Turning Traditional Display Fixtures Into Art Supply Holders

Because there are various kinds of display fixtures specifically designed to showcase art supplies, it’s pretty easy for a store manager or owner to find the display fixture or fixtures perfect for showcasing almost any kind of art supply. For example, mobile scrapbook racks and slot paper racks are designed with scrapbooking and other art and hobby supplies in mind.

However, display tools specifically designed for showcasing a particular art supply aren’t always necessary. There are numerous kinds of fixtures out there that can hold a wide variety of merchandise types – these fixtures wear many hats, so to speak.

If you’re just now starting an art supply display in your store, check out the six display fixtures below. Chances are, you might already have several of them on hand – and if you don’t, ordering them means you can use them later for other kinds of displays!

Plastic Containers

You probably already know that plastic containers are some of the most common – and popular – retail display fixtures around. This is because plastic containers are durable, versatile, and convenient, and they’re available in a variety of shapes, sizes, styles, and even in both clear and colored versions.

Plastic containers work well to hold small kinds of art supplies, such as small paint brushes and writing utensils, rolls of stickers, packets of glitter and sequins, and even small tubes of paint and glue.

Acrylic Round Face Bins

Acrylic round face bins are a version of plastic containers, but pack enough extra punch to get a category of their own. These acrylic bins include hinged lids and attached scoops, and while they’re generally used as display fixtures for food products like unwrapped candy, yogurt and ice cream toppings, and gumballs, they’re great for displaying and allowing your customers easy access to art supplies like loose beads.

Bucket Display Racks

Bucket display racks actually combine two different display fixtures – plastic buckets for holding merchandise and display racks for holding the buckets!

You can use bucket display racks as art supply display fixtures much the same way you can use plastic containers. Small kinds of art supplies work best with these fixtures, and the racks allow you to situate the display nearly anywhere in your store where there’s space enough for the rack.

Pegboard Display Racks and Accessories

Pegboard display racks and their accessories, such as pegboard hooks, trays, and bins and buckets, work in similar ways to bucket display racks in that they provide both the fixtures to hold the art supplies and the means to hold those fixtures.

Because of the wide variety of accessories that work with pegboard display racks, there are plenty of options when it comes to which art supplies to display. Pegboard hooks allow you to display merchandise designed to (or included in packaging designed to) hang, while the trays and bins allow you to display small and moderately sized art supplies that need to “sit” in a container.

Wooden and Wicker Baskets and Racks

Think of wooden and wicker baskets and racks as the charming cousin of the bucket display rack. These fixtures, which are available in both fixed-position and rotating versions, can hold fairly sizeable art supplies and add charm to your store at the same time!

Table Displays

Table displays are excellent choices when you plan to use stand-alone fixtures such as plastic containers and acrylic round face bins. These tables are usually available with two or three tabletops and in a variety of “wood” colors, which also helps them add as much charm and visual appeal to your art supply display as wooden or wicker baskets and racks.

5 Tips to Help You Create Candy Store Displays

Whether you’re just now starting a candy store or you’ve managed one for years, you can always use a few tips on how to create – and improve – your candy store displays.

Tip #1: Choose candy containers that work well with your merchandise.

Perhaps the most obvious tip within this list is the tip to make sure you choose candy containers and other fixtures that will attractively and conveniently display your merchandise.

Certain kinds of fixtures work best with certain kinds of candy. For example, you wouldn’t want to display lollipops in a gravity bin. As you’re browsing around for fixtures and other display tools, pay attention to the kinds of examples the wholesalers provide within the descriptions of their fixtures.

Tip #2: Choose candy containers that work well with your display space.

In addition to choosing containers that attractively and conveniently showcase your candy, you need to choose fixtures that you can attractively and conveniently situate in your display space.

Before you begin browsing for fixtures, get familiar with your display space. How much room do you have to work with? Once the fixture is set up, how much space will be left for your customers?

Tip #3: Work smart – not hard!

Obviously there will come times when you’ll need to restock your candy displays, but you can prolong those times by choosing display fixtures that hold bulk amounts of candy. Candy store bulk fixtures allow you display large quantities of product and, depending on how long your particular candy stays fresh, cut back on the amount of time you spent refilling the fixtures.

You can also make things a bit easier on yourself when you choose pre-filled candy displays. Such examples include gumball machines and lollipop trees, but you can also find pre-filled bucket racks designed to rotate or remain stationary – whichever model is most convenient for your customers.

Tip #4: Select display fixtures that will catch each customer’s eye.

Many kinds of display fixtures – such as plastic, acrylic, and glass containers, jars, and bins – are available in different colors, shapes, and styles. Don’t be afraid to give these fixtures a try in your store!

Tip #5: Always think about safety.

This last tip is perhaps the most important: As you’re planning your candy store display, think about the safety risks the display fixtures and the overall setup might create for your customers.

For example, if your store typically experiences a high volume of traffic – or caters mostly to families with young children – and you need simple containers to hold your candy, opt for acrylic bins and plastic containers and fish bowls over glass jars and fish bowls. The acrylic and plastic varieties work just as well as their glass cousins, but don’t impose the same level of risk should a customer accidentally bump into or drop one. And, if it does happen to break, pieces of acrylic or plastic aren’t as likely as pieces of glass to harm a customer.

You must also carefully think about how you plan to set up your displays. Whether your store is large and roomy or small and cozy, and whether it experiences high or low volumes of traffic at any given point during business hours, it’s important that you make sure all of your display fixtures are sturdy enough to hold your containers and merchandise and that you’ve properly assembled them and situated them in places throughout your store that won’t increase the chances they’ll be bumped into or cause a customer any inconvenience.

How to Create Holiday-Inspired Merchandise Displays

The holidays are a busy time for nearly every kind of store and other business owner, and if your business sells any kind of merchandise – whether it’s the kind you wear, play with, read, or eat! – it only makes sense for you to spice up your displays to reflect the season.

However, because the holidays are a busy time, not every store and business owner is going to have much time to dedicate to rearranging his or her merchandise displays. Before it starts to feel like there’s no solution, though, check out the three simple steps below designed to help you turn your usual merchandise displays into festive arrangements in no time!

Step One: Choose Your Display Fixtures

Fortunately, because of their neutral designs, most merchandise display fixtures lend themselves to holiday-inspired displays. You won’t necessarily have to purchase new display fixtures to create holiday-inspired displays – chances are, the ones you already use will work just fine (especially when you follow the second and third steps, below).

Of course, you can also choose display fixtures that are designed with the holidays specifically in mind. For example, you can find plastic containers shaped like Christmas trees and Santa Claus boots! Plus, you can choose certain kinds of plastic containers and acrylic bins in holiday colors like red and green. If you already have these, you’re in luck; if not, you can find them at reasonable bulk prices from a variety of wholesalers.

Step Two: Manipulate Your Merchandise

This step isn’t actually as sneaky as it sounds.

When you “manipulate your merchandise” – for purposes of this goal – you choose merchandise that is either already holiday-related or merchandise that you can make “look” holiday related.

For example, if you manage a convenience store, you might choose to create a display using merchandise with holiday-related “themes,” such as lighters, key chains, or pens with holiday pictures printed on them. Or, if you manage a candy store, you could create a gumball display using only red and green gumballs. If you manage a specialty restaurant such as a bakery, you could create displays that showcase holiday-themed baked goods like cookies shaped like gingerbread men, Christmas tress, and Santa Claus.

Step Three: Don’t Forget to Accessorize

Keep in mind that not every part of your display has to be either a piece of merchandise or a fixture. You can use additional items purely for decoration.

For example, if you create merchandise display on tables or counters not holding your cash register, you might want to cover them in red, green, blue, silver, or gold table cloths, or clothes with festive prints on them. You might even want to use holly, tinsel, or pinecones to add visual appeal to your displays, or you might want to line your display racks with greenery and lights.

If you manage a restaurant, you can take your decorations a step further and add holiday charm to your tables and booths with fixtures like holiday votives – small candleholders with Christmas, Hanukah, or winter pictures on them!

How to Create Merchandise Displays with Table Display Fixtures

Despite the volume of choices, choosing the perfect display fixture isn’t as daunting a task as it might seem – and neither is creating the display once you know which fixture you want to use.

Table display fixtures work well in a variety of retail and other business settings. Like other kinds of display accessories, table displays are available in different sizes, styles, and colors, so it’s easy to find the one (or two!) that will work best with your merchandise and your store’s décor.

Check out the three steps listed below to help you get started using table display tools to create merchandise displays.

Step One: Choose the Merchandise to Display

You can showcase nearly anything on these display fixtures! Consider these ideas:

• Clothing stores can display typical merchandise like folded shirts and pants, as well as seasonal items like gloves, scarves, and hats.
• Shoe stores can create displays of the season’s new footwear.
• Bookstores can display the latest releases
• Toy stores can create displays focused on a particular “theme,” such as the licensed merchandise related to a new movie or cartoon.
• Candy stores can use these display tools to create plastic, acrylic, or glass container display of colorful gumballs and lollipops.
• Ice cream parlors and yogurt shops can create displays of their dry toppings like sprinkles.
• Hotels, motels, and travel- or tourist-related establishments can create displays of local newspapers, magazines, brochures, and pamphlets.

Of course, these are just a few suggestions. There are many more possibilities, depending on what kind of store or other business you manage.

Step Two: Decide Where to Situate Your Table Display Fixture

Generally, table display fixtures are designed to be placed on the floor (situating them on top of other fixtures like tables can be not only inconvenient to your customers, but also can be dangerous); therefore, you need to make sure you have enough floor space set aside for the display tool.

As you’re determining where you can situate your display, keep in mind that these kinds of display tools are available in different widths, heights, and depths, as well as with either round or square shelves.

Step Three: Select Your Table Display Fixture

Once you know what you want to display and where you want to display it, it’s time to choose your table display fixture.

Like many other kinds of merchandise display tools, you can find these kinds of display tools with varying number of shelves, round shelves or square shelves, and in different colors such as wood colors “cherry” and “maple.” Aside from the fixture’s size and number of shelves, what makes the fixture perfect for your display will boil down to your personal preference or your store’s décor.

NOTE: If you’ve chosen to display merchandise that requires additional display fixtures, be sure to take those fixtures’ sizes into consideration. For example, if you choose to use plastic containers or acrylic bins as your additional display fixtures, make sure you choose sizes that will work with your table display fixture.

3 Ways Nearly Business Can Use Table Display Fixtures

Table display fixtures are excellent choices for creating a variety of displays – no matter what kind of store or other business you manage! You can find these fixtures with different numbers of shelves and even with square or round shelves.

Additionally, you can find table display fixtures in a variety of “wood” colors like maple and cherry, which further helps you create charming, and even rustic, displays for your store.

To help get you started, check out the three ways you can use table display fixtures listed below.

1. Create Candy Displays With Table Display Fixtures

Candy is the kind of treat that spans every demographic as a favorite. No matter what group you look at – children and adults, males and females, the wealthy and the modest – you’ll find a candy enthusiast!

Aside from the obvious – candy stores! – nearly every kind of store and other business can benefit from a candy display.

Unless you’re displaying candy already packaged in display boxes (such as the kinds of candy you find in the checkout aisles at grocery stores and gas stations), you’ll need at least one other kind of display fixture to create a candy display with a table display fixture. Typically, plastic containers and acrylic bins are your best bet. You can find these containers in numerous shapes and sizes, and even choose from clear and colored versions!

2. Create Magazine and Newspaper Displays With Table Display Fixtures

Generally, any store that sells magazines or newspapers uses some sort of display fixture created especially for displaying magazines and newspapers. Think about the last time you shopped at a bookstore, convenience store, or even your local pharmacy: The magazines were probably situated on a floor rack or on the shelves of a wall fixture, and the newspapers were probably secured inside a fixture designed to open only after a customer inserted money.

However, some businesses – like hotels, motels, doctor and dentist offices, and even restaurants like bakeries, ice cream parlors, coffee shops, and yogurt shops – offer newspapers and magazines for their customers to read as they wait to be served or as they’re enjoying their treats. If you manage a similar business, you can use table display fixtures to attractively and conveniently display newspapers and magazines for your customers.

3. Create Brochure, Pamphlet, and Map Displays With Table Display Fixtures

Table display fixtures are excellent tools for displaying brochures, pamphlets, and maps.

If you manage:

• Any kind of health facility such as a doctor or dentist office, a community health center, or hospital, you can use these fixtures to create displays of pamphlets related to dental and health issues.
• Any kind of travel or hospitality facility, you can use these fixtures to create displays of brochures about local sites and attractions and maps to help tourists get around.

Of course, these are just suggestions to help get you started. Depending on the kind of establishment you manage, you might have other materials better suited for display, such as forms and documents related to your business.

3 Creative Ways to Spice Up Your Countertop Displays

Nearly every kind of business - from convenience stores and gas stations to motels and restaurants - can benefit from countertop displays.

Countertop displays are lucrative merchandise display options and it's important to make sure these displays offer both convenience and visual appeal. To achieve this, read on for the three ways you can spice up your countertop displays.

1. Use Colored Acrylic Bins and Plastic Containers in Fun Shapes

Even if you don’t already have a countertop display and are using this information to help you create your first display, chances are you already know how popular acrylic bins and plastic containers are for displays. They’re versatile and durable and, once they’ve run their course out front, you can move them to the back of your store and use them as storage fixtures.

However, what you might not have known is that you can find acrylic bins and plastic containers in vibrant colors and fun shapes! You can use these options to make your countertop displays reflect the current season or holiday, your local college’s or high school’s colors, or any specific theme or décor you’ve already established for your store.

2. Use Two or More Display Fixtures Together

It’s easy to create countertop displays with acrylic bins and plastic containers by themselves, but when you pair them with other display fixtures – such as wire display racks or convenience store racks designed small enough to rest on countertops – you not only create more visual appeal and possibly make the display more convenient for your customers, but you also increase the amount of countertop space you have to work with AND the amount of space you have for merchandise!

If you plan to use other display fixtures with your acrylic bins or plastic containers, make sure you either choose the fixtures that will work with the containers you already have OR choose the containers that will work with the fixtures you already have.

3. Use Pre-Filled Candy Displays

No matter what kind of store, restaurant, or other business you manage, chances are high your customers would appreciate a candy display.

Pre-filled candy displays take the work out of creating your own candy display and, because there are so many different kinds of pre-filled candy displays, you’re sure to find the display your customers would like the most and the one that would be most lucrative for you.

Consider:

• Gumball Machines: You can find gumball machines designed to rest on countertops and pre-filled with colorful gumballs. You can even find these machines pre-filled with other kinds of candy and snacks and even small novelty toys.
• Lollipop Trees: Just like gumball machines, some lollipop trees are also designed “short” enough that you can situate them on your countertop.
• Pre-Filled Candy Containers: Most pre-filled candy containers (which are typically just plastic containers or acrylic bins) are filled with gumballs; however, you can sometimes find them filled with other kinds of candy your customers might like.

How to Create Unique Tabletop Displays in Your Restaurant

Most kinds of restaurants have some sort of display on their tabletops, countertops, or bars - whether they're showcasing merchandise, decorations, or complimentary items.

Creating a tabletop display is slightly different than creating a regular merchandise display; however, the five steps below make creating display on your tabletops a breeze!

Step One: Think About Your Restaurant

You might think this step is unnecessary; after all, you own or manage your restaurant – why should you need to think about it?

In reality, you DO need to think about several things regarding your restaurant. The next few steps will help you do that more thoroughly, but as you’re scanning your restaurant and thinking about your future tabletop displays, consider where you want to situate your displays, the kind of merchandise you want to display, and what kinds of display fixtures might work best for you.

Step Two: Decide Where to Situate Your Tabletop Display

The phrase “tabletop display” suggests the display will be on your tabletop; however, which tabletop? Your restaurant might have tables of various sizes and, depending on the point of your display (see below), one size of tabletop might work better than another size.

Too, you might actually want your tabletop display to be a countertop or bar top display.

Step Three: Determine the “Point” of Your Tabletop Display

Obviously, one point of your display is to showcase a product of some sort.

However, you must also decide if:

• Your display will showcase complimentary items like packets of condiments or seasonings, or breath mints, hand wipes, or toothpicks.
• Your display will showcase additional merchandise for sale.
• Your display will be purely for decoration.

Step Four: Choose Your Tabletop Display Fixtures

Some of the most popular display fixtures to use for tabletop and countertop display fixtures are plastic containers and acrylic bins. You can find these display fixtures in a wide variety of shapes, sizes, and styles, and they’re durable, versatile, and easily converted into “storage fixtures” once they’ve run their course on your tables!

However, if you choose plastic containers or acrylic bins for your tabletop displays, note that you can pair them with other display fixtures. Depending on the size of your display space – and how large you want to make your display – you might use one of the varieties of display racks. For example, you can situate your plastic containers or acrylic bins on small wire display racks. This will help keep your tabletop or countertop from becoming overwhelmed and allow your customers more room.

Step Five: Create Your Tabletop Display!

You might think this step seems obvious, but there’s no better way to make sure you display is going to work than first creating it and then giving it a try yourself.

Once you fill your display fixtures with the merchandise you want to display and situate the fixtures on your tabletop (or, countertop or bar – whichever you choose), put yourself in the position of the customer. Sit at the table or at the bar, or stand by the countertop. How does the display look from your position? Can you easily do what you need to do at the table, without the merchandise getting in the way? Can you easily access the products if you need to?

If the display doesn’t work, rearrange a few things until it does; if it does work, you’re ready to go!

5 Tips to Create Merchandise Displays with Bulk Plastic Containers

Plastic containers are some of the most popular display tools around. They’re versatile, durable, and work with numerous kinds of merchandise. However, before you order bulk plastic containers for your store’s merchandise display, take the following tips into consideration.

Tip #1: Before you order bulk plastic containers, consider your merchandise and display space.

It’s easier to determine what kinds of – and how many – containers you’ll need if you first determine which merchandise you plan to display and the amount of display space you have to work with.

You can find plastic containers in a wide variety of sizes (see below), but even the largest container will place a size limit on the kinds of merchandise you can store in it. Candy, small children’s toys, accessory and convenience items like eyeglass repair kits and traveling manicure kits– these are the kinds of products most shop owners display in their containers.

Once you’ve determined which merchandise you want to display, take a look at the amount of display space you have to work with. Are you creating a countertop display, or are you situating your display on a shelf or a convenience store rack? Understanding your display space will help you further determine the number and size (see below) of the containers.

Tip #2: Browse a variety of plastic container sizes.

As mentioned above, plastic containers come in a variety of sizes. Naturally, you want to choose the containers that will work best both with the kind of merchandise you want to display and the amount of display space you have to work with, but if you need some help getting started, note that one-gallon plastic containers are generally the most popular among shop owners.

Tip #3: Don’t forget to check out fun plastic container shapes!

Not only do they come in a variety of sizes, but plastic containers also come in a variety of shapes! You can find these containers in traditional square, hexagon, and round or “fish bowl” shapes as well as in holiday-inspired shapes like Christmas trees and Santa Claus boots.

Tip #4: Consider colored plastic containers.

Clear plastic containers are excellent choices because they work with any decoration theme and they allow you and your customers to easily view the merchandise inside; however, colored containers add a little something extra to your displays.

Give colored containers a try by selecting containers in colors that match your shop’s current décor or “theme,” choosing holiday-inspired colors or the colors of your area’s local sports teams, or matching the container colors with the colors of the merchandise (such as using yellow containers for lemon-flavored candy).

Tip #5: Check out other display tools to use with your plastic containers.

Note that plastic containers work well as stand-alone display tools, but you can also pair them with other display fixtures like wire display racks or convenience store racks. Using additional display tools with your containers helps you maximize the amount of display space you have to work with or, in some cases, create display space where there was none before!

3 Ideas for Using Plastic Containers in Your Store

Whether new or seasoned, if you own a business of any sort – especially a retail or food-industry business – chances are you’re well aware of just how useful plastic containers are. However, just knowing how useful these display fixtures are doesn’t help – you actually have to use them to benefit!

If you’re not yet using plastic containers in your business, consider the three ideas below to get started.

Idea #1: Use Plastic Containers to Create Candy Displays

Candy is a versatile product perfect for stores beyond the traditional candy shop. Nearly every kind of business – from grocery stores and gas stations to restaurants and hotels – cater to customers who will be interested in candy displays.

Choosing containers for candy displays is much like choosing containers for any other kind of display. You’ll need to:

• Take a look at the amount of display space you have to work with and the size and amount of candy you want to display. Understanding your display space and your product will help you when it’s time to make decisions such as the container size that will work best.
• Browse the variety of container sizes, shapes, and colors. You can find plastic containers in numerous sizes, clear and every color from pink to orange, and in both traditional shapes like round and square to holiday-inspired shapes like Christmas trees.
• Determine whether you want your display to stand alone on a countertop or work with other display tools such as wire display racks. Plastic containers work well by themselves, but additional display tools help you maximize your display space – or create space where there once was none.

Idea #2: Use Plastic Containers to Offer Promotions

There are many ways you can use plastic containers to offer promotions. Consider these few:

• Many restaurants and taverns use plastic containers to display small bottles of liquor for promotional purposes, and some even use these containers as “glasses” for fun group drink specials.
• Some stores use these containers to create point-of-purchase or POP merchandise displays to showcase sale items customers might otherwise miss as they’re shopping.
• Businesses can use these containers to create displays that separate items that are new additions to the inventory from those that have been around for a while. Using containers to create these kinds of displays help put the new items in the customers view and promote sales.

Idea #3: Use Plastic Containers to Collect Tips or Donations

You don’t have to always use your containers to offer something to your customers; you can also use them to collect from your customers, too!

Situating small plastic containers on a restaurant’s tables or a taverns bar is a popular way to collect tips from customers, but some establishments also place these containers near the cash registers so customers can easily and quickly deposit tips.

These containers are also great tools for collecting donations. Even if your establishment isn’t in the habit of collecting donations, if charities, organizations, and individuals often ask to collect donations at your establishment, having these containers handy is convenient for both you and those folks seeking to collect.

How to Shop for Plastic Containers for Your Displays

Plastic containers might seem like simple display tools, but the reality is there are so many varieties of these versatile display fixtures that you’re going to need a bit of prep time before you actually purchase them.

Step 1: First, determine your display’s basic needs.

Determining your display’s basic needs will help you make decisions about the kinds of plastic containers you’ll need – specifically, the number, sizes, and shapes of the containers you’ll need.

As you’re determining your display’s basic needs, consider:

• Your Display Space: How much display space do you have to work with? Are you creating your display on a countertop, or do you have a shelf or rack on which you want to situate your containers? Understanding your display space will help you determine how many containers you can include in your display as well as the sizes and shapes that will work best with your display space.
• Your Merchandise: Knowing which merchandise you plan to include in your display will also help you determine the size and number of plastic containers to use. Large merchandise items will require large plastic containers, while small merchandise items can get by with either large or small plastic containers. Likewise, sizeable amounts of merchandise will require a higher number of containers, while small amounts of merchandise can get by with just a few containers.

Step 2: Next, think about ways you can have fun with your plastic containers.

Now that you know how many plastic containers you need and the shapes and sizes in which you need them, think about the ways you can have fun with them!

You already know that plastic containers are available in traditional sizes like hexagon, square, and round or “fish bowl,” but did you know you can also find these containers in fun shapes like holiday-inspired Santa Claus boots and Christmas trees? You won’t want to use these containers year-round, but they do offer extra visual appeal to your displays at certain times of the year.

As with shapes (and sizes), color choices are plentiful, too! Clear is a common “color” for plastic containers because clear containers work well with any décor and they allow customers to easily see what’s inside; however, plastic containers are also available in translucent colors, as well. You can choose colors that “match” the current holiday or your area’s college colors, or you can choose colors that work well with the merchandise you plan to display in the containers. For example, if you want to display candy, you can choose colors that represent the candy flavors.

Step 3: Finally, consider other helpful display fixtures.

While plastic containers work quite well as stand-alone display fixtures, other display tools – such as wire display racks or convenience store racks – help you make the most of your display space as well as create display space where there once was none. You can find these kinds of racks in numerous sizes with various number of shelves and designed for either countertop or floor use.

Discover Home Uses for Square Plastic Containers

When it comes to square plastic containers, there's one thing you can count on - they're square! Otherwise, you should expect to find these containers in a wide assortment of styles and sizes, as well as boasting extra conveniences like lids and handles - all of which work together to help you find perfect home uses.

Square Plastic Containers: Kitchen Uses

Square plastic containers are great for storing and displaying everything from freshly baked cookies to after dinner mints. You can also use them to organize extras like toothpicks, drinking straws and coffee stir sticks, napkins, hand wipes, and packets of condiments or sugar and sweetener for your tea or coffee.

If you choose to use these containers for food storage and display purposes, make sure you choose acrylic food-grade containers. You’ll need containers that will keep your food items fresh and safe from debris. Your best bet is to look for containers that come with lids either hinged or attached in some way or lids you can screw or snap on. Having containers with handles or handgrips is also helpful.

Square Plastic Containers: Bathroom Uses

These containers are especially helpful in bathroom and dressing room areas. You can use them to store and display hygiene-related items such as:

• Cotton balls and Q-Tips
• Makeup sponges and cotton pads
• Bandages and antibiotic ointment
• Extra travel- or trial-sized bottles or packets of shampoos and conditioners, lotions, mouthwashes, and toothpastes
• Rolls of dental floss and extra toothbrushes

Square Plastic Containers: Children’s Uses

These containers are excellent ways to keep your children’s toys and other items organized and easily accessible.

For example, you can use the containers to hold small toys like building blocks, bouncy balls, and figurines organized and out of the floor. You could organize your child’s craft items like crayons, markers, colored pencils, stencils, and stickers in these containers, and if your child is old enough to be in school you can use the containers to help organize items like pens, pencils, rulers, highlighters, calculators, and erasers.

Square Plastic Containers: Office Uses

If you have a home office, square plastic containers are great ways to store and organize:

• Office tools such as tacks, paperclips, staples, extra ink cartridges for your computer printer, scissors, rubber bands, and writing utensils.
• Important paperwork and documents such as bills, contracts, financial records, medical documents, and receipts.
  

Remember, these containers come in many sizes – you can find sizes perfect for the top of your desk as well as sizes ideal for shelf use.

Square Plastic Containers: Garage, Basement, and Attic Uses

Many people use their garages, basements, and attics as places of storage, and some folks also use them for “workshop” areas. Because these areas tend to be out of the public eye, we sometimes neglect them – and, sometimes this neglect means they need all the extra help they can get in terms of organization!

Consider using these containers to store and organize:

• Extra extension cords
• Nails, screws, nuts, and bolts
• Craft items like buttons, beads, and sewing needles and spools of thread
• Small holiday decorations

Small Plastic Containers Have Numerous Uses Outside the Retail World

Plastic containers, no matter what size they are, are staples in the retail world. They’re durable, versatile, and convenient display fixtures that work well to organize, hold, display, and store merchandise and complimentary items as well as collect items like tips and raffle tickets from customers.

However, plastic containers – especially small plastic containers – have numerous uses outside of the retail world, as well. Read on for ideas on how you can make these containers work for you in everyday life – even if you don’t manage a retail business!

1. Store and Display Food in Small Plastic Containers

These kinds of containers are excellent tools for both storing and display edible items. Because they’re available in various shapes and styles, you can fill them with everything from wrapped and unwrapped candies to small baked goods like brownies or cookies.

Keep in mind that if you choose to store food products of any kind in these containers – and the items aren’t already protected by wrappers – you’ll need to choose containers with lids. These lids – whether they snap or screw on – will help keep your food fresh and safe from dust and other debris. At the same time, depending on the kind of food product you plan to display, you might also want to consider containers with handles or handgrips, as well as pairing the containers with tools like aluminum or plastic scoops.

2. Use Small Plastic Containers for Collections

If you are collecting donations for any kind of organization, whether it be a charity or nonprofit organization or a high school sports team or club, you might think using large plastic containers would make more sense. After all, the larger the container the more money you can collect, right?

In reality, using small containers makes it much easier for you and your volunteers, co-workers, or fellow team or club members to keep up with the containers – especially if they’re going to be carrying them from one location to the next.

3. Fill Small Plastic Containers with Prizes

Whether you manage Bingo night at your local community center or teach Sunday school classes at your church, you can use these containers for storing and displaying small novelty prizes for winning games. You can even use them for storing game pieces!

4. Use Small Plastic Containers in Your Classroom

These containers are great tools for storing and displaying everything from tools you might use in your classroom such as thumbtacks, staples, paper clips, extra pieces of chalk, and encouragement stickers you place on your students’ papers to prizes for any games you might play with your class.

5. Discover Uses for Small Plastic Containers at Home

These containers are excellent tools for organizing and storing many household items in various rooms in your home. For example, you can keep them in your bathroom to hold extra cotton balls and Q-Tips, in your garage or basement to store screws, tacks, and nails, or in your home office to organize paper clips, staples, and extra pens and pencils.

How to Choose the Best Retail Display Fixtures for Your Store

When it comes to choosing the best retail display fixtures for your store, you might feel a bit overwhelmed. From plastic, acrylic, glass, wire mesh, and wooden basket containers to all the different kinds of racks and stands to hold the containers, the possibilities seem endless.

To help you choose the best retail display fixtures for your store, take some time to first think about your store’s environment, the kind of merchandise you sell, and the customers with whom you normally do business.

1. Consider Your Environment

It’s always best to consider your environment first, because no matter what kind of product you’re displaying, you have to first think about how much space you have to display it.

If you have a lot of space to work with, you have many options! You can use many items like wire display racks, bucket display racks, wire mesh basket displays, and wooden basket displays to showcase your merchandise. If you don’t have much space to work with, you can still use these same kinds of display fixtures – you’ll just need to be aware of how many you can use while still leaving enough room on your store’s floor for your customers to conveniently move about and browse your items.

2. Consider Your Merchandise

Just as you need to think about the number of display fixtures you use, you need to think of the sizes and style that will work best for the amount of space you have to work with. Thinking about your merchandise will help you determine both the best size and the best style of retail display fixtures for your store.

Fortunately, nearly every kind of display fixture available – from plastic containers to wire display racks – is available in a wide variety of sizes and styles, making it easy for you to choose the fixture that will be the right size and style for the kind of merchandise you plan to display as well as the space you have to display it in.

Of course, you also have to consider any special needs your merchandise has. For example, wooden basket displays are great for non-edible merchandise and items like packets of seeds and flower bulbs, but they’re not the best choice for unwrapped candies. If you plan to display edible merchandise that isn’t already covered with some sort of protective wrapper, consider looking for retail display fixtures like glass or plastic containers with lids. You might also want to look for containers with handles or handgrips, as well as think about accessories like aluminum or plastic scoops.

3. Consider Your Customers

Finally, you must think about your customers, and for two reasons: safety and convenience.

You want the retail display fixtures you choose to be safe for your customers. Fixtures like candy containers, for example, are available in both glass and plastic models. Choosing glass containers will work if you have a lot of space to work with and your customers generally consist of adults and not rowdy children, but plastic is probably the better option if you manage a store where space is limited and you cater to lots of children excited to get their hands on your merchandise.

You also want the retail display fixtures to be convenient for your customers. This includes choose fixtures that are large or small enough to comfortably hold the merchandise, as well as fixtures that fit well within your store.

5 Ways You Can Use Small Plastic Containers in Your Business

Plastic containers are some of the most popular display and storage tools for businesses, and for good reasons: they’re durable, lightweight, convenient, and versatile. You can find them in a variety of shapes, sizes, and styles, and they’re even great for behind-the-scenes uses once you’re finished with them on your floor.

Chances are, if you’re not already using small plastic containers in your business, it’s not because you don’t want to – it’s because you’re not exactly clear on how these containers can work for your business. Below are five examples for using plastic containers in all kinds of businesses – check them out for ideas!

1. Use Small Plastic Containers to Display Food Items

Because there are so many different kinds of these containers available, you can use them to display and store a wide variety of food items. Everything from candies like gumballs and lollipops to baked goods and trail mix.

Keep in mind that if you plan to store and display food that isn’t already protected by some sort of wrapper, you’ll need to consider plastic containers with accessories like lids to help keep your food fresh and safe from the elements. You can find containers that have lids designed to screw or snap on, and you can even find containers with handles and handgrips and purchase plastic or aluminum scoops that help your customers pour or scoop the food item without having to touch any of it.

2. Use Small Plastic Containers to Offer Complimentary Items

Depending on what kind of business you manage, you can use these small containers to offer a wide variety of complimentary items. Everything from a restaurant’s toothpicks and breath mints (as well as extras like packets of condiments, sugar, spices, and artificial sweetener) to a hotel’s free packets of shampoo and conditioner can conveniently fit in these containers.

3. Use Small Plastic Containers to Collect Tips

Because of their size, these containers are excellent tools for collecting tips from your customers! If you manage an establishment that provides any kind of dining area, you can situate these containers on the individual tables to collect tips from your patrons. The same is true for a bar’s countertop area as well as the business’s checkout counter.

4. Use Small Plastic Containers to Hold Raffles

Many different kinds of businesses hold raffles or drawings for prizes to show customer appreciation. You can use these containers to collect your customers’ raffle tickets, business cards, or any other card or paper designed to hold the customers’ names and contact information.

5. Use Small Plastic Containers for Storage

Just because these containers are usually used for display purposes doesn’t mean you can’t use them for behind-the-scenes storage, as well. Also, just because they’re small doesn’t mean they’re not the ideal size for some of your smaller items!

You can use these plastic containers in your business’s storage or stock room, under countertops, or even in your manager’s office to store items like small office supplies (think paperclips and staples) as well as tools like prices tags and discount, sale, and clearance stickers.

How to Find Candy Distributors

Whether you operate a candy store, movie rental business, or gas station, chances are you’re going to find yourself looking for candy distributors at some point.

Shopping for candy distributors online or locally is much like shopping for any other product or service, and below are five tips to help you get started.

Tip #1: Know what you want.

You might think you already know what you want: Candy. Yet, “candy” encompasses a pretty broad range of products in the candy business.

• Think about the kind of store you manage.
• Think about the kinds of customers who frequent your store.
• Think about the amount of space you have within your store.

Keep in mind that, if you don’t already have them, you’re going to need displays like plastic containers and wire display racks in order to display your candy, so it’s wise to look for a candy distributor that offers these items, too.

Tip #2: Get familiar with wholesale candy prices.

When you’re shopping for merchandise for your business, it only makes sense to buy items in bulk at wholesale prices. The same is true for candy.

Most candy distributors claim to sell bulk candy at wholesale prices; however, this doesn’t mean every one of them actually does. Do some research and familiarize yourself with the current wholesale prices of bulk candy before you begin looking for distributors. This way, you’ll know which one is really offering the best price.

Tip #3: Don’t limit your search to only candy distributors in your area.

Admittedly, shopping locally helps your local economy; however, shopping locally doesn’t always help your selection – or you wallet.

Thanks to the Internet, it’s all too easy to shop the world for anything you want. When it comes to finding candy distributors, not only does this help you find distributors that sell exactly what you need, but it also helps you find distributors that offer prices you can afford.

Tip #4: Talk to other business owners about their candy distributors.

Everyone knows word-of-mouth is the best form of advertisement. People aren’t going to recommend products, services, or businesses they weren’t pleased with.

If you know other business owners who sell candy in their stores, talk with them about the candy distributors they use. Ask for recommendations, and find out why they like the distributors they use as well as why they didn’t like the ones they dropped.

Tip #5: Compare several different candy distributors.

Finally, you must compare several different candy distributors. If you’ve taken note of the above four tips, you know what you must compare:

• Narrow your search down to distributors that offer the candy and other items you need.
• Look at the wholesale prices each candy distributor offers and compare those prices to your research and your budget.
• Consider a few local distributors as well as candy distributors online.
• Weigh your findings about each distributor against the opinions and experiences other business owners have had.

Keep in mind you should also pay attention to candy distributors that offer sales, discounts, and specials. This is a great way for businesses to show customer appreciation, and customer appreciation is a definite bonus from any candy distributor you choose!

Create Point of Purchase Merchandise Displays for Your Drug Store or Pharmacy

The point of purchase, also know as POP, of your drug store or pharmacy is the area in which your customers make their purchases. A POP is usually the final checkout countertop, and as such it’s a hotspot for add-on merchandise and impulse purchases.

However, as the manager of a drug store or pharmacy, what can you use to create a POP merchandise display?

Candy and Other Snacks

Candy displays and snack displays work well in nearly every kind of business, and there is a wide assortment of display fixtures you can use to best showcase these items.

For example, you can:

• Use plastic containers to display small pieces of wrapped candies. If you don’t have much countertop space to work with or you want to use as many plastic containers as possible, you can pair these containers with wire display racks with shelves designed to sit on countertops.

• Use countertop racks with tiers that angle to display packs of chewing gum or the kinds of candy that come in boxes such as Good & Plenty.

• Use countertop racks with flat shelves or tiers to display small bags of chips, trail mix, or boxes of candy bars or bagged candy such as M&Ms.

Over-the-Counter Medication

Not many people head into a drug store or pharmacy with the sole purpose of purchasing over-the-counter medication. Usually, people pick up these kinds of items as afterthoughts, which makes them perfect for POP merchandise displays.

Chances are, your pharmacy already has a pretty sizeable display of over-the-counter medication somewhere in the store; however, you can use the same kinds of display fixtures discussed above to display small packets of over-the-counter medications ideal for carrying in a wallet or purse, as well as travel-sized bottles and even full-sized bottles, for those customers who might not intend to purchase any medicine but realize they’re out when they see the display at the POP countertop.

Small Medical Supplies and Accessories

Whether it’s diabetes testing strips or replacement batteries for hearing aids, small medical supplies make great items for POP merchandise displays. The same is true for accessories like reading glasses, travel-sized packets of bandages, and even medical identification bracelets.

Depending on the actual product, you might be able to use clear plastic containers with or without wire display racks, or you might be able to situate the merchandise on wire display racks with angled tiers or flat shelves. If you plan to display items like reading glasses or medical identification bracelets, be sure to check out spinning countertop racks with pegs for hanging the items.

Convenience Items

Many of the items listed above – such as over-the-counter medications and travel-sized packets of bandages – are considered convenience items by some; however, there are so many other convenience items you can include in your POP merchandise display.

Consider these ideas:

• Lighters and matchbooks
• Small eyeglass repair kits
• Travel-sized bottles of hygiene items like shampoo, soap, and toothpaste
• Toothbrushes
• Small bottles of hand sanitizer

Your options are really only limited to your store’s stock, your countertop’s space, and your own imagination!

So, You Have the Wholesale Plastic Containers - Now What?

Ordering the perfect wholesale plastic containers for your product displays is just the first step to creating your displays. Once your containers arrive, you have to make sure they’ll fit your intended display space, make sure the merchandise will fit the containers, and make sure the displays you plan to create will be convenient for your customers.

Make Sure the Plastic Containers Fit Your Display Space

Chances are, you thought about the display spaces where you wanted to use your wholesale plastic containers BEFORE you ordered them; however, you still need to double-check to make sure your containers are going to work with your countertop space, your floor display racks, or your slat wall or pegboard display fixtures.

Make Sure Your Merchandise Fits Your Plastic Containers

Now that you know your wholesale plastic containers fit your display spaces, it’s time to make sure your merchandise fits your containers. This step is much easier because if the intended merchandise DOESN’T fit, chances are you have other kinds of merchandise that WILL fit.

For example, if you purchased plastic containers with the intention of displaying children’s stuffed toys, but now that the containers are in front of you you’ve discovered the toys are actually too big for the containers, you can still use the containers to display another similar item, such as bouncy balls or small action figures.

You can even use the containers to display merchandise of an entirely different category, such as small pieces of wrapped candy or travel-sized bottles of hand sanitizer.

It basically all boils down to the kind of merchandise your store sells, but the bottom line is that even if your plastic containers are too small or too large for their original intended purposes, you can still use them to create other kinds of product displays throughout your store.

Make Sure Your Plastic Container Displays Are Convenient to Customers

No matter how much time and effort you put into creating your product displays, if your customers can’t conveniently access the displays or the merchandise, the merchandise isn’t likely to sell and your display will be a failure.

Consider these tips to make sure your plastic container displays are convenient to your customers:

• If you created your product display using plastic containers on your countertop, make sure that nothing stands between your customers and the containers. This includes any floor racks you might have near your countertop as well as additional display fixtures on the countertop.

• If you created your product display using plastic containers positioned on a wire display rack for your floor, make sure the rack is situated so that your customers can easily walk around to view each side without bumping into other display fixtures or finding that one side is blocked by a wall.

• If you created your product display using plastic containers designed to hang on slat wall or pegboard fixtures, make sure there are no other display fixtures on your floor that block these items from your customers’ view and reach. Also be sure not to hang your containers so high your customers can’t access the merchandise.

Choose the Best Plastic Containers for Food Displays

Whether you manage a candy store, convenience store, grocery store, bakery, or ice cream parlor, if you sell unwrapped food items of any kind, you need plastic containers that will allow you to display those items in convenient and attractive ways while keeping the food fresh and safe from debris.

In other words, despite how useful they are in other situations, plain ol’ plastic containers aren’t going to work this time. Food items require containers that will keep them fresh and safe from contamination, and a typical round or square plastic container with an opening won’t provide any of that.

Gravity bins are some of the most common display fixtures for dry food items. You’ve probably seen these kinds of fixtures mounted to the walls and countertops and holding dry foods like small candy pieces, coffee beans or grinds, cereal, and nuts. Depending on the model, there is usually some kind of knob or lever the customers can turn or pull that starts a flow of the food product for the customer to catch in another container or a baggie.

However, not every business wants to use gravity bins. Maybe there isn’t enough wall or countertop space, or maybe the store owner wants to display a food item that gravity bins are designed to hold. Fortunately, there are many other acrylic bins and plastic containers available for attractively and conveniently displaying your food items while still keeping the food fresh and clean.

Acrylic Bins and Plastic Containers with Lids

Acrylic bins and plastic containers with lids are necessary display fixtures for any kind of food item that isn’t protected from the elements in some other way. Store owners can use bins and containers with lids to store and display everything from bulk unwrapped candy like gumballs to dry snacks like pretzels, peanuts, and trail mix.

Acrylic Bins and Plastic Containers with Hand Grips

Acrylic bins and plastic containers with hand grips are perfect for storing and displaying food items that customers need to pour in order to access. Generally, customers only need to unscrew the container’s lid and then pour the food item. Such food items might include snacks like trail mixes or a restaurant chef’s baking supplies like sugar or flour.

Hand grip containers are especially convenient because their handles make them easy to transport from the display location to the kitchen or stock room.

Acrylic Bins and Plastic Containers with Scoops and Tongs

Acrylic bins and plastic containers with scoops and tongs are ideal for storing and displaying food items that customers can’t access with their hands alone. These kinds of containers often already come with hinged or sliding lids designed especially for them.

For example, bakeries often use acrylic bins with tongs for displaying their pastries – customers can easily select and pick up donuts, bagels, brownies, and other baked goods using the tongs and never touching any of the other food items. Ice cream parlors, on the other hand, often use containers with scoops to display nuts, sprinkles, and other ice cream toppings – customers can use the scoops to scoop out as many or as few toppings as they want.

How to Recycle Plastic Containers in Your Business

Everyone is “going green” these days, and for good reason: Taking “green” steps, such as recycling and reusing your possessions, helps cut back on the waste our planet accumulates as well as the resources necessary to produce more products.

When you purchase bulk wholesale plastic containers, you’re getting a high number of containers for an affordable price. Chances are, these containers are going to last for a long time – you’re going to get a lot of use out of them, whether your business uses them for countertop displays of merchandise or to hold prizes at an amusement park.

However, sooner or later, you might find that you no longer need those containers for their original purposes. Or, you might find that the containers are starting to look a little worn, and you’d like to buy new wholesale plastic containers.

If this happens, don’t throw them out! There are plenty of ways you can recycle and reuse your old containers. Aside from taking them to your local recycling center or donating them to another business that might just be getting started, you can find new uses for them around your own establishment.

Use Your Plastic Containers Under Your Countertop

Underneath and behind the countertop where a business’s register sits is a smorgasbord of extra items. From pens, pencils, and markers to rolls of discount and sale stickers, there are probably plenty of items under your countertop you can organize with your old containers.

Use Your Plastic Containers in Your Storage or Stockroom

Just as you can use your old containers to organize and store items under your countertop, you can use them to organize and store items in your business’s storage room or stockroom. Small items like hooks for hanging signs and extra price tags can easily get lost in the hustle and bustle, but your old containers can help you keep them organized and easily accessible.

Keep in mind also that some businesses aren’t large enough to offer their employees a dining room where they can eat their lunches or snacks on their breaks, so, these businesses often use their storage rooms or stockrooms for double duty. If this sounds like your business, you can use your old containers to help make things more convenient for your employees, such as organizing and storing packets of spices or condiments, straws or coffee stir sticks, and napkins and hand wipes.

Use Your Plastic Containers in Your Office

No matter what kind of business you manage, if you have an office, you have a need for plastic containers!

Your old containers are great tools for organize small office tools like thumb tacks, staples, and paperclips, as well as larger items like pens and pencils, scissors and rulers, and Post-It notepads. Depending on the size of your containers, you might be able to use them to store and organize even larger items like extra ink cartridges for your computer.

You can even use your old containers to create your own candy displays – for yourself or your visitors!

How to Choose the Best Plastic Container for Countertop Displays

Countertops are some of the most popular places to create merchandise displays. Most countertops are in the point of sale area of a store (because most countertops are where the checkout registers are located), and as such countertop displays encourage customers to make impulse purchases as they’re checking out.

Just as countertops are some of the most popular places to create merchandise displays, wholesale plastic containers are some of the most popular display fixtures to use to create countertop displays. Because they’re available in so many different shapes, sizes, and styles, a store owner would be hard pressed to think of a countertop display that plastic containers couldn’t create.

However, it’s also the lengthy list of shapes, sizes, and styles that sometimes makes it difficult for store owners to determine which would be the best plastic containers for product displays.

Below are three considerations you can take to help you determine which plastic containers would work the best with your countertop displays.

Consider Your Countertop Space

Your countertop space is the most important factor to consider – after all, your countertop is where your display will be located.

Fortunately, wholesale plastic containers for product displays are available in numerous shapes, sizes, and styles, so even if you only have a little bit of countertop space to work with, there are plastic containers out there for you.

Evaluate your countertop space and determine what sizes, shapes, and styles of containers would work best with your space. If you have a small countertop, you might be able to use a few small containers or one or two large containers. If you have an ample amount of countertop space, you might be able to use many small containers or several large containers to organize and display your merchandise.

Keep in mind that no matter how much countertop space you have to work with, you can use additional display fixtures to help you display as much merchandise as possible (see below).

Consider Your Merchandise

Your merchandise is the second most important thing to consider. Now that you know what kinds of containers you can use for your countertop displays, you can determine which kinds of merchandise would work best with those containers.

The kind of display you create will, of course, depend on the kind of store you manage.

Consider Additional Display Fixtures

Although they work quite well by themselves, wholesale plastic containers also work well with other kinds of display fixtures.

For example, you can find traditional convenience store racks designed for countertop displays that have shelves on which you can situate your plastic containers. You can also find wire display racks that work much the same way as convenience store racks as well as revolving bucket display racks that are designed to hold plastic buckets on all sides.

Using additional display fixtures with your plastic containers helps you make the most of the countertop space your store offers. This means you can increase the amount of merchandise you display – as well as your profits!

Thinking of Pre-Filled Candy Displays? Consider Wooden Basket Displays

Pre-filled candy displays are ideal for all kinds of businesses, but they’re especially helpful for:

• Businesses such as candy stores and convenience shops that are just getting started.

• Businesses that experience high volumes of traffic and don’t always have the time to order candy and displays fixtures separately and then create the candy displays from scratch.

Pre-filled candy displays constructed of plastic containers or acrylic bins are probably the most common kinds of pre-filled displays. These displays are sturdy as well as versatile and reusable, so it only makes sense they’re favorites among business owners.

However, owners shouldn’t discount the benefits of pre-filled wooden basket displays. These display fixtures are just as useful as their plastic counterparts and they offer extra elegance to candy displays – and any other kind of merchandise showcase you want to create!

Wooden Basket Displays Offer Old-Fashioned Charm

Plastic containers are some of the most popular kinds of display fixtures because they’re sturdy, reusable, and versatile; however, wooden baskets are all of those things and they offer an additional perk: Old-fashioned charm you just can’t get from a plastic container or acrylic bin.

To maximize that charm, consider wooden basket displays pre-filled with classic novelty or specialized candy like saltwater taffy or gourmet chocolate.

Wooden Basket Displays Are Just as Versatile as Plastic Container Displays

Just as you can with plastic containers, you can use wooden baskets as stand-alone display fixtures on your countertops or tables as well as with wooden display racks designed for both countertop displays and floor displays.

Small wooden baskets work well as stand-alone display fixtures on countertops or tabletops, and you can find small display racks designed to hold these baskets on surfaces like countertops. If you have the space you can use larger wooden baskets for your countertop displays, or move your display to the floor with wooden floor racks.

Wooden Basket Displays Can Showcase Any Kind of Merchandise

Once your pre-filled wooden basket display is empty, you can use the baskets for a multitude of purposes!

For example, you already know that wooden baskets are great ways to display bulk wrapped candy, but you can also use these baskets to display other kinds of snack items like small bags of chips or trail mix as well as other snacks like granola bars and energy bars. You can also use these baskets to display edible, non-snack items like bottles of over-the-counter pain relievers and antacid rolls.

Of course, when your pre-filled wooden basket display becomes candy-free, you don’t have to refill it with candy. Displays created with wooden baskets can also showcase non-edible merchandise.

If you manage a convenience store, for example, you can fill these baskets with convenience items like travel-sized bottles of hand sanitizer, shampoo, or lotion as well as small toys to keep your children entertained during long drives. Bookstores can use wooden baskets to display items that come in boxes like small children’s puzzles and LED book lights and gardens and greenhouses can use wooden baskets to organize and showcase packets of seeds or small bags of bulbs.

3 Tips for Using Plastic Containers in Your Business

Plastic containers and acrylic bins are some of the most convenient, versatile, and multi-purpose display fixtures and organizational tools you can use in your business – no matter what kind of business it is. You can find them in all shapes, sizes, and styles, use them by themselves or with other display tools, and use them for much more than just creating merchandise displays.

If you think these containers might be useful to your business but you haven’t yet decided to buy plastic containers, take a look at these three tips for using these containers – they might just have you ordering sooner than you planned to.

Plastic Containers Are Great for Stand-Alone Displays

You can buy plastic containers to use as stand-alone displays in a variety of business settings.

• Use plastic containers and acrylic bins to create countertop displays of candy or small convenience items.

• Situate small plastic containers on your restaurant’s tabletops to display packets of sugar, sweetener, and salt and pepper.

• Place a plastic container on your tavern or restaurant’s bar to collect tips and business cards from patrons.

• Use plastic containers in your deli area to organize and display packets of seasonings and condiments; drinking cups, straws, coffee stirs, and lids; and napkins and hand wipes.

Plastic Containers Work Well With Other Display Fixtures

In addition to using these containers as stand-alone display tools, you can also buy plastic containers and pair them with other display fixtures to create attractive, convenient showcases that make the most of your store’s space.

Such other display fixtures include:

• Traditional convenience store racks with shelves for holding the containers. You can find these display racks for both floor and countertop displays.

• Fixed position and revolving bucket display racks. Like convenience store racks, you can find fixed position and revolving bucket display racks for both floor and countertop displays. Note that bucket display racks generally come with the buckets included.

• Slat wall and pegboard fixtures for hanging or sitting the containers to create wall displays. You can find acrylic bins designed specifically for attaching to slat wall and pegboard fixtures as well as extra tools like wires and hooks designed to help you hang containers. You can also find acrylic trays that attach to slat walls and pegboards that are perfect for holding small plastic containers.

Plastic Containers Are Excellent Behind-the-Scenes Tools

Plastic and acrylic containers are probably most often thought of as display tools for retails stores and businesses in the food industry, but these versatile bins are great for behind-the-scenes uses as well.

Before you buy plastic containers, think about all the ways you can use them, such as:

• Underneath your countertops as ways to organize tools or keep handy items you might need on a moment’s notice such as extra writing utensils, clearance stickers, or rolls of register tape.

• In your store’s stockroom to organize small merchandise items scheduled to his the floor soon or extra tools like price tags, sticky putty or hooks for hanging signs, and even cleaning supplies.

• Your office for organizing supplies like pens and pencils, staples, tacks, business cards, and tools like scissors, letter openers, and rulers.

Choosing Effective Gift Shop Point of Sale Merchandise

Your gift shop’s point of sale area is the checkout counter, where the register is located, and because many impulse purchases take place in this area it only makes sense to create an effective point of sale merchandise display.

But what kind of merchandise should you include in your point of sale display? And, for that matter, how should you display the merchandise?

Below are three ideas for point of sale merchandise for your gift shop, as well as suggestions for displaying those products.

Bulk Wrapped Candy

For point of sale merchandise displays, it’s best to use bulk wrapped candy rather than bulk unwrapped candy. Why? Simply because it’s easier and more convenient for customers, and customers are more likely to purchase items that are easy and convenient.

For example, in order to purchase unwrapped candy, the customer is probably going to have to find some place to set his or her other items (because we’re at the point of sale location, it’s pretty safe to say the customer is already going to have items in his or her hand), look for the available bags or containers in which to scoop the candy, and then scoop the candy. You might not think that sounds very complicated, but to a mother with her arms full and an impatient toddler in tow, it’s definitely more trouble than it’s worth.

Make things easy on your customer by creating a gift shop point of sale merchandise display of bulk wrapped candy. You can display the candy in traditional plastic containers or glass fish bowls and all the customer has to do is reach in and grab a few. Don’t have time to create your own display? Look into pre-filled displays like lollipop trees designed to stand on the floor by your countertop or on the countertop itself.

Novelty Toys

Novelty toys are great ideas for gift shop point of sale merchandise displays. Novelty toys are small, so your customers can quickly and easily grab them, and they’re perfect for customers of all ages: Children use them as playthings and there are many styles available that are designed for adults to use as stress relievers.

Just like you can with bulk wrapped candy, you can create your own novelty toy display or purchase a pre-filled novelty display. Too, if your checkout counter is near a wall, don’t discount the benefits of creating a novelty toy display on a slat wall or pegboard display. This would increase your point of sale display space by leaving the countertop free for other kinds of merchandise.

Gift Cards

What’s a gift shop without gift cards?

Most gift shops display their gift cards on large shelves designed for floor or wall displays, but if your store is having a sale on certain kinds of gift cards, or there’s a particular brand of gift cards you’d like to focus attention on, consider creating a point of sale display for them.

There are many ways you can create card displays for your gift shop point of sale merchandise display, but the easiest display rack to use is probably the traditional post card rack.

Different Types of Plastic Containers for Product Sales

When you think about plastic containers for product sales, you probably think about traditional clear plastic containers in round, square, or hexagon shapes – and for good reason. These are the most popular and common kinds of containers for merchandise displays because they’re available in a wide variety of sizes and you can even find colored versions to add visual appeal to your product displays.

However, these kinds of plastic containers generally require countertop or table space or a display rack of some sort. If you don’t have that kind of space, or, you want to increase your display space, you can turn to other kinds of acrylic and plastic containers available for product sales – specifically, containers designed to hang from walls and wall fixtures and make the most of the space you have to work with within your store.

If your store includes the tools for slat wall displays or pegboard displays – or, if you’re thinking about including those display tools – check out the varieties of plastic containers below and discover new ways you can attractively and conveniently display your merchandise.

Visi-Bins

Visi-Bins generally come in three different forms: Those shaped like bins, buckets, or cups of varying depths, those shaped like trays, and those designed to hold gift cards. Thanks to all the different styles, Visi-Bins are fantastic types of plastic containers for product sales.

Most Visi-Bins are designed to hang from slat walls, but if you don’t have slat walls in your store you can find pegboard adaptors that allow you to hang them from pegboards.

Visi-Bins are ideal for a wide array of merchandise, which makes them great plastic containers for product sales. Naturally you can use the gift card trays for holding gift cards, but you can use:

• The bucket-style Visi-bins to hold children’s toys like small plush stuffed animals, bouncy balls, or action figures. You can also use the cup-shaped Visi-Bins for holding tall, skinny items like novelty pens and pencils.

• The tray-style Visi-Bins to hold small boxed merchandise like sports cards, playing cards, or office supplies.

Hang-A-Jars

Hang-A-Jar containers work much like the Visi-Bins shaped like cups work. You can find them in different sizes and they generally come with wire hangers so you can position them on either a pegboard or a slat wall.

Hang-A-Jars are ideal plastic containers for product sales. You can use them to create displays of small children’s toys, novelty pens or pencils, and bulk wrapped candies.

Hanging Cubes

Hanging cubes are similar to Visi-Bins and Hang-A-Jars in that they’re great plastic containers for product displays on both slat walls and pegboards.

Like their name suggests, these product display containers are shaped like cubes, which makes it easy for you to position them side by side and make the most of your wall display space. You can use hanging cubes to display the same kinds of items you’d display in Visi-Bins or Hang-A-Jars – including small novelty toys and bulk wrapped candies – and because you can find them in several different sizes, it’s easy to display as many or as few items as you want.

5 Ways to Treat Your Customers with Jelly Bean Displays

Jelly beans, such as those manufactured by the well-known Jelly Belly Candy Company, are popular among a wide variety of customer bases and therefore make an excellent choice for candy displays in convenience stores, grocery stores, delis, bakeries, yogurt shops, ice cream parlors, and many other kinds of retail businesses.

Should you display your jelly beans on your store’s countertop? On a display rack that sits on the floor? What about your walls? Can jelly beans go there, too? As with other kinds of candies, jelly beans lend themselves to many different kinds of candy displays. Below are five of the most convenient and attractive ways to display your jelly beans. Choose the one – or two! – that best suit your store.

Plastic Containers, Glass Jars, and Fishbowls

Plastic containers, glass jars such as candy jars, and fishbowls (in both plastic and glass) are some of the most common display tools in most stores, and this is likely because these containers are durable, versatile, and reusable.

If you choose any of these kinds of containers for your jelly bean displays, make sure you choose containers with lids to keep your jelly beans fresh and safe from debris, as well as aluminum or plastic scoops so your customers can easily scoop out the number of jelly beans they want without touching any they don’t want – but others might!

Gravity Bins

You’re probably familiar with gravity bins; they’re the kinds of bins designed to be fastened to countertops, walls, or shelves and usually contain coffee beans, dry cereal, or small candies.

These bins are ideal for holding jelly beans as they save space, allow the customers to easily see what kinds of jelly beans are inside, and allow them to easily dispense the number of jelly beans they want.

Drawer Displays

Draw displays are quite convenient in that they protect your candies from the elements but they don’t require you to keep up with a lid.

Drawer display units, like plexi displays and acrylic dispensers, come in units comprised of several drawers that can hold various amounts of weight and can be paired with other units to create a jelly bean display sized exactly as big or small as you want it.

Scoop Bins

Scoop bins are similar to regular candy containers (like plastic containers, glass jars, and fishbowls) as well as drawer displays. You can find units comprised of several bins attached together, and each unit comes with a convenient attached scoop that will reach all the bins.

You can order scoop bins based on how much candy you plan to display in each bin, as each different kind of scoop bin will hold a certain weight of candy. If you plan to have a large jelly bean display, choose scoop bins that can hold a heavy weight of candy; likewise, if you expect your jelly bean display will be small, choose a scoop bin that will accommodate light weights.

Gumball Machines

Despite their name, gumball machines aren’t just for gumballs! You can put many different kinds of merchandise – edible and non-edible – in these machines, and that includes jelly beans.

3 Important Factors for Creating a Candy Display

Whether you manage a convenience store, candy shop, or bookstore, if you’re thinking of creating a candy display you probably have a few questions about how to get started.

What kinds of candies should you use? Should you order bulk wrapped candies or bulk wrapped candies? Where can you find bulk candy for wholesale prices? And how should you display all of this candy?

1. Consider Your Store and Its Customers

The kind of candy you display in your store should reflect both your store’s “atmosphere” as well as the kinds of customers you serve on a daily basis.

For example, if you manage a convenience store or gas station, you probably serve a variety of customers from all walks of life. This means your candy selection will need to reflect the tastes of each of those customers – or, at least, the bulk of those customers. Perhaps you’ll want to offer a selection of gourmet-style candies as well as a larger selection of popular and novelty candies like Jolly Ranchers, Jawbreakers, Runts, and an assortment of lollipops and suckers.

At the same time, if your store is a specialty shop of any sort, you’ll want your candy selection to reflect that. For example, candy stores that pay homage to candy shops of olden days might want to include classic kinds of candies like gumballs or “penny candies.” A shop that caters to a mature customer base, on the other hand, might want to focus more on gourmet chocolates.

2. Think about the Location of Your Candy Display

The location of the candy display is an especially important factor for storeowners who sell a variety of candies – and a variety of other kinds of merchandise – to consider.

For example, if your store sells merchandise geared toward children, such as toys, coloring books and crayons, and board games, it’s a good idea to situate a small display of your novelty or “more fun” candies – the kinds of candies that appeal to children – in these areas.

3. Compare the Best Candy Display Tools

Now that you know what kind of candy you want to sell, it’s time to think about the best way to display that candy – in other words, you need the display tools guaranteed to showcase your candy in the most attractive and convenient ways.

Some of the most popular display tools include:

• Colored and plastic containers.

• Glass and plastic fishbowl containers.

• Gumball machines.

• Wire display racks like convenience store racks. *

• Wooden display racks and wooden baskets. *

• Pegboard display racks. *

• Hanging shelf display racks. *

* Note that you can find a variety of display racks designed for countertop displays and floor displays.

Just as when you were choosing the kind of candy your store should sell, as you’re choosing your display racks you should consider your store’s atmosphere. For example, plastic containers and fishbowls and wire rack displays work great for all store types, but glass jars and fishbowls and wooden display racks and baskets add an extra elegance to your displays.

3 Tips for Using Wire Display Racks

Wire display racks are some of the most common display tools available to store and business owners. They’re generally lightweight, versatile, durable, and lend themselves to a wide variety of uses for an even wider variety of businesses.

Consider these kinds of stores and businesses that use wire display racks as you’re determining whether they’d be the right display tool for you:

• Convenience stores, gas stations, and grocery stores of both the “mom-and-pop” and national chain varieties.

• Specialty food shops like candy stores, yogurt shops, ice cream parlors, and bakeries.

• Specialty retail shops like accessories boutiques, toy stores, bookstores, gift shops, and hobby shops.

• Movie theaters and movie rental businesses.

• Travel and hospitality industry businesses like hotels and motels.

1. Use the Wire Rack Designed for Your Display Location

The two most popular places for displays in any kind of retail business are:

1. The countertops (which usually puts them close to the registers).
2. Somewhere on the business’s floor (generally at the ends of aisles, near deli-style areas, close to the countertops and registers, and sometime near the business’s entryways).
   

Wire display racks designed for countertop displays and near registers are great ways to make the most of your countertop space while providing your customers with an attractive, convenient selection of merchandise. You can place merchandise like bags of chips and trail mix directly on the rack’s shelves, or you can display edible merchandise like wrapped candies and gumballs or non-edible items like pens, key chains, and lighters in plastic containers situated on the rack’s shelves.

Wire display racks designed for floor displays are basically larger, more durable versions of the countertop display racks. You can use these racks for the same kinds of purposes, or you can display larger merchandise like liters and cases of soda.

2. Match Your Wire Display Racks with Your Permanent Displays

Because countertop displays tend to include add-on merchandise for customers to see as they’re checking out, this tip especially applies if you plan to use wire display racks designed for floor displays.

Chances are the bulk of your business’s merchandise sits on larger, more permanent shelves throughout your store. Wire display racks designed for floor use are great ways to compliment your permanent displays and offer extra convenience to your customers.

For example, if your store sells full-sized hygiene products like shampoo, soap, lotion, toothpaste, hairspray, and deodorant, you can use a wire rack to create a display of travel- or trial-sized hygiene products and position it close to your permanent shelf.

3. Create Mobile Displays with Rolling Wire Display Racks

To attract potential customers walking by, some store’s regularly showcase merchandise outside the establishment’s doors, while some business’s have occasional “sidewalk sales.”

Rolling wire display racks make it easy for storeowners to move their merchandise outside at the store’s opening and back inside once the store closes. For these purposes, you can find a wide variety of wire rack styles, from racks designed to hang apparel to racks designed to hold cases of soda.

Ordering Wholesale Bulk Candies for Your Candy Store

If you operate a candy store or are planning on opening a candy store, chances are high that you’re in the market for wholesale bulk candies. But how do you get started? Where do you begin?

Below are several of the most popular kinds of bulk candies you can find at wholesale prices. Consider your candy store and the kinds of customers you expect to do business with as you select the best candies for your business.

Wrapped and Unwrapped Candies

When ordering wholesale bulk candies for your candy store, you’ll find that wrapped candies and unwrapped candies offer the widest variety of selections. You can find these candies in traditional popular types like gumballs, Jolly Ranchers, Skittles, M&Ms, and Jawbreakers, or more novelty or specialty types like saltwater taffy.

You have a variety of choices when it comes to displaying your bulk wrapped and unwrapped candies. Colored acrylic bins and clear plastic containers positioned on wire display racks throughout your store or on your countertop are convenient ways to display your candy for your customers. You can even situate the containers as stand-alone countertop displays without the racks.

Keep in mind that if you’re display bulk unwrapped candies, you need a little extra protection to keep them fresh and safe from debris. Make sure you look at containers with lids as well as pair aluminum or plastic scoops with the displays.

Gourmet Candies

Some children do enjoy candies like chocolate-covered peanuts and pretzels, but if your store does most of its business with a mature customer base, gourmet candies are definitely the way to go. Chocolate-covered coffee and espresso beans, for example, aren’t the best choices for kids; many adults, however, love them!

You can display your bulk wholesale gourmet candies in many of the same ways you’d display more traditional candies; however, because these candies are gourmet, you might want to consider trading the plastic containers in for glass jars, and – depending on the style of your store – switching wire display racks for stylish wooden baskets and shelves.

Pre-Filled Candy Displays

Is your store just starting out? Or, do you not have enough time to create your own candy displays? Maybe you should think about pre-filled candy displays.

Pre-filled candy displays are available stocked with a wide variety of candies and styles perfect for every kind of business. Consider these popular pre-filled candy display options:

• Gumball Machines: Gumball machines are classic pre-filled candy displays and ideal for every business from convenience stores and grocery stores to gift shops and bookstores; naturally, they’re perfect for candy stores! You can find these machines designed to stand on your floor or sit on your countertop, and they’re available with as few as one head and as many as eight heads. Gumball machines are also available in a wide variety of styles. For example, you can find them in fun designs like rocket ships and with clear stands so your customers can see their gumballs whizzing down to meet them!

• Lollipop Displays: Lollipop displays generally come in “tree” designs for floor displays or plastic or cardboard containers for countertop displays. You can find these displays pre-filled with an assortment of lollipops or suckers, and once they’re empty you can refill them with new suckers or reuse the containers for an entirely different purpose.

• Wall, Floor, and Countertop Displays: You can find pre-filled candy displays made of plastic containers situated on wire display racks or wooden baskets situated on wooden trees or shelves and designed to sit on your store’s floor, hang on a wall, or sit on a countertop. Note that you can also find pre-filled candy floor displays large enough to act as entire aisles in your store.

Starting a Bakery? Don't Forget These Important Containers!

It might seem like there are as many acrylic and plastic containers for holding your bakery’s baked goods as there are baked goods in your bakery! Because of this, choosing the best containers for your bakery might feel a bit overwhelming.

Don’t worry. Below are brief descriptions of some of the most common kinds of containers designed for use in bakeries. Consider the kinds of baked goods your bakery sells to help you choose the best containers for displaying those goods.

Bagel Bins

Bagel bins do exactly what their name suggests. They organize, store, and display your store’s bagels.

However, bagel bins can display much more than just bagels. Depending on the kind of baked goods your bakery sells, you can use bagel bins to hold cupcakes, cookies, pieces of cake, brownies, dinner rolls, and croissants in your bagel bins.

Bread Boxes

Like bagel bins, bread boxes function exactly the way their name implies. They organize, store, and display your store’s breads. You can find acrylic roll top bread boxes with as few as one shelf, or horizontal or vertical acrylic bread boxes with several shelves.

Also like bagel bins, bread boxes are multifunctional. You don’t have to display just bread in a bread box; you might want to showcase bagels, muffins, cupcakes, or cookies in these boxes, too.

Bakery Cabinets

Think of bakery cabinets as the larger, more involved cousins of bagel bins and bread boxes.

Bakery cabinets are generally made of acrylic and large enough to hold either many more baked good items than bagel bins or bread boxes, or larger baked good items like entire loafs of bread. You can find bakery cabinets with as few as one or two cabinets or as many as six or more cabinets.

Pie Cases

If your bakery sells pies, you must have a pie case or two to display them!

Pie cases are generally sturdy acrylic display containers with several shelves for holding the pies. Pie cases have rear hinged doors so you can easily remove the pies your customers want to purchase, and they’re often in hexagon shapes designed to best fit the pies. Countertops are the best places to situate pie cases because they offer you the easiest access when you need to put pies in them – and take them out!

Gravity Bins

Because much of their baked goods consist of breakfast items, bakeries often sell other breakfast items like cereal. If this sounds like your bakery, you must look into containers that will properly organize, store, and display those items.

Cereals, for example, are best contained in gravity bins. These bins are designed to either hang on your wall or mount to your countertop, and they allow your customers to dispense as much cereal as they want while keeping the rest of the product fresh and safe from contamination.

Plexi Displays

Maybe you plan to sell more than just baked goods in your bakery, such as unwrapped candies. Or, perhaps you plan to offer your customers the freedom of choosing their own cupcake toppings and decorations.

Whatever the case, consider plexi displays with enough drawers to hold all the extra items you need to display.

Traditional Plastic Containers

Traditional plastic containers are perfect for every kind of business – bakeries included!

These containers come in a variety of shapes, sizes and styles, and for food cleanliness and customer convenience, you can find handgrip containers, containers with lids, and containers with aluminum and plastic scoops.

Pre-Filled Candy Displays: Learn Your Options

Pre-filled candy displays are perfect for every kind of retail business. Candy stores, gas stations, convenience stores, bookstores, gift shops, even hotels and motels – they’re all perfect places to situate a pre-filled candy display. Just as importantly, pre-filled candy displays are perfect for:

• New stores that need help stocking before Opening Day.

• Established stores that want to add candy to their merchandise selection but don’t have the time to hand select each and every piece and display.

If your store falls into one of those categories, it’s time to take a look at your pre-filled candy display options.

Gumball Machines

A gumball machine is probably one of the most popular candy displays around. These machines are perfect for nearly every kind of business – from convenience stores and grocery stores to actual candy stores and other specialty shops – and they’re available in an assortment of sizes and styles.

The kind of machine you choose will depending on where you want to situate it and how much space you have to work with. You can find single-head gumball machines designed to sit on your countertop or stand on the floor, or you can find elaborate displays with as many as eight heads. You can even find gumball machines in fun styles like rocket ships and designed to show the gumballs rolling down the escape!

Lollipop Displays

A lollipop display is another popular kind of candy display for various businesses.

Traditional lollipop trees work best for stores that have room for floor displays, but you can find lollipop displays made of an assortment of sucker styles and flavors situated within decorated cardboard containers or acrylic bins. These kinds of lollipop displays are best for stores that plan to situate the displays on their countertops.

Plastic Containers

Plastic containers pre-filled with candy are excellent choices if you simply want to display candy on your countertop as add-on merchandise at checkout. You can find these plastic containers pre-filled with an assortment of candies including gumballs, Jawbreakers, Tootsie Rolls, Sugar Babies, and Strawberry Bon Bons.

Keep in mind that once you’ve sold all the candy in your pre-filled plastic candy containers, you can either refill them with more candy to sell or use them for another purpose entirely!

Wall, Floor, and Countertop Displays

These kinds of pre-filled candy displays take plastic containers to the next level. They are generally comprised of plastic candy containers or buckets filled with popular candies and situated on display racks small enough to showcase on your countertop, large enough to use as floor displays, or designed to hang as a wall display.

If your store has enough room, you might want to consider even larger floor candy displays. These displays are tall enough and wide enough to act as focal points on your store’s floor or even entire aisles.

Wooden Baskets and Racks

Wooden baskets and racks pre-filled with candies are the more rustic versions of traditional candy displays made of plastic containers and wire racks. Most often, you can find these wooden baskets and racks designed as “tree” displays sized for both floor and countertop displays, or floor displays of wooden racks that hold the baskets on shelves.

5 Tips for Shopping for Candy Store Supplies

So, you’re thinking of opening a candy store. Or, maybe you already have a candy store, but you need some ideas for giving the place a facelift. Whether you’ve yet to schedule the Grand Opening or you just want to freshen up your existing establishment, below are five tips to help you shop for supplies best suited for your candy store.

Tip #1: Know Your Store

First, you need to get to know your candy store – or the candy store you want to operate. Ask yourself the following questions:

• What kind of candy store do you want to operate? Will it have a particular theme, color scheme, or overall “feel”?

• How much space will you have to work with inside your store? Will there be room outside the building for outdoor displays?

• Will you candy store have any special features? For example, will your business have an area set aside where customers can sit and snack on the candy they’ve just purchased?

Tip #2: Know Your Customers

Second, you need to know what kind of customers you plan to cater to. Candy stores generally appeal to two main kinds of customers:

• Children and families who prefer “fun” kinds of candies.

• Adults who have more mature tastes in candies.

Tip #3: Choose the Candy You Want to Sell

In order to choose the kind of candy you want to sell in your store, you need to look again at the first and second tips. Consider your candy store’s “theme” as well as the kind of customer base you plan to cater to.

• If you plan to operate a fun, fast-paced candy store that does most of its business with children and families, consider selling popular traditional candies like gumballs, Jawbreakers, lollipops, Jelly Beans, and Tootsie Rolls.

• If you plan to operate a more mature establishment that caters mostly to adults, consider candies like gourmet chocolates, including chocolate-covered nuts, pretzels, cherries, and coffee and espresso beans.

Tip #4: Think About the Best Candy Displays

Now that you’re familiar with your candy store, the kinds of customers you plan to have, and the types of candies you want to sell, you’re ready to choose the candy displays that will best suit your business.

Most all candy stores can use display items like glass and plastic containers, colored acrylic bins, and floor and countertop display racks; however, depending on your candy store’s theme and the kinds of customers you expect, you can choose versions of these display tools that best suit your store.

For example, if your store will do business mostly with children and families, colored acrylic containers and bright display racks for your floors and countertop might be best. You can even add additional fun display items like gumball machines and lollipop trees.

Gumball machines and lollipop displays might also work for older customers, but if you plan to have a more mature customer base, you might want to choose wooden baskets and display racks and glass candy jars in lieu of plastic and wire.

Tip #5: Shop for True Wholesale Candy Prices

You’re familiar with your store, your customers, and the kind of candies you want to sell and how you want to display those candies. Now it’s time to make sure you stock your store with those candies at true wholesale prices.

As you're shopping for wholesale candy, make sure you compare the prices of several different candy retailers. Some companies will claim to offer wholesale prices on bulk candies, but further shopping around will prove these prices aren’t true wholesale at all.

Where Can You Use Lollipop Displays?

There is certainly no shortage of lollipop enthusiasts – customers young and old love these sweet treats! No matter what kind of business you operate, situating a lollipop display is a great way to put this favored candy in the limelight and increase your sales.

Can Your Business Use Lollipop Displays?

In a nutshell – yes! Whether you’re in the business of selling candy, clothing, toys, or hospitality services, your establishment can use lollipop displays. These displays are great for encouraging add-on items at checkout counters or simply putting a smile on a child’s face. Consider these options for using lollipop displays in your business:

• Candy Stores: It goes without saying that no candy store is complete without a lollipop display!

• Convenience Stores/Gas Stations: These establishments cater to travelers and on-the-go shoppers who need quick snacks for themselves and their children.

• Toy Stores: Children love lollipops, so it only makes sense to include lollipop trees as part of your merchandise selection.

• Bookstores: Bookstores often sell small edible items near their registers, and lollipops are definitely easy snacks for your customers to maneuver while they’re reading the books they just purchased.

• Restaurants: Restaurants might want to situate a lollipop display near their checkout registers for families with children or adults who like low-calorie sweet treats after dinner.

• Hotels/Motels: The lobbies and dining areas of hotels and motels are convenient, visible places to display lollipops for sale.

• Gift Shops: Many gift shops include small sweet treats as add-on options for gift purchases.

Which Lollipop Display Is Best for Your Business?

Consider the kind of business you operate and the amount of space you have to work with as you’re thinking about which lollipop display is best for your business.

Establishments that have plenty of floor space to work with can use tall, lollipop trees. These convenient, space-saving trees can come with as many as a hundred or more lollipops and are great for businesses that wish to situate their displays in high-traffic areas like hotel lobbies, children’s toy aisles, and close to checkout registers.

Lollipop displays also come in compact countertop displays. You can find

• Colored or clear plastic container displays filled with an assortment of suckers.

• Decorated cardboard lollipop displays filled with specialized or novelty lollipops.

Keep in mind that you can easily refill these displays once they’re empty, or use the containers for another purpose altogether. You can also find additional pre-filled candy containers to complement your countertop lollipop displays. Not only is this an excellent way to offer your customers add-on merchandise to purchase, but it also offers additional options for customers who might not like candy with sticks like lollipops and suckers.

For example, if your lollipop display consists of Jawbreaker suckers, you might want to also add a wooden basket display filled with regular Jawbreakers. Similarly, if your lollipop display offers suckers with bubblegum in the center, you can situate it close to a round plastic container filled with gumballs.

Use the Most Popular Plastic Containers in Your Store

If you’re considering using plastic containers in your store for displaying edible items like candy or trail mix or non-edible merchandise like key chains or matchbooks, get familiar with some of the most popular kinds of containers – not because you want to use what everyone else is using, but because everyone else is using them for a reason! Knowing about these containers will help you choose which ones will work best for the merchandise you want to display as well as the space you have to work with.

Round and Fish Bowl

The words “round” and “fish bowl” are often used to describe the same kind of sphere-shaped plastic container, and these containers are perhaps the most common – and popular – of them all.

Keep in mind that the uses for fish bowl and round plastic containers go beyond the traditional retail business. For example, if you manage a pet store, you can use these containers to hold actual fish, as well as merchandise like collars designed for small dogs, sample packets of wipes designed to clean your pet when you’re on the go, and even special treats. These round or fish bowl containers are also great for amusement parks, where they can hold fish offered as prizes, ticket stubs, tokens, and other small trinkets for sale or to win.

Plastic containers shaped like spheres aren’t the best choices for saving space, so make sure you choose containers in sizes suitable for the space you have to work with. For example, if you have limited countertop space, it might work best if you only use one large round container or two or three small fish bowl containers.

Square and Rectangle

People sometimes use the words “square” and “rectangle” interchangeably to describe a plastic container with four flat sides, but generally a container with four flat sides of even widths and heights are better described as a square plastic container, while a container with four flat sides with uneven widths and heights are better described as rectangle plastic containers.

In square and rectangle containers, you can display anything that’s small enough to fit inside; however, as is the case with round containers, it’s best to choose items that aren’t extremely differently shaped than the containers themselves. For example, gumballs wouldn’t be the best merchandise choice for square plastic containers.

One of the best features of square and rectangle containers is their space-saving ability. You can place these containers side-by-side and back-to-back with virtually no room in between. Storeowners who have little display rack or countertop space to work with greatly benefit from containers shaped like squares and rectangles.

Hexagon

If you could blend round and square containers, hexagon plastic containers would be the result. Hexagon containers both save and take up space; they’re similar to sphere containers in that they can’t sit exactly side-by side, but they’re also similar to square plastic containers because you can position them back-to-back.

And, just like you’d expect from the offspring of round and square containers, these containers are ideal for nearly every kind of merchandise small enough to fit in them.

Versatile Plastic Containers Work for Nearly Every Business

If your business sells any kind of small merchandise – whether it’s edible items like candy or non-edible items like key chains – you should be aware of how using plastic containers can help you store, organize, and display your merchandise.

These versatile containers come in a wide variety of shapes, sizes, and colors to help you best use the space you have to work with and add visual appeal to your display, and they can be paired with accessories to increase your customers’ convenience.

Shape

Some of the most popular shapes of plastic containers include round, "fish bowl," square, rectangular, and hexagon. You can also find holiday-inspired shapes like a Santa Claus boot and Christmas tree.

The container shape you choose will depend on the kind of merchandise you plan to display as well as the kind of space you have to work with. For example, if you plan to display round gumballs, a fish bowl or round plastic container will work best. If you have a small countertop or very little space on your display rack, a tall, square plastic container will make the most of the space.

Size

Plastic containers are available in sizes small enough to act as tip jars and large enough to hold merchandise like an assortment of jumbo gumballs or small plush children’s toys.

Choose the size of your containers based on what you plan to hold in them and how much space your countertop or display rack offers. For example, if you plan to display unwrapped candies on a small countertop, you might want to choose one large plastic container or two or three small containers. If you have plenty of countertop space, or an entire display rack, then you might want to use a few large containers or many small containers.

Color

Clear plastic containers are probably the most popular kind. Not only do they "match" every business décor, but because they’re see-through, they also offer extra convenience to both you and your customers.

However, colored acrylic bins have much to recommend them, too. You can find these containers in colors like pink, blue, green, yellow, and orange and the colors are transparent enough so that you and your customers can easily see the merchandise inside. Many businesses can have fun with colored plastic containers, choosing colors that match their stores’ themes or coordinate with the kind of merchandise displayed in the containers. For example, candy store owners might choose to display Atomic Fireballs in red plastic containers.

Accessories

Accessories for plastic containers are designed to increase the convenience of the containers and the cleanliness of the merchandise inside.

If you plan to display loose merchandise in your containers, such as cereal, or you know you or your customers will need to lift the containers for any reason, then you should choose handgrip containers. At the same time, if you know you’re going to display unprotected edible items, such as unwrapped candies like gumballs or other unwrapped foods like peanuts, you should choose plastic containers with lids and make sure your customers have access to plastic or aluminum scoops.

Equipment for Starting a Candy Store

If you’re thinking of opening a candy store, there are quite a few pieces of equipment you’ll need to display your candy in the most convenient, attractive, and effective ways.

Plastic Containers

If you really think about it, it might actually be impossible – or, at least, extremely difficult – to operate a candy store without plastic containers. From wrapped candies like Tootsie Rolls and Jawbreakers to unwrapped candies like gumballs and Lemon Drops, these containers are perfect for virtually every kind of candy.

Not only are plastic containers are quite durable, which makes them ideal for fast-paced stores that often have children as customers, but they’re also rather versatile. You can:

• Find clear plastic containers and colored acrylic containers to match your candy store’s décor and create attractive candy displays.

• Choose from an assortment of sizes to work best with the candy you want to sell and the space you have to work with.

• Add accessories like lids and candy scoops to keep your candy safe and clean.

• Refill your plastic containers with candy once they’re empty, or use them for an entirely different purpose like organizing merchandise in your stockroom or displaying non-edible items your candy store might also sell.

Glass Containers

Glass containers function in many of the same ways as plastic containers do. You can find them in a variety of shapes and sizes, and pair them with useful accessories like lids and scoops.

However, when you compare glass candy containers with plastic ones, you’ll find two major differences:

• Glass containers are heavier and more easily broken, so they’re not always the best choices for candy stores that usually keep a regular stream of young children coming in and out of the store.

• Glass containers add an elegant charm that plastic containers can’t always achieve, so they’re great for displaying gourmet candies in more upscale establishments.

Display Racks

Unless you plan to display all your candy within plastic or glass containers situated on your store’s countertop, you’re going to need a few display racks.

Candy store display racks are available in numerous styles, shapes, and sizes, the most common and versatile of which include wire display racks and wooden display racks designed for either floor or countertop displays. Unsurprisingly, wooden display racks work best with wooden baskets, and you can use wire display racks to showcase bags of candy that are able to stand alone or fill plastic containers with pieces of candy and then arrange the containers on the wire rack’s shelves.

Pre-Filled Candy Displays

Pre-filled candy displays are great for candy stores that are just getting started as well as those that stay quite busy and can’t always find the time to restock their displays. Look for pre-filled candy displays in the following forms:

• Gumball machines designed for floor displays or countertop displays with as few as one head or as many as eight heads. You can also find gumball machines filled with other kinds of loose, unwrapped candies like Skittles and M&Ms.

• Lollipop trees tall enough to display on your floor or compact enough to situate on your countertop.

• Candy filled display racks complete with traditional, novelty, or gourmet kinds of candies. You can find these racks small enough for your countertop, tall enough to act as floor displays, and large enough to essentially act as aisles in your candy store.

Creating Product Displays for Your Hotel

When you think of product displays, such as the ones created using acrylic bins, plastic containers, and display racks, you probably think of them in retail stores where a customer’s main goal is to purchase an item.

However, hotels and motels are also flooding with places where product displays are useful! For example, hotels can use these bins, containers, and racks to:

• Showcase items like candy and other snacks as well as traveling literature in the lobby area.

• Keep food clean and sanitary in the dining area.

• Better organize and display complimentary hygiene items in the hotel’s rooms.

Below are some easy ways to create product displays throughout your hotel and increase convenience for your guests.

Lobby

Traditional convenience store racks (or c-store racks) with built-in shelves are great for organizing and displaying items in your hotel’s lobby. You can use these racks to showcase:

• Local, regional, and national newspapers and magazines.

• Local city and state maps (hotels situated in popular tourist areas often include maps of surrounding cities and states).

• Brochures highlighting area entertainment, recreation, and dining attractions.

Plus, in addition to placing gumball machines in your lobby, you can also think about using acrylic bins and plastic containers to create snack table or countertop displays of candy or other snack items for your guests.

Dining Area

You already know your hotel needs food grade acrylic containers in its kitchen, but have you given any thought to the dining area?

For example, if your hotel offers a continental breakfast, you can use containers such as bagel bins to keep breakfast items like bagels, donuts, muffins, and biscuits fresh and safe from debris. Acrylic dry food dispensers, such as the models designed to mount to a wall or on a snack countertop, are great space savers and keep clean such foods as dry cereal.

Don’t forget that you can use many of these same containers during other meals your hotel might offer. Dinner extras like rolls and baked deserts like brownies and cupcakes all need somewhere safe and clean to wait for your guests, after all!

Plastic containers are also great tools for storing and displaying nonfood items your customers will need during meals, such as:

• Packets of seasonings and condiments.

• Drinking cups, lids, and straws.

• Packets of plastic utensils or napkins rolled with metal silverware.

You can use small square plastic containers for organizing and displaying condiments and seasonings, and acrylic cup displays work best for holding utensils.

Rooms

Hotels offer their guests a wide variety of complimentary convenience items, and it should come as no surprise that small, clear plastic containers are great for organizing and offering these items to your guests.

Convenience items you can display in your hotel rooms include:

• Mini bars of face and body soap.

• Small bottles of shampoo, conditioner, body wash, shaving cream, and lotion.

• Disposable toothbrushes and small tubes of toothpaste.

• Grooming tools like disposable razors and small plastic combs.

How Can Your Store Use Plastic Containers?

Plastic containers are ideal for organizing, storing, and displaying an assortment of merchandise types and nearly every kind of store – from convenience stores and grocery stores to bookstores and gift shops – can use these containers.

Answering the following questions will help you determine how your store can best use plastic containers for storage and display purposes.

Does Your Store Have Ample Countertop Space?

If your store has a countertop, take a look at the amount of space you have to work with on top.

Storeowners with large countertops to work with generally use this space to create convenient and visually appealing countertop displays with plastic containers. With plenty of countertop space to work with, the list of display types you can create is nearly endless. You can create fun displays of colored acrylic containers filled with food-related items like candy, breath mints, and bubblegum, or you can arrange a number of containers on your countertop to display nonfood items like small children’s toys, souvenir items like key chains, and convenience items like lighters.

However, if you don’t have much available countertop space to work with, you might still have enough room for one or two small plastic containers filled with add-on items. Depending on the kind of store you run, these add-on items might include small kinds of merchandise such as candy, key chains, or bookmarks.

Does Your Store Use Display Racks?

If you use display racks anywhere in your store – such as near the countertop and register, throughout the aisles, or close to the entryway – chances are you can increase the number of items you display on these racks by placing them in plastic containers.

Obviously, you can situate stand-alone plastic containers on racks with built-in shelves; however, you also have options if you use pegboard racks. Pegboard displays are designed to accommodate acrylic buckets and bins with pegs that fasten them in place. These kinds of displays are great for organizing and displaying a specialty shop’s hobby and craft items like beads and buttons, as well as an accessory boutique’s costume jewelry pieces like rings and hair accessories.

Keep in mind that small display racks are ideal for countertop displays, too. Regardless of your countertop’s size, these racks can help you make the most of the space you have.

Does Your Store Sell Any Kind of Food Items?

The phrase “food items” includes many different kinds of merchandise.

For example, your store might not sell meal items, but it might sell candy, in which case you need plastic containers of various sizes to organize and display the different kinds of candy. Your store might be a deli or bakery, and you need food grade acrylic containers with lids to store and display sandwich toppings or bagels, donuts, brownies, or cupcakes. You might manage an ice cream parlor or yogurt shop and need acrylic bins with handles or scoops for your toppings.

Simply consider the kinds of food items your store sells to determine the kind of plastic containers that will best do the job.

Using Plastic Containers in Your Restaurant

You might think plastic containers are only for businesses that sell non-edible items customers can access themselves, but this simply isn’t the case.

Restaurants of all sorts depend on acrylic containers for a number of food and nonfood storage and display purposes, and three of the most common areas where restaurants can use these containers are the kitchen, the dining room, and the register and checkout area.

Your Restaurant’s Kitchen

The most common kinds of containers you’ll need in your restaurant’s kitchen are food grade acrylic containers. Think of “food grade acrylic containers” as an all-encompassing name for containers designed to keep food fresh, clean, and safe for consumption. Most food grade containers come with attached lids or lids designed to snap or spin, and many times you need to pair these containers with accessories like aluminum or plastic food scoops.

The kind of food grade containers you choose for your restaurant’s kitchen basically depends on the kind of food and food preparation goes on in the kitchen. You might need bins with lids, dispensers designed to mount on the wall, or a combination of both styles.

Your Restaurant’s Dining Area

You can use plastic containers in your restaurant’s dining area in numerous ways. For example, if your restaurant is one of those that keeps its tables covered in paper for children to draw and color on, you can use acrylic containers to hold the crayons. If your restaurant serves coffee or tea, you can use small plastic containers to hold packets of sugar and sweetener and stir sticks. Of course, if your restaurant is a buffet or offers any kind of additional meal item outside of the kitchen, you’ll need food grade plastic containers to hold and display your these food items.

Keep in mind that if your restaurant is more of a fast food or deli-style establishment, you can use these containers to hold additional items customers will need during their meals such as:

• Edible items like packets of condiments like ketchup, mustard, and mayonnaise, as well as seasonings like salt, pepper, and sugar.

• Non-edible items like straws, coffee stir sticks, cups, lids, napkins, and hand wipes.

Your Restaurant’s Register and Checkout

Just because your customers are getting ready to checkout doesn’t mean your need for acrylic containers is over. You can use plastic containers near your register and checkout area in a variety of ways!

Depending on the kind of restaurant you own, you might want to use these containers to:

• Display additional food or other related items like breath mints, lollipops, bubblegum, or even toothpicks.

• Act as tip jars or places for professionals to drop their business cards for any promotional drawings your restaurant holds.

• Display non-edible merchandise like matchbooks or key chains with the restaurant’s logo.

Remember, you can easily use colored acrylic containers near the register and checkout areas if you’d like. Think about your restaurant’s theme or color scheme and have fun with your plastic container displays in these areas!

Plastic Containers: Choosing the Best for Your Business

Plastic containers are some of the most common tools businesses use for their merchandise and storage needs, and nearly every kind of business can use them! Consider these examples:

• Retail Stores: Most kinds of retail stores can use plastic containers to store, organize, and display both edible and non-edible kinds of merchandise. These stores include everything from convenience stores and gas stations to bookstores and gift shops.

• Restaurants: All restaurants can use food grade acrylic containers in their kitchens, and depending on the kind of restaurant you own you can use traditional round and square plastic containers up front for holding everything from dining utensils and napkins to breath mints and tooth picks.

• Amusement Parks: Amusement parks, theme parks, and carnivals can use acrylic containers to hold tickets and tokens, small prizes, and candy.

• Hotels and Motels: Not only can hotels and motels use food grade acrylic containers in their kitchens and dining areas, but they can also use regular acrylic containers in their lobbies for holding complimentary items like breath mints or bubble gum.

Now that you know how plastic containers can benefit your business, it’s time to figure out which kind of container you need. In order to do that, you have to first think about two factors: the kind of merchandise your store sells and the amount of space you have to work with inside your store.

Consider Your Merchandise

The first thing to consider as you’re thinking about your store’s merchandise is its size. Do you plan to store and display large items or small items? Maybe a mix of various sizes? For all storage and display needs, you need appropriately sized plastic containers.

The second thing to consider as you’re thinking about your store’s merchandise is whether it’s edible or non-edible. For edible items, choose food grade acrylic containers with accessories like lids, handles, and aluminum or plastic scoops. You can find these kinds of plastic containers designed to stand alone on countertops, work with other containers on display racks, and even hang on walls. For non-edible items, you can use more traditional plastic containers, such as round or square containers without lids.

Consider Your Space

You might know exactly the kind of merchandise you plan to display and exactly the kind of plastic containers you need, but everything hinges on whether you have enough space for your plans. Therefore, as you’re determining the kinds of containers that will work best with your merchandise, also consider the kinds of containers that will work best with the space you have.

If you want to create a countertop display, make sure you choose plastic containers small enough to fit on your store’s countertop but large enough to allow your customers easy access to the merchandise. If you plan to place your containers on display racks throughout your business, make sure you choose containers appropriately sized for the racks you already have – or order racks that will both meet your store’s space needs as well as your container display needs.

How Can Bulk Unwrapped Candies Benefit Your Retail Business?

If you haven’t started selling bulk unwrapped candies yet, what are you waiting for? These kinds of candies:

• Are ideal for nearly every kind of store, restaurant, and retail business where any kind of food product is sold. You can sell these candies in convenience stores, gas stations, hotel snack bars, grocery stores, fast food restaurants, and even more formal dining establishments.
• Lend themselves to an assortment of display options. You can display these candies on convenience store countertops, in gumball machines, in plastic food grade containers near your store’s deli area, and even near the entries and exits of markets and major national chain stores (think of stores like Wal-Mart and Target).
• Come in a variety of types. You can find unwrapped candies like Sprees, Skittles, Mike & Ike, and gumballs to display throughout your store or restaurant. Because of the wide variety of candies available, you can make sure your store is always stocked with something to please every customer.
  

Find Unbeatable Bulk Wholesale Prices on Unwrapped Candies

When you buy in bulk, you’re making sure your business is always stocked with the kinds of merchandise your customers prefer. Before you order bulk unwrapped candies at wholesale prices, take some time to observe sales trends. What kinds of candies do you customers buy the most? What kinds of candies do they avoid? You’ll want your ordering process to match your customers’ buying trends.

Buying unwrapped candies in bulk not only helps make sure your business stays well stocked; it also helps you get the most bang for your buck. When you find a company that sells bulk candy at true wholesale prices, you save much more money than you would if you ordered smaller quantities of candy.

Of course, in order to make sure you get the best deal, you have to be careful of the “wholesale price” claim: Many suppliers will make this claim, but their prices might actually be higher than true wholesale. Be sure to shop around.

Display Suggestions for Bulk Unwrapped Candies

Unlike wrapped candies like Jawbreakers, Laffy Taffy, Tootsie Rolls, and Jolly Ranchers, unwrapped candies need extra protection to keep them sanitary; therefore, a little extra thought has to go into display bulk unwrapped candies. Consider these ideas:

• Gumball Machines: Gumball machines aren’t just for gumballs anymore! You can use these machines to store and display gumballs as well as other kinds of unwrapped candies like Reeses Pieces, M&Ms, Jelly Beans, and BananaRama candies.
• Food Grade Plastic Containers: These containers have screw-on, snap-on, or attached hinge lids to help keep unwrapped candies protected. Using a plastic or aluminum scoop, customers can get as much candy as they want without contaminating any of the rest of it.
• Gravity Bin Dry Food Dispensers: These kinds of plastic containers often hold dry goods like cereal and coffee grinds or beans; however, they’re also ideal for storing and displaying bulk unwrapped candies. These bins generally feature a handle that will start the flow of candy when a customer spins it one way, and stop the flow when the customers spins it the other way – perfect!
  

Showcasing Candy with Counter Displays

Counter displays are popular ways to store and showcase convenience store merchandise, and probably the most popular merchandise in a convenience store display is candy.

Below are a few ideas for using counter displays to showcase your convenience store’s candy.

Break Away From The Usual Shapes

Probably the two most popular shapes for plastic containers are round and square. Of course, there are variations to these two shapes (you might find containers shaped like fish bowls with flatter sides, or containers that are more rectangular than square), but round and square shapes are the most common.

However, there are actually many different kinds of container shapes available. For example, you can choose containers shaped like holiday elements – such as Santa’s boot, a Christmas tree, a Halloween pumpkin, and an Easter baskets – and use these containers during certain months of the year. In addition to containers with holiday-inspired shapes, you can also find containers in other universal shapes that you can use anytime of the year. These shapes include hearts, stars, hexagons, octagons, and even taller, cylindrical spheres.

Consider using these different kinds of shapes to add to the visual appeal of your counter display.

Clear Isn’t Your Only Option

Just as round and square are the two most common shapes for plastic containers, clear is probably the most popular “color.” Clear containers are convenient because they make it easy for both you and your customers to see what kind of merchandise is in each container.

Yet, clear isn’t your only option. You can find acrylic containers in just as many color options as shape options! Colored containers help you shake up your counter display in a variety of ways. Think about these ways you can use colored candy containers:

• You can use colors that represent the current holiday, show team spirit, or represent your state’s colors.
• You can use colors to better organize your candy. For example, you can put mint-flavored candy in green containers, strawberry-flavored candy in red or pink containers, and orange-flavored candy in orange containers.
• If your convenience store has a certain kind of “theme,” you can use colors that represent that theme.
  

Create More Space With Wire Countertop Racks

Countertop racks are essential tools when it comes to creating an attractive and convenience countertop display. You can find these plastic or wire rack displays in various heights with one, two, three, or more shelves for your plastic containers. These kinds of racks are also available in an assortment of colors, which makes it easier for you to match them with any colored containers you plan to use.

Before you select wire countertop racks for your display, take a look at how much room you have to work with on your countertop. This will help you determine the appropriate height and width of the rack you select. If you have an ample amount of countertop space, you might want to select a large wire display rack, or even several small racks to showcase an assortment of candy; however, if you don’t have much space to work with, you might only be able to get away with one or two smaller rack displays.

Using Countertop Displays in Your Convenience Store

You’ve probably never been in a convenience store that didn’t have some kind of countertop display with plastic containers. Countertop displays are important tools in convenience stores because they allow shop owners to store and showcase merchandise that might not work well elsewhere, such as small pieces of candy, gumballs, lollipops and suckers, and even non-edible merchandise.

Plastic containers work well in countertop displays because they’re sturdy and durable, they’re lightweight, and they’re versatile. Convenience stores tend to experience a lot of fast paced traffic, and these kinds of plastic and acrylic containers help ensure nothing gets broken and displays can easily be changed when necessary.

As you’re considering countertop displays for your convenience store, ask yourself the following three questions.

Question 1: What Kind of Merchandise Will The Containers Hold?

It’s likely the merchandise in your countertop display will be fairly small, but you have several sizes of containers to choose from. You can find mini plastic containers great for small pieces of candy or gumballs and you can find larger containers perfect for children’s toys. Choose container sizes that will work best with the items you plan to showcase.

Keep in mind you can find containers with lids for those food items that aren’t wrapped and need extra protection from dust and other debris. A convenience store’s countertop and register area experiences a lot of traffic, so make sure your merchandise is protected.

Question 2: How Much Countertop Space Do I Have To Work With?

The kind of countertop display you create (and the containers you use to create it) will largely depend on how much space you have to work with. If the area near your register is fairly sizeable, you’ll have quite a bit of freedom in terms of container sizes and how you place them on your countertop. However, if you have limited space, you might need to choose small containers and look into wire countertop racks to help you effectively and attractively stack and display them.

Question 3: How Can I Have Fun With The Containers And Display?

Keep in mind you aren’t limited to plain round or square containers. You can find containers in holiday-inspired shapes as well as universal shapes like stars and hearts. You also don’t have to choose just clear acrylic containers. You can find containers in virtually every color of the rainbow. You might want to purchase a few traditional clear fish bowl containers for safety, along with a few colored containers and containers in fun shapes to add some flair to your displays.

One of the great things about countertop displays is that they aren’t permanent – you can switch things around as often as you like! Aside from appearances, other points to keep in mind when you think about switching your displays around include visibility and convenience. Watch your customers’ reactions to your displays. Are they able to easily access the merchandise? Does it look like they’re avoiding the merchandise because they can’t reach it? Are you sure they can see all of the merchandise?

Remember: Visibility and convenience must both come before attractiveness when you’re creating your countertop displays.

Discover Many Storage Uses for Clear Plastic Containers

If you’ve ever been inside a convenience store or stood in line at a grocery store, you’re probably well aware that clear plastic containers are valuable items for people who run businesses. They offer convenient, attractive ways to store and display merchandise as well as ways to keep perishable food items clean and safe from contamination.

However, storekeepers aren’t the only folks who can benefit from these products; whether you’re running a business or running a home, there are numerous uses for clear plastic containers.

Food Products

Several kinds of business use plastic containers to store and display food products. For example, convenience stores typically keep candy in plastic candy containers, but these kinds of containers are also perfect places for:

• Condiments like ketchup and mustard packets, if the convenience store includes a deli.

• Packets of creamer, sugar, and artificial sweetener as well as stir sticks if the store sells fresh coffee.

Some restaurants, including buffet-style establishments, might rely on food grade plastic containers to store and display certain menu items or dinnerware, and similarly hotels and motels might use food grade plastic containers to hold their continental breakfast items as well as any treats and snacks they might have available throughout the day.

Nonfood Products

Whether they’re mom-and-pop shops or part of a national chain, most stores have uses for clear plastic containers. In addition to the food products mentioned above, these containers can hold and display the kinds of small toys and novelty items sold everywhere from convenience stores to shops in the mall.

Many stores also choose to place these plastic containers along their checkout aisles so customers can make one last decision about small items such as:

• Maps of the area (an especially popular idea among convenience stores along highways and in vacation hotspots).

• Hygiene products like disposable razors and nail grooming kits.

• Eyeglass repair kits.

• Sports cards.

Tips and Donations

Plastic containers are perfect for collecting tips and donations. Consider these ideas:

• Establishments like restaurants, bars, and night clubs might place small plastic containers on they’re tables, counters, or somewhere near their registers to collect tips from patrons.

• Fundraising organizers can use these plastic containers to keep the money they raise until the end of the event.

Home Items

Plastic containers are ideal tools for better organizing your home. You might use these containers as places to organize, store, and display:

• Cooking items like flour and sugar.

• Hobby and arts and crafts items like glitter, beads, straight pins, safety pins, scissors, buttons, sewing needles, and thread spools.

• Office items like pens, pencils, paperclips, staples, highlighters, and correction fluid.

• Home repair and improvement items like nails, screws, bolts, and tacks.

• Hygiene and health items like cotton balls, cotton swabs, bandages, and gauze.

• Odds and ends like loose change, coupons, and business cards.

Clear plastic containers are also great ways for people to organize small items at yard sales, garage sales, and flea markets.

Choosing the Best Plastic Container for Your Needs

Plastic containers come in a variety of shapes, sizes, and colors, and can benefit everyone from convenience store owners to people interested in better organizing their home kitchens.

However, before you begin shopping around for the best value for plastic containers, you should first determine:

• How the container size you need compares to the space you have to work with.

• How you want to present your containers, and the items, to your customers (or, how the container will work with your home or office décor).

• How it will all work together to provide you and your customers with convenience.

Space and Size

You obviously need a plastic container that’s large enough to hold your items, but you shouldn’t forget about how the size of the container will affect the rest of your space. If you plan to place the container on a convenience store counter, for example, you want to make sure it’s small enough to not only fit comfortably on the counter but also allow room for the transactions that take place over the counter.

Small plastic containers generally work well in convenience stores and specialty shops, but larger businesses and even private residences usually have room to work with bigger containers. Assess the space you have to work with before you choose the size of your containers.

Display and Appearance

Keeping your items in a clear plastic container makes it easy for both you and your customers to view them; however, you don’t have to sacrifice style for functionality. Companies that sell wholesale plastic containers generally offer a wide variety of colored acrylic containers as well, which provide visual appeal and are still translucent enough to effectively showcase the items inside.

Depending on the product you plan to put in your colored plastic container, you might even be able to have some fun with it. For example, if you plan to use your containers for a candy display, you could match each piece of candy’s flavor with a corresponding color. This could even help your customers quickly find the kind of candy they’re looking for.

Containers also come in a variety of shapes. Many people choose either a square plastic container or a round plastic container with an opening at an angle for easy access, though it’s possible to find containers in other forms such as holiday-inspired shapes. Whatever shape you choose, make sure it works with the space available for the most attractive and convenient display possible.

Convenience

Choosing a container that is convenient for both you and your customers is essential. After all, it might be the prettiest, most well organized container display you’ve ever seen, but it’s useless if you or your customers have trouble accessing it.

Whether you’re storing something for future use or displaying merchandise for sale, consider your items and ask yourself the following questions:

• Does this container lend itself to an attractive display and easy access?

• Is this container the appropriate size and shape for where I plan to put it?

• Do the kinds of items I have require a container with a lid?

• Would it make sense for my container to have a handle?

In the end, you want to make sure you choose a visually appealing container that fits your environment and meets your and your customer’s needs.

Novelty Display Racks | Introducing NoveltyDisplay.com

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• 16 Bin Novelty Filled Racks
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A Plastics Explosion - Polyethylene, Polypropylene, and Others

Article Credits:
www.packagingtoday.com

As recounted by:
www.candyconceptsinc.com www.allcandycontainers.com

Other plastics emerged in the prewar period, though some wouldn't come into widespread use until after the war.

By 1936, American, British, and German companies were producing "polymethyl methacrylate" (PMMA), better known as "acrylic." Although acrylics are now well-known for the use in paints and synthetic fibers, such as "fake furs," in their bulk form they are actually very hard and more transparent than glass, and are sold as glass replacements under trade names such as "plexiglas" and "lucite." Plexiglas was used to build aircraft canopies during the war, and it is also now used as a marble replacement for countertops.

Another important plastic, polyethylene (sometimes known as "polythene") was discovered in 1933 by Reginald Gibson and Eric Fawcett at the British industrial giant Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI). This material evolved into two forms, low density polyethylene (LDPE) and high density polyethylene (HDPE).

Polyethylene is cheap, flexible, durable, and chemically resistant. LDPE is used to make films and packaging materials, including plastic bags, while HDPE is used more often to make containers, plumbing, and automotive fittings. While PE has low resistance to chemical attack, it was found later that a PE container could be made much more robust by exposing it to fluorine gas, which modified the surface layer of the container into the much tougher "polyfluoroethylene."

Polyethylene would lead, after the war, to another material, "polypropylene" (PP), which was discovered in the early 1950s. It is common in modern science and technology that the growth of the general body of knowledge can lead to the same inventions in different places at about the same time, but polypropylene was an extreme case of this phenomenon, being separately invented about nine times. It was a patent attorney's dream scenario, and litigation wasn't resolved until 1989.

Polypropylene managed to survive the legal process, and two American chemists working for Phillips Petroleum of the Netherlands, Paul Hogan and Robert Banks, are now generally credited as the "official" inventors of the material. Polypropylene is similar to its ancestor, polyethylene, and shares polyethylene's low cost, but it is much more robust. It is used in everything from plastic bottles to carpets to plastic furniture, and is very heavily used in automobiles.

Polyurethane was invented by Friedrich Bayer & Company of Germany in 1937. It would come into use, after the war, in blown form for mattresses, furniture padding, and thermal insulation. It is also used in non-blown form for sports wear such as "lycra."

In 1939, I.G. Farben Industrie of Germany filed a patent for "polyepoxide" or "epoxy." Epoxies are a class of thermoset plastics that form cross-links and "cure" when a catalyzing agent, or "hardener," is added. After the war, they would come into wide use for coatings, "super glues," and composite materials.

Composites using epoxy as a matrix include "fiberglass," where the structural element is glass fiber, and "carbon-epoxy composites," in which the structural element is carbon fiber. Fiberglass is now often used to build sport boats, and carbon-epoxy composites are an increasingly important structural element in aircraft, as they are lightweight, strong, and heat-resistant.

Two chemists named Rex Whinfield and James Dickson, working at a small English company with the quaint name of the "Calico Printer's Association" in Manchester, developed "polyethylene terephthalate" (PET or PETE) in 1941. It would be used for synthetic fibers in the postwar era, with names such as "polyester," "dacron," and "terylene."

PET is more impermeable than other low-cost plastics and so is a popular material for making bottles for Coke and other "fizzy drinks," since carbonation tends to attack other plastics, and for acidic drinks such as fruit or vegetable juices. PET is also strong and abrasion resistant, and is used for making mechanical parts, food trays, and other items that have to endure abuse. PET films, trade-named "mylar," are used to make recording tape.

One of the most impressive plastics used in the war, and a top secret, was "polytetrafluoroethylene" (PTFE), better known as "teflon," which could be deposited on metal surfaces as a scratchproof and corrosion-resistant, low-friction protective coating. The polyfluoroethylene surface layer created by exposing a polyethylene container to fluorine gas is very similar to teflon.

A Du Pont chemist name Roy Plunkett discovered teflon by accident in 1938. During the war, it was used in gaseous-diffusion processes to refine uranium for the atomic bomb, as the process was highly corrosive. By the early 1960s, teflon "non-stick" frying pans were a hot consumer item.

Teflon was later used to synthesize the miracle fabric "GoreTex," which can be used to build raingear that in principle "breathes" to keep the wearer's moisture from building up. GoreTex is also used for surgical implants; teflon strand is used to make dental floss; and teflon mixed with fluorine compounds is used to make "decoy" flares dropped by aircraft to distract heat-seeking missiles.

After the war, the new plastics that had been developed entered the consumer mainstream in a flood. New manufacturing was developed, using various forming, molding, casting, and extrusion processes, to churn out plastic products in vast quantities. American consumers enthusiastically adopted the endless range of colorful, cheap, and durable plastic gimmicks being produced for new suburban home life.

One of the most visible parts of this plastics invasion was Earl Tupper's "tupperware," a complete line of sealable polyethylene food containers that Tupper cleverly promoted through a network of housewives who sold Tupperware as a means of bringing in some money. The Tupperware line of products was well thought out and highly effective, greatly reducing spoilage of foods in storage. Thin-film "plastic wrap" that could be purchased in rolls also helped keep food fresh.

Another prominent element in 1950s homes was "formica," a plastic laminate that was used to surface furniture and cabinetry. Formica was durable and attractive. It was particularly useful in kitchens, as it did not absorb, and could be easily cleaned of stains from food preparation, such as blood or grease. With formica, a very attractive and well-built table could be built using low-cost and lightweight plywood with formica covering, rather than expensive and heavy hardwoods like oak or mahogany.

Composite materials like fiberglass came into use for building boats and, in some cases, cars. Polyurethane foam was used to fill mattresses, and styrofoam was used to line ice coolers and make float toys.

Plastics continue to be improved. General Electric introduced "lexan," a high-impact "polycarbonate" plastic, in the 1970s. Du Pont developed "kevlar," an extremely strong synthetic fiber that was best-known for its use in bullet-proof vests and combat helmets. Kevlar was so remarkable that Du Pont officials actually had to release statements to deny rumors that the company had received the recipe for it from space aliens.

One of the most potentially important new developments in plastics is circuits made out of plastics called conductive polymers. Electronic circuitry fabricated using plastics or other materials that could be simply printed on a substrate could be incredibly cheap, opening the door to throwaway electronic devices that would cost pennies, or to applications hardly dreamed of now.

So far, electronic devices made with such materials have not been acceptable for production but, in 2001, prototypes of flat-panel displays based on such technologies were being publicly demonstrated, with predictions of commercial introduction in two or three years.