At dusk, Main Street is filled with light, and your shop is ready to be seen. Have you ever walked by a store and stopped in your tracks because something about it felt magical? That’s color and lighting shaking hands in storefront ads secret.
Let’s be honest: people love to window shop on the spur of the moment. Anyone who sees your show could be interested in buying something. Shake it up. Make a splash. Either warm it up or cool it down, either way, it wraps a loop around their eyes. Don’t just turn on the light bulbs in the ceiling and leave it at that. Floodlights make theater flat, but sconces and spotlights make stories stand out. Try pointing a flashlight at an accessory so that it casts long shadows over the shoulder of a mannequin. Stress? You now understand.
You might not think it means much, but color does. Bright red makes you hungry and gives you energy, while cool blues calm you down. Want to get people to look inside? Put something bright yellow against a dark gray background. That big difference between them is like a flare—come here and look at me! On the other hand, soft pinks and shiny golds make you feel as sweet as a cake. Pull down the shades and stand outside your store at different times of the day if you’re not sure. What do the sun, traffic lights, and dusk have to do with those colors?
Use layers to help you out. Put LED strip behind shelves, fairy lights around props, or battery-powered candles at the base of your display. Every source adds a different character. Remember that shoppers see movement as action, so slowly change the colors or let a group of small bulbs “twinkle” like dewdrops. But watch out—if you go too far, it turns into a show wagon. Find the right balance: keep your visual flow quick without getting too crazy.
Shadows are just as important as highlights. Have fun with them. A little mystery makes you want to look more closely. Half-lit shoes or a face half-in-shadow have always interested people. Let people use their imaginations to fill in the blanks.
Remember to look at your reflections. You can use the fact that glass will reflect streetlights to your advantage. Some shops paint a stripe around the edge to draw attention to the middle and hide things in the background.
Change it up to match the season. Teal, pink, and bright violet make a summer window stand out. Think of dark blue, icy white, and a hint of silver for winter. If your windows change with the seasons, people will remember them. Think of it as a new welcome every time the leaves change or the snow falls.
Whenever you ask yourself, “Is this too much?” Take a friend by the hand and lead them to the path. “What does that catch your eye?” “Next, where do you look?” A new set of eyes will always tell you the truth, even if it’s harsher than you’d like. But hey, that’s how shop magic works.
Put those lights on and move those color swatches around. Write a short story in each box. You could begin your “once upon a time” with a pair of bright green boots, a shadow that falls, and the right amount of golden glow. Also, who knows? The next person who looks at you might come through your door.