visit. Shearrives just after the store opens, and haseither her store contact or an apparel associateassist her. They work together to make sureColumbia’s merchandising directives are inplace and concentrate on shop maintenanceand straightening. In the fall, her main focusis outerwear, making sure pieces are sepa-rated by style and size, as well as zipped. If thestore carries hunting and fishing, she spendstime in those departments as well.

“Throughout the day, I gather feedbackabout what is selling, what customers arerequesting, and specific likes and dislikesabout the product,” Baird said. “Before Ileave for the day, I do a walk-through withmy store contact giving tips for improvingthe presentation and letting them knowwhen I’ll be returning.”

PROS AND CONS FOR RETAILERSDo field merchandisers increase sales forretailers and the companies they represent?That’s a hard one to answer. No one withwhom GearTrends® spoke could quantify theimpact the merchandisers have on sales. It’smore a good faith issue. Anecdotally, compa-nies believe they have value. If they didn’t,why would they employ merchandisers andinvest resources? Mountain Hardwear andCloudveil both said they spend about 30percent of their marketing budget onmerchandisers and merchandising programs.

Retailers agree that field merchandisersare important in communicating brandstories. Their visits put their company’s prod-ucts top of mind with store staff and maketheir lines more shopable. They also provideimportant merchandising training that storemanagers don’t have the time to do.

Ryan Raymond, manager of PineNeedle Mountaineering in Durango, Colo.,said he likes having merchandisers in the

concept shops in outdoor stores and 60percent on Patagonia’s stores. “There aremany factors that apply when we aredeciding on concept shops,” said Weisz.“Accounts don’t have to buy a certain amountto qualify. We don’t have a set program.”

In 2007, Cloudveil is instituting an“Inspired Mountain Retailers” programin which it plans to install concept shopsin gateway communities like Telluride,Colo.; Bozeman, Mont.; and Stowe, Vt.“These will not necessarily be our biggestaccounts,” Levy said. “If a communityembraces their environment, we wouldlike to support them.”

As of now, Prana hasn’t developed aconcept shop program, but is beginningto develop a fixturing program that in2007 will be offered to 250 accountsnationally, mostly outdoor specialty andyoga shops. “They must have the roomand enough merchandise to make a goodimpression,” Hensel said. “And they needthe desire to make it work.”

While supporting brand image andworking with retail stores are the primarygoals of these merchandisers, they are askedto do a lot more. Their duties often includedesigning and overseeing the production offixtures, signage and point-of-purchase mate-rials. Some are also involved in designing

the company’s tradeshow booths. Weiszheaded the Patagoniateam that conceptual-ized and worked withdesigners to create thebooth that won theSNEWS® “Top BOB”(Best of Booth) Awardat the 2006 OutdoorRetailer WinterMarket. Others, likeCloudveil’s Levy, arepressed into service todress trade showmannequins andwork on color storiesfor the workbook.Many also travel with

company sales reps and work with them tomerchandise the line.

IN THE FIELDField visual merchandisers are travelers, andspend a great deal of their time on the roadvisiting shops. Those that are part of a largermerchandise team are spread out regionally.

Mountain Hardwear’s Roll heads a three-person field team with each person respon-sible for 100 accounts. Because their time istight, they get into the stores once a season.Once in a store, they make sure the MountainHardwear clothing is in a prominent posi-tion and is merchandised effectively.

included in concept shops to enhance theapparel selection, and savvy merchandiserswill cross-merchandise footwear and travelproducts in these areas to add interest.

Most companies keep the requirementsfor installing concept shops close to the vest,and they all have different criteria by whichthey judge the potential sales rewards. It’ssafe to say, though, qualifying retailers agreeto commit enough floor space to house asufficient and broad inventory of apparelto support the company’s brand image, givea concept shop time to become established(meaning more than one or two seasons)and keep it filled year-round with product.The decision to place concept shops sitswith sales managers and reps and thoseshops are supported by the merchandisers.

When Roll started at MountainHardwear in 2003, she worked full timeon installing brand shops and set up 30that fall. Each season since, the number ofconcept shops has grown to the point that60 percent of the company’s accounts thatmeet the qualifications are in its brandshop program. Stores qualify for a brandshop if they buy a pre-determined dollaramount and assortment of apparel.

“Our goal is to include as many of ouraccounts in the program as possible,” Rollsaid. “We will never have 100-percent

participation because some shops do theirown fixturing, but we have at least another200 dealers that are nearing the qualifica-tion amount.”

As Columbia’s field merchandiser, Bairdonly visits stores that have concept shops.“That being said, when I’m in a store, I touchand report on all the Columbia Sportswearproduct within the store: apparel, outerwear,footwear, hunting and fishing,” she said. “IfColumbia made it, I merchandise it!”

At Patagonia, Weisz leads a group of sixfield merchandisers who work with selectdealers and Patagonia’s own retail shops.About 30 percent of their work is focused on

Patagonia merchandisers—Terri Brady, Sunday Rylander,

Michele Marone and Hillary Fleming—review the color trends

and color palette for the upcoming season.

Patti Roll of MountainHardwear merchandising atHudson Valley Outfitters.

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shop because they bring in new ideas.But, he warned, if merchandisers onlywork with their own lines and insist onputting men’s and women’s together ina concept-like area, it may work againstthe store’s philosophy.

“If you have good merchandisers onstaff, having an outside merchandiser comein and rearrange product is a once-a-yearfix,” Raymond said. “As soon as they leave,we put things back the way they werebecause we don’t merchandise by brand.”

In my work, I’ve found sometimes youneed to be careful what you wish for whenit comes to inviting merchandising help.Retailers have a responsibility to commu-nicate their store’s goals and vision, as wellas their expectations of the lines they allowin. Retailers must always remember thatthe most important branding in their storeis that of the store itself.

In turn, we, as merchandisers, need tounderstand a store’s product placementphilosophy. Some retailers prefer tomerchandise by brand, others by gender orcategory. When merchandising MountainHardwear apparel, Roll said she creates

branded environments within gender cate-gories. “Of our 110-plus dealers, almost allseparate men’s and women’s apparel,” shesaid. “We don’t go into stores and takeownership of the space. We providefixturing and merchandising support thatworks within the store environment.”

Sheryl DeBoard, a buyer for BeaverSports in Fairbanks, Alaska, is high on thebenefits of merchandisers and merchan-dising. “Merchandising definitely increasessales,” she said. “Every store should haveaccess to a merchandiser. We see 25 percentto 30 percent increases after a visit byMountain Hardwear’s Roll. When shecreates an outfit, we have women say theywant the whole set. And she cross-merchan-dises her brand with hardgoods and otherlines, so sales increase storewide.”

But DeBoard stressed that, for merchan-disers to have value, they need to knowthe demographics of the store, itscustomers and the locale to better under-stand what will work.

MAKING A DIFFERENCEColumbia’s Baird noted that concept shopsdefinitely make a difference in retail, andretailers reap multiple benefits fromconcept shops. In addition to a cohesivebranded message for the companyfeatured, retailers are learning merchan-

dising techniques from concept shops thatcan be used throughout the store. As aresult, entire stores are looking better anddrawing customers in.

Prana’s Hensel pointed out that being inthe stores gives her the opportunity to knowwhat the stores want and don’t want, whatworks and doesn’t work. She’s become avaluable conduit between the stores andPrana’s account managers. “I know theconnections I make and the energy I expendcreates energy around the brand and placesPrana top of mind with the store’s staff,”she said. “It gives the brand a presence andshows we care. That results in sales.”

Merchandising is all about sell-through,no question about it. Sell-in is important,

but, as I’ve found in my work merchandisingover the years, the real test is how well theproduct sells. Strong sales determine the sizeof subsequent orders. Whether it can bequantified or not, merchandising makes adifference. When products are displayedeffectively, customers are persuaded to buy.

“Visual merchandising is showing thePatagonia brand in a 3D environment andtelling pertinent stories,” Weisz said. “It’sreally a sell-through and buying compo-nent.” At Patagonia, “merchants” pick theproduct that will appear in the catalog,online and in the company stores. Then themerchandisers take the buy and figure outhow to tell the stories and sell the product.

It is encouraging that both large and smallcompanies understand the importance ofmerchandising and are devoting money andresources to creating and maintainingmerchandising programs and puttingmerchandisers in the field. The outdoorindustry has come a long way in that respect.We’d like to see more companies adopt broad-based merchandising programs. And, ofcourse, those would include merchandiserswho can regularly lift and carry 55 poundsand are comfortable climbing ladders!

» To read more merchandising ideas andtips from Sharon Leicham, go towww.snewsnet.com/merchandising.

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“Merchandising definitely increases sales. Every store shouldhave access to a merchandiser.” —Sheryl DeBoard, buyer for Beaver Sports

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