When a store decides its window or its interior needs a change, it faces three options advertised almost the same way: the freelance window dresser, the production and display agency, and the visual merchandising consultancy. They do not do the same thing or solve the same problem. Choosing wrong means paying for something you did not need.
The freelance window dresser: hands and craft
They install the window in your store, usually by the day or per set-up. A good window dresser has an eye and craft, and handles day-to-day work well. It is the logical choice if you already know what you want to say and need someone to execute it with taste, season after season.
The limit: they usually work window by window. If the problem is that there is no idea behind it, or that the window does not connect with what happens inside the store, installing it better does not fix it.
The production and display agency: making things
They design and manufacture physical elements: vinyls, displays, fixtures, props, signage. Essential when you need to produce pieces, especially for several stores at once. But their work starts once someone has decided what needs producing and why.
The limit: a production agency tends to solve problems by making more things. If the problem is not fixed with more elements but with fewer, better placed ones, it is not their field.
