Color, Fabrics & Customization Lead the Trends at RetailX

Our teammates at our parent company, S-One, made their debut at GlobalShop @ RetailX in Chicago last month, showcasing media options hand-selected for retail environments.

Fabrics were a huge trend all throughout the show, and S-One highlighted some tried-and-true favorites as well as brand-new to the market options.

“Fabric was everywhere, and it’s always going to continue to trend,” says sales rep Matt Radauscher. “The guys who don’t have dye-sub yet were happy to hear they had options to print fabrics on latex.”

Our team showcased HP Durable Backlit Fabric, a lightweight option suitable for SEG frames that’s latex-compatible. We also brought the brand-new adhesive fabric, Squid, which generated a ton of buzz. The fabric’s fibers are finished on one side with a special adhesive that is designed for windows. Squid can be printed or used alone to create privacy, block out the sun’s rays and/or display brand messaging. It’s an elegant solution for high-end retail and corporate environments. Stay tuned for more info to come soon!

Throughout the show floor, we were excited to see some emerging trends, most of which played around with dynamic color and customization. SuperColor Digital featured printable blackout fabrics that were enhanced with lighting features that actually changed the colors of the graphics (see photo).

We noticed that many of the exhibits focused on brick-and-mortar retail’s current challenge: competing with ecommerce by using dynamic, sometimes over-the-top displays to create a memorable in-store experience.

“When looking at the booth designs, nearly every one of them had some sort of electrical element in the displays themselves,” says S-One Marketing Director Terry Lynn Belzer. “Whether they were blow-up fixtures, floor fixtures or even animal displays with eyes that lit up. There was also a lot of focus on tactile experiences throughout the show.”

There was even an “Instagrammable” moment with a Game of Thrones-inspired display with a giant throne and sword that was a photo opp just waiting to happen.

Colorful, hyper-customized walls, windows, floors and even ceilings showcased the power of print throughout the exhibits at GlobalShop @ RetailX. To get a closer look at the materials that S-One showcased, please visit our RetailX page for product info or give one of our retail specialists a call at 800-453-9538.

Whole Foods Takes a Fresh Approach on In-Store Signage

If you’re in the printing business, you likely go into a store like Whole Foods and notice the signage right away. Posters and banners and point-of-sale displays jump out at you for their crisp colors, clean design and effective placement.

Plotter_BannerFor Whole Foods’ South Region, that’s managed and designed by a four-person Metro Artist Team, the first of its kind for the company.

“We’re responsible for eight stores in Atlanta and two other south region stores, and we support the rest of the south region,” says Justin Kendall. “We handle a lot of the graphic design and the printing of banners, posters and additional marketing collateral. The stores change very frequently, so there’s constantly a stream of printing going on.”

New Environmentally Friendly Display Films for Solvent, Latex, UV Curable Printers

Sustainable and economical inkjet display filmDeveloped for print shops looking for sustainable, economical and high-quality inkjet display media, LexJet introduces two new PVC-free, phthalate-free display films optimized for solvent, low-solvent, latex and UV-curable printers: LexJet PVC-Free Display Film (12 Mil) and LexJet PVC-Free Display Film (18 Mil).

Both are rigid polypropylene films with a satin finish and are offered in two different thicknesses to provide greater application flexibility. They are designed as economic and environmentally-friendly alternatives for applications like retail displays, trade show graphics, point-of-purchase and point of sale displays and retractable banner stand displays.

The PVC-free, bright-white base is manufactured to ensure excellent image and color reproduction. And, since the polypropylene base does not curl and stays flat, straight and true all the time, production is quick, easy and efficient.

For more information about the new PVC-free films and to order, contact a LexJet account specialist at 800-453-9538.