There are all sorts of branding considerations to make, not to mention pressure from the local council to keep it "in line" with the rest of the area, or perhaps even to restore the storefront to an older style.
Then winter comes along, which renders all that work pointless with the darkness and the cold. It can feel like nobody's even glancing your way.
But with a little consideration and investment, the right lighting scheme can attract customers old and new over the festive season.
Illuminating the Christmas Window Display
A window display is an essential marketing tool for retailers, especially around holidays and festivals like Christmas, Halloween and Valentine's Day.There's almost an art to creating the perfect display, which involves figuring out the eye level from the street, colour, contrast, the balance between too much and too little - and, of course, the lighting.
As you might expect, aspects of retail lighting design apply here: make sure to use ambient light, reduce shadows with uplights and spotlights, and select the right light for maximum colour rendition.
If you have track spotlights installed, that means you can reconfigure the display as needed.
A low colour temperature will give the impression of warmth in the cold, dark winter, and bring some of that festive spirit your way.
Sign Lighting When it Gets Dark
When most people hear "sign lighting" they might think of the neon lights of 80s movies (which are more than 100 years old), but most shops now use dedicated sign lighting.The low-energy Hydra floodlight uses just 26W of power, but the brass-finish "pub light" has a more vintage feel with its swan neck.
However, due to light pollution some councils place restrictions on the level of illumination a shop can throw at its own sign.
Make sure you clear it with your local council before you splash out on this 400W monster!
This close to Christmas, almost every shop is competing with one another for customers, but if your store is the only one that's lit up, that's the only one people will see.
So if you're planning to keep it on all night, use energy-saving lights to reduce the impact of all that round-the-clock power consumption.
What are your favourite festive shopfronts, readers? We're particularly fond of Selfridges' always-surprising window displays, but that's not for everyone, surely?
Photo by Allen McGregor on Flickr (Creative Commons)
