Guest blog by Helen Goodwin of Made You Look! a member of the Revive & Thrive business group
Experts in visual display training Made You Look! has been working with Bedford Borough Council and their local traders.
High Street Bedford has been the primary north – south route through Bedford for at least 1200 years. 100 years ago it was a thriving and bustling street with attractive and prestigious shops, hostelries, inns and businesses. However, over the past 50 years the high street has declined.
Action was needed, and the council produced a plan where revitalisation of the high street was identified high on the list of priorities. Following their successful bid for funding, improvements are now being made on the street to preserve its history and heritage, including restoration and reinstatement of lost architectural detail to traditional shop fronts, as well as visual display training for traders.
Made You Look! was commissioned to run a workshop emphasising the importance of good window display and the crucial part it plays in keeping the high street looking alive and inviting. Examples were shown of good and bad display techniques along with the basics of how you build a window display and just where to start. Demonstrations of grouping merchandise and an afternoon spent creating their own displays proved invaluable as their inspiration has since proved.
‘Go for Gold’ best dressed window competition
Following Made You Look’s first workshop with Bedford traders in 2012 and in recognition of their training, Bedford Borough Council, in association with Bedford High Street’s Townscape Heritage Initiative organised a ‘Best Dressed Window Competition’.
Local businesses were invited to enter the window display competition entitled ‘Go for Gold’ celebrating the Great British Summer, the Olympic Torch Relay and the Bedfringe River Festival. Voting started on ‘Retailers’ Independents Day’ and there were some fabulous entries with huge improvements following the display training.
Tavistock TV window display – before
Tavistock TV – after
Mayor of Bedford Borough, Dave Hodgson, said: “This contest has seen real creativity and vision from our local and national retailers, helping to display Bedford at its best and promote the town centre’s unique and varied retail offering. I was pleased to have the chance to congratulate the shops that participated in this project, all of whom have helped to showcase Bedford during a particularly busy and exciting period for the town this summer, including the Olympic torch relay and the River Festival. My thanks go to all the local retailers whose on-going efforts help make Bedford town centre an attractive place for shoppers and other visitors. We hope to run other window display workshops and competitions such as this in the future.”
Annual competition
Following the success of ‘Go for Gold’ the best dressed window competition has become an annual event.
This year there were even more entries and the title ‘Summer Fun’ fired up great imagination once again. The judges were looking for ‘best dressed’ and ‘most improved’ window displays – of which there were many and, as usual judging proved tricky. The competition was timed to coincide with Bedford’s Big High Street Showcase, a free festival for all the family highlighting the best of Bedford and its businesses. A market, music, dancing, food and drink, even classic cars were just a few of the events which took place in the heart of the street where retailers could make the most of this perfect marketing opportunity and increased footfall.
This contest saw remarkable creativity and vision from many of the retailers, in particular the wide range of independents who took part not only for this competition but their year-round efforts in helping to display Bedford at its best and making the town centre an attractive place to come and shop and spend time in. The winners are due to be announced shortly.
To find out more about training for your high street’s retailers or to discuss running your own competition, visit the Made You Look! website.
