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Nothing says “rustic” like a wooden barrel. Barrels are traditionally used for aging liquor, but there are limitless alternative applications for these country staples in retail display and décor. Every retail business, from supermarkets to clothing stores, can incorporate wooden display barrels seamlessly into their merchandising and furnishing.
Wooden Barrels for Food & Groceries
Using a wooden barrel to display food could even give freeze-dried milk that farm-to-table feeling. Whether you’re looking to let people scoop their own loose peanuts or showcase fresh produce, all you need is a barrel with a food-safe liner to protect your product, then let the barrel do the rest. Seasonal fruits and other produce like apples, watermelons, and pumpkins, look great in barrels. You can even add ice to a food-safe barrel and use it as a cooler for beverages. Or, a shop that offers locally roasted coffee beans may want to create a special aesthetic appearance for specialty beans – and using wooden barrels to store loose coffee beans makes customers feel like they are sourcing their coffee beans right from the roastery.
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Make Wooden Barrel Planters
The smell of fresh flowers will give any shopper a pleasant disposition – and that’s why wooden barrels are commonly spotted in nurseries, floral departments, and garden centers. False-bottom barrels are one way that supermarkets and florists showcase short-stemmed plants to make the shopper feel just like they are at a nursery With the right use of wooden barrels, your store will feel unique, fresh, and authentic.
Speaking of nurseries, barrels are great for holding potting soil or grass seed. Just chain a scoop to the side and you have officially found a way to decorate dirt. Or, you can feature certain plants inside of the barrel that may be commonly overlooked due to their short stature. Because barrels are so sturdy, you can even display heavier items like shovels or rakes, too. Barrels look better and better the more they are used, so you don’t have to worry about getting them dirty or banging them up.
Displaying Whisky, Beer, and Wine with Wooden Barrels
Using barrels in a liquor store just makes sense. Most of the highest-priced bottles come from liquor aged in barrels, so it’s logically appropriate to incorporate barrels into a feature display for liquor. Not only that, but cans and bottles of rustic or craft beer may benefit from being stored in a wooden barrel that imitates a vintage keg. Best of all, these barrels can be used again and again due to their durability.
The key to making your retail display stand out is to be clever. For example, create a wall of barrels to use as shelving. Within a large frame, pile full-size barrels to hold wine bottles or stack half-barrels on top of each other to create shelves for smaller bottles. Experiment with positions and orientations until you find a perfect wooden barrel display for your $200 bottles of whiskey or sauvignon.
Tables and Décor for Cafés and Restaurants
Barrel furniture is a genius way to give your café or restaurant a rustic and trendy vibe on a budget. Place two barrels side-by-side, glue a slab of finished wood on top, and you have an instant saloon. Add a sheet of white or black reflective acrylic plastic on top for a more traditional and polished look. You can tweak this concept to create nearly any surface space you need! Position three cut-out barrels into an “L” shape, add a surface and use as a podium space for your host—the cut-out serves as shelving to store menus or to give them some leg room to sit down. You could bring an authentic element to your bar by lining up cut-out barrels on shelves behind the bottle display to store mugs and glasses.
A barrel could be a great cover for a trash can as well. Measure a round, open-top receptacle that is slightly shorter than the height of the barrel to hide any hint of unsightly disposals. Complete the job by choosing a black stain and affixing a metal sign.
Wooden Barrels as Retail Displays and Store Fixtures
The barrel table isn’t just for restaurants. Glue a custom-sized sheet of acrylic or glass to any barrel and you have an instant end table for an inspiration display bedroom or living room. Add some flowers and a lamp for a classy accent. This works great with a full-size barrel, but a cut-out barrel would also allow for some small decorative items or books in the cut-out.
For a country-style kitchen or dining room display, add a bowl of wax fruit on top of a false-bottom barrel. Incorporate barrels into your bathroom display by filling a full-size or half-barrel with towels, robes or blankets, or use a cut-out barrel to display tissues and toiletries on top and toilet tissue on the shelf.
You can take the “wall of barrels” concept from the liquor store and implement it in a clothing store. Pile barrels on top of each other within a frame and use them as shelves for jeans or t-shirts. Stack cut-out barrels and use the shelves to display hats or perfume.
Creating Rustic Holiday and Fall Displays
Fall is full of warm, earthy tones and rustic wooden displays are a staple of autumn décor. Place corn stalks or hay into a full-size barrel or arrange a selection of gourds to a false-bottom barrel. Store apple cider in a barrel with a food-safe liner filled with ice.
Rustic winter décor and displays never fail to create a “home for the holidays” atmosphere. Country accents, like barrels, can help your holiday merchandising feel warm and comforting. It can be as simple as wrapping lights or ribbon around any barrel, placing a small Christmas tree on a false-bottom barrel, or using full-size barrels to store holiday merchandise.
shopPOPdisplays offers custom color staining for all barrels which allows you to incorporate them into any type of display. Use a whitewashed barrel for the summer season. Choose a cranberry or hunter green color to add a festive touch to your holiday setup. Use a black stain for industrial restaurant décor. Add a gray stain to a cut-out barrel and work it perfectly into your bathroom display.
Final Thoughts
These are just a few ideas for how to incorporate wooden barrels into your retail displays. shopPOPdisplays offers a varied line of wooden barrels that you can customize to fit your unique display needs. Wooden barrels offer a vintage, repurposed impression which adds a distinguished touch to any retail environment. No matter how you choose to use them, barrels are versatile and economical décor elements that will help your retail display leave a rustic, country impression and help your patrons feel right at home.