Michael J. Knell —
\nBuddhist design philosophy can help retail environments
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\nSCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Applying the principles of feng shui to your store will improve the bottom line, Mega Group members were told at their recent annual meeting here.
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\n\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Feng shui is a marriage of the practical and the divine,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d said retail consultant and author Linda Cahan. She said the principles of 7,000-year-old Buddhist design philosophy can make most retail environments more enjoyable to work and shop in.<\/p>\n
Good air circulation is one of feng shui\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s most basic and critical applications. Stores should clean their heating and cooling systems regularly, and open doors and windows to let in fresh air. Stale air leads to tired staff and cranky customers.<\/p>\n
Also important are good sight lines and ease of movement. Customers should be able to see where they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re going. Desks and service areas should be clean and accessible and the floor shouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t be cramped. Outdate merchandised should be cleared quickly.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Price it so low that it just about kills you and blow it out of your store,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Cahan said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t stay emotionally attached to what you paid for each piece \u00e2\u20ac\u201d it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s done, it didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t sell, it was a bad buy: get over it. Buy better next time and you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll make your money back easily and quickly.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
Lighting is another critical area, she said. Shadows and dark areas should be avoided as customers are more attracted to soft bright light.<\/p>\n
Cleanliness also is key, since customers associate cleanliness with quality merchandise and think a dirty store sells junk.<\/p>\n
According to feng shui, the non-selling spaces \u00e2\u20ac\u201d such as the washroom, office and storage areas \u00e2\u20ac\u201d are just as important as the selling floor. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Clearing the clutter from your office, stockroom, toilet and the entire store is a form of renovation,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Cahan said.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Bringing in something from nature will make people more comfortable in your store,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d she added, noting that silk plants are better than dried. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Dried is dead,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d she said.<\/p>\n
Most of all, the principles of feng shui should bring a sense of positive, freely flowing energy to the store.
\nHer book, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Feng Shui for Retailers,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d will be published later this year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Michael J. Knell — Buddhist design philosophy can help retail environments SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Applying the principles of feng shui to your store will improve the bottom line, Mega Group members were told at their recent annual meeting here.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-828","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-furniture-world-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/indonesia-furniture.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/828","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/indonesia-furniture.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/indonesia-furniture.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indonesia-furniture.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indonesia-furniture.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=828"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/indonesia-furniture.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/828\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/indonesia-furniture.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=828"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indonesia-furniture.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=828"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indonesia-furniture.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=828"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}