California Apparel News

The big visual LCD displays usually found at sporting events and in front of large shopping centers are starting to crop up in downsized mode at smaller retail venues.

As costs and technology have made it more accessible, more retailers are relying on digital marketing to lure shoppers.

Among them is Capistrano Beach, Calif.–based GoodTimes Skate Shop, which recently installed a 4-by-5-foot digital display in the window of its popular Orange County store, which stocks apparel, footwear and skateboards.

The store was in dire need of an injection of 21st-century merchandising. The store hasn’t changed much in the past five to seven years. Original owner Nancy McAtee passed away in 2005, and the business was turned over to Brad Block, who remodeled the sales floor and brought in San Clemente, Calif.–based ProDisplay USA and Long Beach, Calif.–based Epson America to install a stateof- the-art digital projection display.

The shop caters to hard-core skaters, and Block gets dozens of skate and surf videos, so installing a visual medium was a perfect fit.

“The skateboarding industry is very visual, and our target audience is increasingly more tech-savvy,” said Block. “As a 20-yearold shop, we have a loyal customer base, but it’s crucial that we continue to attract the younger generation. The digital storefront gives us an edge.”

Block installed the system just before the holidays and said he noticed an uptick in shopping traffic.

“It works,” he said. “Crowds have gathered outside the store. More customers are coming in.”

The display uses amplifying light with high-contrast projection to optimize image quality.

Epson has installed other systems with different configurations. It installed 16-foot wallprojection displays at Virgin MegaStores at the Hollywood & Highland shopping center in Los Angeles and Downtown Disney in Florida and a floor-projection display at the Virgin store in New York’s Times Square. In that location, an image of Nirvana’s Nevermind album, featuring a swimming baby, is projected on the floor screens. The baby image is actually interactive and can be moved by a shopper and swim and blow bubbles. The display was used to promote a Nirvana DVD package.

Other retailers, including grocery chain Kroger/Ralphs, have also engaged smaller digital marketing displays to engage the customer waiting in the checkout line.

Bud Weist, vice president of sales and marketing for Epson, said the in-store marketing is key because it’s where more than 70 percent of purchase decisions are made.

“These displays can be customized to deliver dynamic digital signage for a variety of retailers,” said Weist.

Epson did not release actual costs of the system because it varies based on the level of customization. Weist said they are more affordable than in the past, even for independent stores such as GoodTimes as well as big specialty chains such as Virgin. —Robert McAllister