Location: Dallas, TX THE GALLERIA DALLAS 13350 Dallas Parkway Dallas, Texas 75240 Tel: 972-458-2800 Fax: 972-702-7130 Website: www.galleriadallas.com

Store Hours Monday-Saturday: 10:00 AM - 8:00 PM Sunday: 12:00 AM - 6:00 PM

DALLAS, Dec 18, 2005/ FW/ --- Visiting the Galleria Dallas this weekend for some Christmas shopping, it is hard not to notice the store windows of the more than 200 stores and boutiques in the mall.

And it is hard to admit that except for a very few, most of the store windows were ‘cookie cutter, corporate designed and almost clinically clean.’

The exceptions are Nordstrom, Tiffany, Versace, Gucci, Louis Vuitton and A/X Armani Exchange, wherein the concept and idea of the store windows were new. Of course, a lot of you would say, ‘But, that’s what we see all over the country in their store windows!’

Well, that is the point here --- Branding is very important and for big companies, they work very hard to make sure that customers feel at home in their retail locations. Hence for big chain department stores like Nordstrom, ‘the look and feel’ is the same as the Nordstrom in Los Angeles.

But, it does not mean that their display is mediocre. That is farthest from the truth. The display is beautiful, eye-catching and original. It is NOT a rehash of the display shown during the whole year, with tinsel and bright balls added to give the spirit of Christmas.

Nordstrom’s ‘Share Happiness’ series of store windows are definitely NEW with its inverted Christmas tree, a trend that started only this year!

Unfortunately, for most of the stores, it was just a rehash of existing displays – same forms or mannequins, same props, except of course, this time, boxes wrapped, as gifts became the main fare.

In short, the visual merchandiser in the store, if there are any at all just follow the guidelines on what the corporate office sent to the letter. There is no creativity in that one. It only means that the visual merchandiser knows how to follow directions very well.

Hence the question, ‘Is Visual Merchandising A Dying Art?’

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