What I've Been Up To Lately

Have you been wondering where I've been for the past 6 weeks? It's an incredibly busy time of year for me at my "real" job, and it's obvious that my time management skills aren't up to snuff. With the exception of a few quick posts, I haven't been able to spend much time here at Cherish Toronto, but I'm hoping to get back into the rhythm again soon.

A buying trip to LA at the end of March kicked off the busy season at my job, where we operate clothing retail stores at beach locations. In addition to my numerous regular duties, I tend to volunteer for extra work, but it's only because I have so many great ideas :-) For example, among several other projects I thought it would be a good idea to create fabric banners for one front window. These banners serve three purposes: (1) block out the hot afternoon sun, (2) provide a backdrop for mannequins, (3) conceal a messy cash counter.

Project Requirements:

6 wooden dowels, each 30" in length
6 eye hooks
3 yards of 110" wide fabric
fishing line
6 strong magnets

I got a great deal on this 110" wide printed cotton at
Designer Fabrics - total $30.00!

I turned and stitched the sides of each panel, and also stitched in a rod pocket at the top and bottom for the wooden dowels. Then I screwed eye hooks into the ends of the top dowels, and attached fish line to suspend the panels from the ceiling. Because this store has an industrial metal ceiling, I tied the other end of the fish line to strong magnets to hold each panel in place. Voila! A fun and functional window display:


For those of you who are curious about what I do, I generally don't mix my "real" job with my personal pursuits, which is why I haven't mentioned the store names. But just for fun, I'll reveal a few photos from inside the store:

Cheers to a great summer season!!!

Redwash and Sparkle

The Bay has chosen a strong but uniform colour scheme for the flagship store windows this Christmas season, and the winning shade is RED. While the backdrops are ablaze with red props, the visual team has added sparkle to the windows with hits of metal and glass. These displays get my vote for most eye catching on Yonge Street. In fact, I think that one of those dresses is calling my name, which means the visual merchandisers have done a great job!!

Working on the Weekend

This Sunday I will be putting together a store window display for a clothing store downtown. I have to admit that I wasn't all that excited about the project - until I found inspiration on the cover of this month's Style at Home magazine. I love the combination of aqua and metallic gold; it's festive, yet somewhat non traditional:


Working with a tight budget, I was determined to get the best bang for my client's buck. After scouting Walmart, HomeSense and Pier1Imports, I ended up purchasing almost everything I would need for the window at Canadian Tire and Dollarama. The satin ribbon (only $1.50/yard) is from World Sew Centre at 511 Queen Street West.


After wrapping 20 empty boxes, I am now qualified to teach Gift Wrap 101. Eddie Ross has a great video tutorial for tying gift boxes with ribbon:


And speaking of Eddie Ross, I also borrowed his ornament wreath idea for this project. It starts with a wire hanger and a sea of Christmas ornaments:


And after a few hours of perseverance, this is the final result:


Tomorrow I'll assemble all the parts in the window. Fingers crossed for a good reaction from both my client and his customers!!

Red, Gold & Green

A few weeks ago, I intended to post about the Christmas windows at The Bay flagship store when I was distracted by the fabulous windows promoting the relaunch of The Room. Today is a follow up to that post, now that the Christmas windows have been installed in the east windows along Yonge Street. The windows feature traditional Canadian winter scenes and are bathed in shades of Red, Gold & Green. I particularly like the window containing the canoe and classic Hudson Bay point blanket and pillow. It's so Canadian, eh?

Red

Gold

Green
(My favourite!!)

The Bay Flagship Revitalization

Since I posted photos of the Holt Renfrew Christmas windows, I thought it only fair that I should also check out the Bay's flagship store to take pics of their festive windows. Well...I got a little sidetracked from my mission when I arrived at Queen & Yonge to discover that the best windows were those lining Yonge, Richmond and Bay Streets. These displays highlight the recent relaunching of The Room on the store's 3rd floor.

Above & Below: Balmain

Above & Below: Erdem

Above & Below: Josh Goot,
Gianfranco Ferre, Barbara Bui

Above & Below: Proenza Schouler

Above: Matthew Williamson, Wayne Clark,
Antik Batik, Herve Leger

Above: John Galliano, Army by Yves Salomon
Ralph Lauren Black Label

Above & Below: Matthew Williamson, Elie Tahari,
Manoush, Harve Leger

Bonnie Brooks, recently appointed President & CEO of the Bay, has taken on the daunting task of resurrecting the Canadian company to its former glory which is by no means an easy task. The initial steps are promising - Brooks hired design firm Yabu Pushelberg to create a refreshing look for The Room and the transformation is simply stunning.

What I love the most about the redesign:

• Windows have been uncovered along the east and south sides, letting in natural light.
  
• Bright lighting and modern fixtures illuminate the formerly gloomy space.
  
• White walls, white fixtures and gleaming white floors allow the merchandise to stand out.
• Clutter has been cleared from the aisles, and there is less merchandise per square foot which allows customers to see more. The phrase "less is more" definitely applies in this case.
• Mannequins are grouped in multiples for bigger impact.

Modern light fixtures are featured throughout the space.

Groups of mannequins create effective displays.

South facing windows let in natural light.

White floors & walls allow the merchandise to stand out.

Incorporated in 1670, the Hudson Bay Company is a Canadian retail survivor. There is hope that this upscale makeover will guarantee the company's continued success well into the 21st century.

Tis the Season

Halloween is over, and we all know what that means: Time to prepare for Christmas!!

This evening, Holt Renfrew held a special event at the Bloor Street location to celebrate the annual unveiling of the Christmas window displays. The event was hosted by Holt's President & CEO Caryn Lerner along with Kim D'Eon & Rick Campanelli of ET Canada. Canadian entertainer Feist performed to the delight of the assembled crowd.

Hosts
Rick Campanelli, Caryn Lerner and Kim D'Eon

Each window had its own theme:
Love, Joy, Beauty, Wonder, Magic, Warmth and Sharing

LOVE

JOY

BEAUTY

WONDER

MAGIC

WARMTH

SHARING