10 Ways to Renovate Your RV Store on a Tight Budget

by: Linda Cahan

Change is a powerful tool for creating new business. Have you ever noticed how customers always want to see the things you’re moving around the store or, better yet, merchandise that just arrived awaiting its “right” placement? There are some easy and affordable ways to renovate your store that are equally quick and effective.

1. Clear the Clutter
   We’ve all heard this endlessly. But I’ll say it yet again, because it works better than anything else you can do to change the appearance, energy, and ambience of your store. This doesn’t mean that you have to look like a museum. This means getting rid of stuff on the floor, behind your register, in the  corners, and in the halls. Clean out your stockroom and make it easy to find the things that need finding. Start with one area a week until your store is done. It will feel fresh and new to both you and your customers.
2. Focus on Focal Areas
   If you can’t re-do your store, focus on the areas people see first. Focal areas are the first five areas seen as people enter your store. Take a survey among your staff, customers, friends, and family to learn what those areas really are – not what you think they are. Now, merchandise them with seasonal or colorful products. Add color to some walls and add good signs. Make sure your logo is on each sign. Last but not least, light each area up!
3. Play the Angles
   You can direct how customers walk through your store by how you angle your front mat, your fixtures, and signs. If you want people to move to the left, angle fixtures and your front mat to draw them to that area. Remember that every angle creates another focal point at the end of the sight line, so make that great.
4. Update the Register
   This can be as easy as repainting if your desk is wood. If you’re stuck with laminate, look at using decorative tiles, de´coupage (photos of people’s travels), add wood on top of the laminate, rippled tin roofing (depending on your image), fabric panels, or tile squares. Basically anything you can glue or screw onto your desk will most likely make it more interesting than basic, boring laminate.
5. Apply Make-Up
   Paint is the magic fix for many areas. If your store has always been neutral colored, liven it up! Add a great color on one focal wall and watch the area pop!
6. Re-do Your Signage Inside and Out
   Signs get old fast. You can update your store immediately by updating your signs with fresh ones. Consider new sign holders. If you’re currently using plexiglas and they are yellowed, scratched, or cracked, it’s time for new ones. New ones are very affordable while the old, broken ones make your store look old, unprofessional, and worn out.
7. Light it Up!
   The trend is moving quickly towards LED lights. If you are getting ready to re-do your lighting, LEDs are becoming more color-correct and affordable. They will pay for themselves with energy savings. You’ll be able to add spotlights on prime focal areas once you reduce your energy and bulb costs.While redoing lighting is always costly, when done right it can transform the look and feel of your store.
8. Add Color to Your Fixtures & Shelving
   You can easily update your fixtures in several ways. For wood fixtures, you can enliven them with a fresh coat of paint. If you have a table, consider covering the top with a piece of foam board covered in fabric (stretched over neatly and stapled to the back.) Use tape over the staples to avoid scratching the table surface. If you have a shelving fixture, cover the base of the shelves with fabriccovered foamcore or, paint the back wall of the fixture to reflect more light.
9. Refresh Your Exterior
   Re-do your exterior with new paint, plants, signs, and decorative elements to add personality to your store. Make sure your sign is clean and the lights that shine on it are working. Add a sign at eye-level if you don’t have one already and remove all the credit card stickers.
10. Bring Feng Shui Principals into Your Store Design & Décor
    Get rid of anything that blocks your entrance including: trees, bushes, garbage cans, boxes, umbrella stands, bunched up entry mats, fixtures, or low-hanging flags. Move fixtures that impede the flow of customers throughout your store and through each area. Remove sharp corners in tight spaces.
    
    Add light to dark corners and to low ceiling areas. Look at fluorescent wall washers to add good light to corners affordably.
    
    Whenever you have a choice to add a decorative element to the store, make it natural. Be aware that all the space in your store impacts sales and the people who work there. This includes: stockrooms; hallways; offices; restrooms; attic; basement; loading dock; parking lot (if you are responsible for it); break room; and the back-door area. Any of these ideas will immediately change your store, increase sales, and attract new business. 

Linda Cahan of Cahan & Company is an internationally recognized expert in visual merchandising, working as a consultant for independent and corporate retailers since 1971. She also gives seminars, trains retailers, and writes for retail magazines. For more information visit www.lindacahan.com.