Display Technologies.

Is there any way to convince a retailer to add a SKU between Black Friday and New Year's Eve?


As luck would have it, Wine on Deck is transitioning from a product development phase to a sales phase, right around Black Friday.  Few retailers are in the position to add another SKU to their inventory between now and New Year's day, so why are Maja and I pounding the pavement?

rough-cut prototype stand. but you haven't seen the magic yet!

Because I think I've got an offer no wine retailer could refuse: mention in a PR piece which I expect to be published in a popular local paper before the holiday, exclusive territory, and the coup de grâce: a hand-made shelf stand to demonstrate the attention-grabbing awesomeness of the Wine Wing.

The purple 'Wing is screwed to the base, so it stays up without a bottle

When Maja and I first hit the pavement, in Davis Square, Cambridge, we got the responses we expected: "nice work, but no time to think about it now."

No time to think about it?  No kidding!  And how about display?  What's to stop the thing from being knocked over by wayward elbows?  I decided the easiest way to convince a retailer to stock my product was to make the perfect, un-tippable Wine Wing display.

The prototype (pictured at right) is looking good.  There will be a place on the stand for info cards, the purple Wine Wing will be fixed to the base with a screw, and the loose Wine Wing will say "Try Me" on it.  That way, customers can see and feel the balance and stability of a bottle in a Wine Wing.

pencil concepts on un-finished Wine Wings

All that's left to do is laser-engrave a few samples with "TRY ME" written on them.  My fine pencil work gives an idea of what the final design might be:

I smell a hit!