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Dress Your Windows For Olympic Success

Regardless of the business you are in, if you have a retail store front, the Olympic Games offer you an opportunity to attract attention and new customers to your location. The secret? Your windows.

Statistics indicate that when people look at your shop window, you have three seconds to influence whether they come in or walk away. Store windows are a valuable, but often overlooked weapon in your marketing arsenal. They offer an opportunity to tell the world who you are, what you stand for and why they should walk in your door.

There was a time when, during the height of the Christmas shopping season, major department stores would compete to attract customers using increasingly imaginative themed window displays. In fact, a trip downtown to see the Christmas windows at Vancouver's Woodward's, Eaton's and the Bay was part of many families' holiday traditions.

The department store marketplace has changed, but the opportunity to use your windows remains.

In Edgemont Village, Marlene Tate of Trims has been creating eye-catching window displays for almost 20 years. Changed every couple of weeks to reflect seasonal or community events and festivities, they have attracted a following of their own.

"Probably one of the things I love most about having my store is the opportunity to create the window displays," says Marlene. "The window displays bring in customers. Absolutely. Yes, it's a lot of work, but it's wonderful work."

It's also a great way to get your creative juices flowing.

"The way a caricaturist compresses the essence of each of his subjects into a few quickly drawn lines...window displays achieve the same goal using tiny spaces. I think it is a very cool art form and I am a huge fan of other peoples' efforts and creativity."

The upcoming Olympic Winter Games give you a perfect opportunity to develop a theme for your windows. Instead of static product displays, why not use your windows to tell a story?

"For the Olympics? Can't wait for you to see it," says Marlene.

Here are some window decorating ideas for the upcoming Olympics:

• Choose an Olympic event, or a series of events, to showcase your store.
• Set up miniature ice rinks and ski jumps or put your products on a podium as bronze, silver or gold medalists.
• Make it an ongoing process that evolves as the games draw closer.
• Keep it lively and have fun with it!