retail store

CMS Flashback!

| mcsmith22

Twenty-four years ago, after many years in the construction business, Don Smith decided to take a leap into the display fixture business. CMS was created on the foundation of superiority and affordability. Starting out in his home office shop, Smith sourced his innovative ideas and quality designs into amazing products. In the early years, CMS became known for its popular 3-tier merchandiser, which provided adjustability and efficiency throughout countless produce departments. Thousands of these merchandisers were sold to supermarkets across the Midwest. As the business grew, Continue reading →

You Visualize. We Customize.

| mcsmith22

Since 1991, our team at CMS has been committed to designing and manufacturing top of
the line products to meet your specifications. We’ve designed over 800 standard products
but we are also capable of creating custom designed solutions for just about any
environment. Over the years, we’ve done specialized work for floral shops, hotel lobbies,
supermarkets, restaurants, and many other interior spaces. Although custom design work can certainly present challenges, our team is dedicated to Continue reading →

Paradox of Choice

craft beer display shelving
| mcsmith22

paradox-of-choiceI recently came across 2 articles that dovetail together. The first is an older New York Times piece that covers the psychology of “the paradox of choice”. The basic premise: although the presence of choice and having lots of options has long been viewed positively by both retailers and shoppers alike, in reality there are many people who find more and more choice to be paralyzing. Continue reading →

Shou-Sugi-Ban

shou sugi ban charred wood
| mcsmith22

I’m not trying to impress with my use of Japanese — “shou-sugi-ban” is a wood treatment technique invented by the Japanese. It involves charring wood to add beauty and longevity to the wood. Traditionally in Japan, cedar siding and fencing was burnt to increase the wood’s resistance to insects and fire. The basic idea involves burning the surface of the wood to a varying degree of char, anywhere from a lightly burned-in look to a deep black char. When done well, Continue reading →

Marketing Wine to Millennials

millennials wine shopping
| mcsmith22

Listed below is a link to a recent post on the SmartBlog site for Food and Beverage. This post starts out with the fact that. although boomers remain the biggest overall spenders on wine, millennials are now the fastest-growing group of wine drinkers. It then details several suggestions on how to better market to this segment, of which a couple of items stood out for me:

Gen Y drinkers are not afraid to try new things and are very explorative. According to research sited from Napa Technology, Continue reading →

Grab ‘n Go Cocktails

| mcsmith22

mini-bottle bin bag holder

We recently built a rather unique custom cabinet for a customer with stores located in northern Wisconsin. The cabinet displays and sells 50ml-size mini liquor bottles (the type sold on airplanes).

As we were building it, we realized that this could be a new trend. A collection of these small bottles Continue reading →