December 15, 2011

One of this college’s longest community engagements comes from our Design & Merchandising program in which students have designed visual merchandising displays for the windows of local businesses for more than a decade. This year, with the help of Vice Provost for University & Community Partnerships, Dr. Lucy Kerman, students in Visual Merchandising 1 classes worked with five different businesses on the Lancaster Ave. corridor. The businesses chosen along the corridor were selected in partnership with The Enterprise Center’s Retail Resources Division, which is run by Andrew Toy.

Anne Cecil and Kristen Ainscoe, Design & Merchandising Professors, divided students into teams to spend the first few weeks of the project negotiating and planning for window designs that would entice pedestrians in from the streets. Once the concepts were finalized, the teams began installing their designs in store windows. Finally, professors, business owners and community partners critiqued the installations. The five final displays can be seen in the store windows of Central Market, Hair Thang, Terry’s Nailery, Party Dollar and Bukateria through the Holiday shopping season.

Student from Anne Cecil’s class worked with Central Market, a larger reseller of household items and furniture at 38th & Lancaster Ave. Central Market’s windows were divided among four teams of students: Casey Steinberg, Sarah Steen & Sarah Kuntz, left front window; Christa Gabert, Dawn Franklin, Qiannan Hu, right front window; Candice Watts, Molly Beckner, upstairs windows; Mallory West, Katie Michella, interior space.

Students form Kristine Aniscoe’s class worked in the following groups with the following businesses (all businesses between 38th and 41st streets, Lancaster Ave): Hair Thang: Samara Cifelli, Rikki Jeffries, Kristia Morabito; Terry's Nailery: Kimberly Austin, Kelly Himes, Nicole Pollitt; Party Dollar: Gabriella Cifaloglio, Emily Conway, Lauren Faykes; and Bukateria: Tatiana Beckman, Rebecca Kutner, Natalie Szaroleta.

Professional judges included: Andrew Toy, Director, Retail Resource Network, The Enterprise Center; Stephen Horton, Business Support Services Manager, The Enterprise Center; James Wright, Manager, Commercial Corridor, Lancaster Avenue; Dr. Lucy Kerman and Iola Harper, Director, SCI-West.