Retail display, or rather 'visual merchandising' in South Africa, as in the rest of the world has been a changeable affair. Not quite reaching the sophistication of the European and American fields, we've held our own. Smaller budgets and in many cases, non-existant display presence has narrowed the field in South Africa quite considerably and it certainly isn't the 'career-choice' it was when I stumbled into the realm in the seventies.
I find that during times of retail downturn, like now, suddenly the stops come out and windows sparkle again and after a good few years (in my opinion) of some pretty bland output, where in fact, in an arena dominated by major chain stores, it was hard to tell them apart, display-wise.
I'll kick off with some recent examples in the local marketplace.
First up, on your right there - Markhams, a men's fashion retailer, I shop here, sometimes, depending on what I see, at the moment I'm tempted.Their windows are currently quite exiting, still using the big-blowup-picture that has been the staple over the last few years in retail windows but certainly bringing in some dedicated merchandise presentation making the blow-up pop out at you as you pass.
Truworths is a fashion store catering from teen to, well, probably mid-life crisis actually. Currently updating their windows, I'll hunt them down on completion but here is their funky young at heart range up and running. I've often rated Truworths windows, a lot of time (and money) is spent on innovative propping, making them stand out of the rest of the crowd. However, the last few years I've felt they've slipped a bit, the propping's still there but the whole layout and feel has become cluttered, with not much thought given to mannequin positioning/interaction. There is another thread I want to pursue at a later date, and that is the difference in presentation between high-income based shops and low-income, this affects other chains than Truworths as well.
Foschinni's, Truworths main rivals, have for a while had a very minimalist approach, with the occasional big-blow-up. What I do admire with Foschinni's, though, is that by and large, their mannequin groupings are always well placed and balanced
(perhaps with less time put into propping, more time is spent here? - I know at present these teams fly around the stores at great pace)
Anyway, that's just some of the major players around at the moment. I'll spend some time on the smaller chains and independents later on.
