Retail is a revolving door of merchandise. If your store stays true to each season, this can often mean a loss in revenue for seasonal items that haven’t sold through at full price. Here, we illustrate how to transition merchandise between seasons with a grouping of items that celebrates a lifestyle – cottage living. Using a variety of decorative accents and tabletop, the display incorporates both winter (sleighs, mugs) and summer (buoys, oars) items to embody an all-season cottage lifestyle.

Place your merchandise front and center, not your props. The sleighs we used reinforce the Canadian cottage theme, but they don’t overpower the display. In fact, they’re integral to it. The sleigh on the floor shows off some pillows and decorative oars while the sleigh on the table adds verticality to the vignette while also acting as a backdrop for the decorative buoys and a place to perch a sign.

Packaged sets of mugs and napkins make for great hostess gifts. Make sure you unwrap a few so clients can pick them up and feel their individual weight, how they fit in their hands and the texture. Too many stores don’t encourage customers to touch and feel the product but touching and feeling is an integral part of the shopping experience.