Upping your Retail Game

Retail Therapy

In a recent survey, NAFDMA learned that a large number of our farm members struggle with retail displays, traffic patterns, and merchandising.  This is not new, and nearly all agritourism locations have a retail display of some sort, even if it is just a pile of pumpkins or a stack of limes for purchase.


Resources

NAFDMA has held several different sessions over the years for retail best practices and determining products that will work for your customer base.  A few different options can be accessed for free by members using the Education Center on our website and clicking on the various options in the Retail section. 


Ideas

One great tip - display your offerings in a different way.  Hang a ladder from the ceiling and have gourds attached to it for selection.  This not only brings the eye up, but it engages a space that may not be used otherwise.  It has the additional benefit of being eye-catching, as no one expects a ladder to sport hanging gourds.  Be sure to also cross-merchandise.  Next to the pile of pie pumpkins, have some pre-made pie crusts so a family can take home both to make their own homemade pie.  Or have sets of carving tools for purchase so the family doesn't have to go elsewhere for their Jack-o-lantern supplies.


Stay Consumer Focused

Whatever products you have, put your mind into the space of a consumer and what will either make their life easier, or will capture their sense of delight and surprise.  You will feel some "retail therapy" in no time!

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By angie May 29, 2026
For our industry spotlight this month, we are excited to share ideas and info from The Toy Network . Insights from The Toy Network Whether you’re an established farm store or just starting out and you’re interested in carrying toys, our Toy Stack and Die-Cast displays may be an ideal solution when dealing with limited space. In retail, it’s all about sales per square foot. With our Toy Stack display, you get 24 different impulse items in just two square feet! It would take more than 40’ to merchandise the same number of items on a shelf. The Toy Stack is an important profit center for your farm store business, as the items in the display average less than $2.50 at wholesale. In addition to The Toy Stack, our Die-Cast display features 13 different vehicles that can all be merchandised on our metal die-cast display. We offer a pre-packaged assortment of vehicles and have more than 200 high quality die-cast vehicles to select from when you need to fill in on your display. Stop by our user-friendly ecommerce website and shop our more than 4,000 products where at just $250, we offer free freight, or visit us on Faire. Furthermore, if you’d like to have one of our 85 sales reps across the country stop in to meet with you, please let us know. More information is available at www.thetoynetwork.com .
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