Guaranteed your favorite shop doesn't look like a total thumb and has something about it that just makes you smile. Even if it's just a white walled shop with hardly any decorations, there is something about it that just makes you want to come back, right?
Even that white-walled, seemingly plain store you love is doing something intentional for you - the customer. The ambiance of a store is all part of the bit. Those "plain" white walls probably make you feel cool and hip and modern, so in-turn, you're probably thinking the same about whatever you're consuming - right?
Same goes for a chocolate shop. Well, at least ours anyway! No snobby chef hats that make you feel less than, inviting music, colorful walls and whimsical energy to accompany you throughout your entire visit. First time in our shop? We gotchyou! If you need help picking just the right gift for meeting your girlfriend's family for the first time, we'll make sure you don't take anything that might come off a little too strong for that kinda thing.
But back to the whole store decor and why it's so important. If the place doesn't do well for all of your senses, then you might not be able to immerse yourself into the experience of being at this one-of-a-kind place. For instance, have you ever walked into an ice cream shop and smelled garlic galore? NO! You smell waffle cone, and you probably wouldn't have any other way. That's important to a customer, that instant transportation to realm of your product.
In our case, we sell good chocolate. And we try to do it in a fun, low-stress, accessible way. So how do you make a store that helps with that mission? You paint the walls a colorful color, put pink scallops everywhere, and fill it with things that don't totally make sense in a regular world, but make total sense in a chocolate world. Whether it's tiny things for you to find sprinkled all throughout the shop, or a picnic set up full of chocolate boxes. Andrew Freels, Chicago resident and Michigan native is 1/2 of the master mind behind our the decor of our Ann Arbor brick & mortar.
He takes a blank canvas (in this case - a window display), and transforms it into a scene that makes you want to be a part of. Check out this spring window display for our teeny chocolate shop in historic Nickel's Arcade, just across the street from The University of Michigan.
Rainbow lights, pink scallops, picnic scenes, and umbrellas. Andrew Freels keeps the Bon Bon Bon shops looking fresh, cute and inviting to anyone walking by. And that's why his job is really important to the success of our business.
