Not just window dressing: Downtown businesses revamp their displays with new program
First impressions make all the difference, and downtown Modesto businesses now have the option of revamping theirs with a new window improvement initiative.
The program, a partnership between the Downtown Improvement District (DID) and the Downtown Modesto Partnership, will provide downtown businesses with advice on how to spruce up their windows and storefront displays, as well as fund matching grants to cover the costs of the remodeling.
The Chartreuse Muse, an art school and gallery on 10th Street, was the first business to have its windows redecorated as part of the program. A team of experts in urban design, retail merchandising and lighting spent a day taking down the gallery’s existing window displays, installing new light fixtures and making space for new product displays.
Leading the effort was Michele Reeves, an economic strategist and the founder of Civilis Consultants, based out of Portland. Reeves has helped businesses in various communities spruce up their exteriors to attract more clients, and she said window displays are one of the most cost-effective ways to bring new life into an old storefront and attract shoppers.
In downtowns, Reeves said, businesses rely on cross-pollination to be successful, or the idea that shoppers will naturally be drawn to visit multiple stores on one trip.
“If people can’t look (at your business) for about a second and a half and understand what experience you offer, what you sell and what you do, they will never walk through your door,” Reeves said. “The hardest thing to do to get someone to come into a new business is to cross a threshold.”
Window displays — especially those that are well-lit and highlight the products offered — can make all the difference, she said. They’re relatively inexpensive to upgrade and can change the whole look of a business, drawing the customer’s eye away from the building and toward what’s inside.
Heidi Savage, DID’s executive director, said she and her team realized window improvement is “the cheapest, easiest, quickest way to improve sales per square foot in a downtown area or a Main Street” by making displays “compelling and transparent.”
Reeves said that by updating window displays across downtown Modesto, residents will be able to see the variety of local retail and dining options available to them.
“People think (that) in downtown Modesto, there’s no retail,” she said. “There’s actually a lot of retail downtown. It feels like there’s not because you can’t see it.”
A gallery pilot
That’s what the Window Improvement Program is looking to counteract — by investing smaller amounts of money into a larger number of projects. DID and the Downtown Partnership are hoping to reach as many businesses as possible and transform the overall look and feel of Modesto’s downtown core, one storefront at a time.
Sandra Veneman, owner of The Chartreuse Muse, said she was excited about the design team that came in to revamp her gallery’s front area and window display. New lighting fixtures and movable hooks now give her more options to showcase products.
Veneman said the team’s fresh perspective led them to displaying products in ways she hadn’t considered herself.
“It’s nice to have that outside perspective come in and see what your products are and then re-market them in a different way,” she said.
Other business owners were invited to attend the program’s kickoff event Thursday evening in front of The Chartreuse Muse’s newly renovated window, where representatives from DID and the Downtown Partnership passed out information about the initiative.
Interested business owners can sign up for a Zoom session Nov. 4 by contacting Savage at heidi@modestodid.com. Reeves will walk owners through a step-by-step guide for reworking their window displays. Attendees also can apply for the program’s matching grants, which will reimburse 50% of remodeling costs, up to $1,000.
Savage said she’s heard from over 20 interested businesses, and she hopes more contact her in the coming months.
Josh Bridegroom, president of the Downtown Partnership, said that through 2022, businesses will be able to sign up for grants and receive a detailed guide for their remodel based on Reeves’ presentation. He expects a gradual change in the landscape of downtown businesses, and that once one window display is remodeled, others will follow.
“The way that downtown districts are successful, both in terms of community standpoint, a business owner standpoint and a property owner standpoint is through improving the quantity and quality of experiences that are offered,” Bridegroom said. “When people go through and businesses are more well lit, and their windows draw people in, that translates into a better social experience for people … but also into cash registers ringing and more sales.”
This story was produced with financial support from the Stanislaus Community Foundation, along with the GroundTruth Project’s Report for America initiative. The Modesto Bee maintains full editorial control of this work.
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This story was originally published November 1, 2021 at 5:00 AM.
