Visual Merchandisers Get Creative with Room Dividers

The new trend using room divider folding screens with images for showcasing product

Commercial window dressers and visual merchandisers  face many challenges when deciding on the appropriate props and accessories to use for designing displays in stores and showcasing windows.  The way the merchandise is displayed will have a great effect on how customers interact with products in store.   Many store owners will agree that if a product is displayed the wrong way it loses its value and can hurt overall sales.  Many big box department stores have elaborate display windows which attract people from all over the world who come just to see the window displays.   In reality, most small and privately owned store fronts do not have huge window displays, nor a big enough budget to hire a professional to dress up the window.  

This store owner uses a life size cardboard cut out of President Obama with the NYC colorful skyline room divider as a backdrop.

Benjamin, the founder of UrbanAccentsNY.com, an online shopping site specializing in room dividers, devised a plan to market specialty folding screens with poster images to businesses.  He says, “Many storefronts and businesses do not realize the powerful effect these art print room dividers have on customers.”  Also referred to as art print divider screens, manufacturers in China were able to digitally crop an image commonly found on posters, and print a double sided image on a 6ft folding paneled canvas frame.  Because they are mass produced and imported, production costs are fairly lower, enabling these screens to retail for just a bit over a hundred dollars.

The beauty of these 6ft tall printed screens is that the average person has never seen an image to this scale unattached to the wall or a billboard.  From a psychological standpoint, the bigger the image, the more importance we give it. We tend to relate the image with the place of business or the product.  Many retail stores will use hanging banners from the ceiling or pop up banners on the floor.  The advantage of using art print dividers is that they enhance the attractiveness of a product and also they draw a lot of attention.   There are over 200 different images to choose from with a double sided unique image from subjects such as, world famous photography, international travel posters, nature and wildlife, vintage and fine art, impressionist paintings and children’s art, entertainment and cartoons.  

Visual merchandisers are now using these folding screens as backdrops in window showcasing.  Many window displays cases in stores do not have a backdrop, so the product on display is not isolated from the rest of the store and does not stand out. These decorative printed screens isolate the products on display from the rest of the merchandise and deflect the glare of the sun so people from outside can see through the window.  

UrbanAccentsNY.com, features hundreds of these decorative printed screens, along with unique urban style furniture and home accents.   More and more visual merchandisers are starting to realize the function of this product and are starting to use them in creative ways.  Please feel free to share any ideas on ways you would use these room dividers.