EuroShop is a trendsetting retail trade fair, held every three years in Dusseldorf. During the 5 days of the exhibition,  2,500 exhibitors from around 60 countries will present their products and services. EuroShop attracts over 110,000 visitors from around the world to find solutions for their businesses. Anything from Shop Fittings, Store Design, POS Marketing, Visual Merchandising, Food Tech & Energy Management through to Event Marketing and Retail Technology.

Creative Download took time out from its busy schedule to attend the show for a couple of days.  It was great to network with suppliers and make new contacts. The show is a must for anyone in the retail/visual merchandising industry although do give yourself 3-4 days to see everything! Despite taking over 400 photographs, here is just a small selection.

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http://www.creative-download.co.uk

Last Friday the international consumer goods industry welcomed Ambiente in Frankfurt.

This leading global trade fair in all matters of tableware, kitchenware, household goods and leisure as well as gifts, interior decoration and interior design.

Ambiente is the central hub of the entire consumer goods industry. Exhibitors from over 90 countries will be acting as trendsetters in and beyond the year 2020.

Here is a selection of photographs from this great trade show.

Don’t forget you can follow Creative Download on Facebook and Instagram

http://www.creative-download.co.uk

This year’s Spring Fair at the NEC, Birmingham opened on Sunday. Diverse, relevant, exciting, The Spring Fair is the definitive marketplace for the home and gift industry. This is a great way opportunity to find new suppliers and product inspiration, with over 50,000 retail professionals and 2,500 exhibitors.

Once again Creative Download were part of the Design/Product Styling team on The Portmeirion Group exhibition stand.

This year Spode is taking centre stage with the 250^th anniversary. Spode has become an iconic British brand renowned for its timeless heritage style that remains relevant to the most stylish of modern-day homes.

With its ranges from Sophie Conran, Botanical Garden and Wrendale, this iconic British company is renowned for selling ceramic tableware, cookware, giftware, glassware and home fragrance.

The Spring Fair is open until Thursday 6^th February.

Look out for next week’s VM blog that comes from the trade show Ambiente in Frankfurt.

Don’t forget you can follow Creative Download on Instagram.

Christmas World in Frankfurt is the world’s biggest trend and order platform for the international seasonal and festive decoration sector. With more than 1,080 exhibitors from 45 countries offering a unique spectrum of new festive and seasonal decorations, whether for consumers at home or large-scale projects such as shopping malls, hotels, and department stores.

Christmas World brings together manufacturers and retailers, as well as major commercial buyers from all over the world.

Creative Download had the opportunity to visit the trade show to source new suppliers and research Christmas trends for 2020. Although we could have spent another day at the show, over the 2-day period we certainly walked a few miles but came away with some good ideas. It was well worth the visit and a must to visit again next January.

Here is a just a selection of the 500 plus photos that were taken.

Don’t forget you can follow Creative Download on Facebook & Instagram.

http://www.creative-download.co.uk

The British Display Society recently visited Windsor College and spent a day with their Visual Merchandising students.

Windsor College gained the BDS “Centre of Excellence” Award as they offer great facilities and superb VM syllabus for their students. This Award is open to any educational establishment that offers courses in Visual Merchandising.

Myself and my BDS colleagues Barbara Chapman and John Abbate gave the students a talk/presentation which was well received by the tutors and the students.

It was a pleasure to listen and talk to the students as to what inspires them, what motives them and to view the students work. Their work ranged from initial sketches, designs to model making to prop building to dressing the mock-up windows.

Given the level of passion and enthusiasm, it proves that there is certainly a generation of inspiring and up-and-coming Visual Merchandisers in the making.

It is so vital that anyone wishing to move into the VM industry must undertake VM training and learn all the principles. Don’t forget that the BDS offer an On-Line VM Course, which is a great start to the industry. Check out the website and sign up. At the end of the course, you will receive a recognised Certificate and you will become a Member of The British Display Society.

www.britishdisplaysociety.co.uk

You can also follow the BDS on Facebook & Instagram.

Selfridges in Oxford Street have launched into 2020 with a storewide concept entitled Happy New Decade.

With an abundance of vibrant colours, stunning window concepts and eye-catching displays around the store, Selfridges are helping customers look towards a brighter future by celebrating the most joy-inducing ideas in Fashion, Beauty and Home.

Don’t forget you can follow Creative Download on Facebook & Instagram.

http://www.creative-download.co.uk

Creative Download would like to take this opportunity to say thank you to the readers of its weekly Visual Merchandising Blog in 2019.

It’s a light-hearted view of retail from various parts of the world including the great city of London which is renowned for its excellent retail store windows and instore visual merchandising.

There are major changes due in 2020 for Creative Download. There will be the launch of new and exciting website which is currently being built. The weekly VM blog will continue although in due course it will be moved over to the new website. Current followers do not have to do anything. You will continue to receive the weekly updates.

In addition to this Creative Download is working on a number of new projects/contracts both here in the UK and overseas so quite an exciting time for the business and retail.

The current Creative Download website is still running and enquiries are always welcome. Simply scan the QR code to visit the website.

Don’t forget you can also follow Creative Download on Facebook and Instagram.

Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

With Kind Regards

Iain Kimmins FBDS

(Fellow of The British Display Society)

Capturing the glamour, romance and timeless traditions of Christmas, Claridge’s in Mayfair unveils its 10th anniversary tree. The work of legendary designer Christian Louboutin.

This immersive installation invites guests on a journey, transforming the lobby into a frosted forest. At its heart is a traditional tree in gold and red, dressed with fairy lights and gingerbread stilettos – and topped with a gold-leaf crown.

Alongside the tree, The Loubi Express is stationed in the lobby. Passengers are invited to step aboard this enchanting red carriage and take a seat in restful red velvet interiors, where just four tables create an intimate setting. Enjoy a glass – or share a bottle – of Laurent-Perrier or try one of an exclusive collection of cocktails specially created with Christian Louboutin. Accompanying the drinks are canapés and a selection of Claridge’s Bar sharing dishes – all served to your lamplit table by the Cocktail Conductor.

The theme, “Future Fantasy – A Christmas For Modern Times”, is seen across the Selfridges stores including London, Birmingham, Manchester and online.

The London store display took a multi-specialist team over 500 hours to produce with over 100 people putting together the windows, working non-stop rotating shifts for 10 days.

Each window at its Oxford Street, London store is either an symbolic representation of a well-known fairytale, such as Cinderella, Jack and the Beanstalk, Goldilocks and Rapunzel, or features one particular iconic element from one of them, showcasing a “futuristic aesthetic treatment and a softer magical narrative.

Selfridges London’s biggest triple-sided window at the corner of Oxford Street and Orchard Street features a magical shipwrecked feast amongst the waves, with giant magical moon and moving boat and oars, reimagining the boat scene from The Owl and The Pussycat.

A giant 1.5 tonne, 42ft-high mirrored Christmas tree hangs in the Oxford Street store’s central atrium – projecting light across the store. Inside the store you’ll find a 1.5tonne, 13metre high mirrored Christmas Tree, which hands in the Oxford Street store’s central atrium. It comes alive through a dazzling light show projected on its surface.

The Foodhall have a sumptuous array of Christmas food goodies on offer.  The Christmas concept continues in the Foodhall with an abundance of dressed garlands using silver and gold baubles. I feel that the green garlands and gold baubles are not in keeping with the modern concept.

Lit garlands showcase each window on the exterior of the store, but can you imagine how spectacular these would have been if they were dressed with blue and silver baubles.

Don’t forget you can follow Creative Download on Facebook and Instagram.

http://www.creative-download.co.uk

Christmas 2019 at Harvey Nichols, this iconic Knightsbridge department store, turns to Scandinavia for inspiration. Animations of the Northern Lights have been projected onto its façade presenting what inhouse designers hope will be a “photo-worthy moment”.

The window displays themselves are equally Scandi-influenced. Mannequins sporting Harvey Nichols Christmas collection sit within cosy scenes with handcrafted cedar slat panels, draped with festive garlands, framing the windows like the Nordic night sky.

The idea behind the displays was to create a series of contrasts: light and shadow, cold and warmth and nostalgia and modernity. Harvey Nichols are noted for their superb window concepts and this is certainly true with this current scheme.

Don’t forget you can follow Creative Download on Facebook & Instagram.

http://www.creative-download.co.uk