A Sign of Things to Come: Ten Funny & Weird Signs

Time for some light hearted relief with a rundown of ten signs to make you chuckle.

         

         

                                          

Advantages of Exhibition Stand Hire

There are several advantages that exhibition stand hire  provides to both first-time trade fair exhibitors and larger companies who are seeking to downsize their trade fair investments while still maintaining a good presence at industry exhibitions.

The first advantage is convenience - Exhibition stand hire can provide you with a large impact without having to invest large sums of money. This is especially useful if you are attending a trade fair for the first time and are not sure of the ROI it will provide you.

The second advantage is flexibility - Exhibition stand hire allows you to customise your exhibit for each trade fair you attend. You can also experiment with size and configuration to see what works best for your schedule of exhibitions.

The third advantage is cost effectiveness -  If you do not attend many trade fairs or have added one or two new ones to your schedule, hiring an exhibition stand can be a cost effective way to make a good impact without spending a lot of money. Exhibition stand hiring is also cost effective for shows that are overseas, saving you substantial amounts on freight charges.

The fourth advantage is extra options - By hiring an exhibition stand, you can probably stretch your trade fair budget to include new options that you might not have otherwise been able to afford.  Dramatic lighting, extra large format graphics, brochure racks and furniture are hire options that can add impact to your trade fair presence.

By working with an experienced exhibition stand vendor like Discount Displays, you can give yourself many more options for hiring a standout exhibition stand.  Discount Displays have a 20,000 sq. foot showroom that features over 90 percent of the exhibition stand products they offer on their website, allowing you to see and compare options that would work best for your trade fairs or exhibitions.

New retail news blog

Discountdisplay-express.co.uk has just launched a new news service focused on news from round the world focuse on point of sale retail displays and merchandising. Recent topics have included  "Selfridges named best department store in the world", "World Cup to transform shop displays across the UK" "Topshop launches digital display units to promote new collection" You can find the blog here

World Cup to transform shop displays across the UK

Retailers in the UK are gearing up to capitalize on the visual merchandising opportunities bought about by the start of the 2010 World Cup this month. The Daily Mail has reported that high street stores estimate a increase in revenue of around £2 billion if England make it to the final in South Africa.

Supermarkets and high street stores across their country are transforming their shop displays as football fever grips the nation. Many big brands, such as Mars, have already launched limited edition England products to tie in with these displays. According to price comparison site Kelkoo, retailers from the big four – Tesco, Sainsbury, Morrisons and Asda – to electrical chains and even home supply stores hope to see a boost in their sales.

The grocery sector will likely see the biggest seasonal change in its retail display strategies. Food and drink is the largest single area of expenditure that will benefit from the World Cup, according to Kelkoo’s survey. Sainsbury’s predicts that pint glass and pizza sales will increase by 500%, whilst Tesco has recently produced a pizza bearing the St George’s flag, to make the most of the patriotism sweeping the nation.

Retailers of electrical products will also take advantage though, as sales of high definition or 3D television sets are expected to soar as the tournament continues. One unexpected area of interest is the home supply store; The Mail reports that B&Q owners Kingfisher is to launch a range of products based upon the visual merchandising of the England football strip, from garden gnomes to wheelbarrows and gazebos.

According to Kelkoo, England’s participation in the quarter finals would bump up sales by an additional £332 million even if the team does not reach the final, which would account for a predicted £692 million in sales. Altogether if England won the World Cup, Kelkoo predicts that there would be an overall £2m boost in incremental spend. Good luck to Wayne and the boys! 

“Shop displays of beef flout EU regs” warns producers

The National Beef Association has announced that many of the supermarkets in the UK are ignoring EU retail display regulations.

A report in Farming UK quotes the Association as being ‘astonished’ at the widespread disregard of rules on shop displays for beef in the stores of large retailers. They say that many supermarkets are ‘determined’ to carry on displaying beef from different countries in the same retail shelving section.
“Some of the most obvious of the illegal displays are in England,” says NBA chief executive Robert Forster, “where shelf edge promotion loudly proclaims that only British beef is on offer [but] closer investigation reveals that small pockets of beef from the Republic of Ireland, Brazil or Argentina are covered by the same promotion material.”

Forster has stated that this poor visual merchandising “works against the English farmer and the English processor” because retailers mix cheaper imported beef with more expensive domestic products, making the imported beef look more appealing. The NBA says that it also undermines the ability to judge how much consumers are willing to pay for English beef, which often has higher environmental and quality credentials than beef from overseas.

This type of display goes against the advice of the Local Authority Co-Ordination Office on Regulatory Services (LACORS) says Forster. Last year LACORS warned retailers that meat from different countries of origin had to be physically separated within retail shop fittings, and that shop displays which suggested all goods were from a single country of origin must adhere to that standard rigidly.

Strong Exhibition Registration Already Reported for EuroShop 2011

Europe’s largest retail trade fair is already reporting strong exhibitor registration for EuroShop 2011, which will be held 26 Feb. – 2 March, 2011 at the fairgrounds in Dusseldorf, Germany.

According to an Exhibitor Magazine report:

“The current level of exhibitor registrations is almost equal to the registration status of EuroShop 2008 at the same point in time. This is all the more positive since the situation in global retail is rather tense at the moment. Our talks with exhibitors and retail experts show that the position of EuroShop as a leading international trade fair for all investment needs in retail remains strong. Many exhibitors deliberately schedule their product innovations and portfolios according to the EuroShop dates,” stated Wilhelm Niedergöker, Managing Director of Messe Düsseldorf.

The huge retail trade fair has four distinct exhibition segments:

EuroConcept – which includes shopfitting, store design, lighting, energy-saving refrigeration and air conditioning equipment, the EuroShop Designer Village and the EuroShop Retail Design Conference;

EuroSales – featuring visual merchandising, sales promotion and POS marketing;

EuroCIS – including information and security technology; and

EuroExpo – exhibition stand construction, design and special events.

If your organization is planning to exhibit at EuroShop 2011, it’s not too early to begin organising your exhibition stand design for this industry-leading trade fair.  Pre-planning ensures that you will save both time and money, while providing you with the proper impact you need to stand out at EuroShop 2011.

For more information on innovative exhibition stand design, visit our website or call us on 0844 800 1020.