One of the first things you learn in the store fixture business is that everyone has a different name for things and will look at you funny if you don't recognize their term. Gondolas are a wonderful example. What one person calls a gondola, someone else calls an H rack, and yet another someone will call an I rack, and so on. Grocery store shelving is also sometimes referred to as gondola shelving. Are you confused yet? I am.

A rose by any other name...

So what exactly is a gondola? It is a large floor unit, frequently on casters. If you were to look down at the unit from a great height, as soon as the dizziness subsided, you would indeed see that it looks somewhat like an elongated H or rather an I turned on its side. Both sides of the long line of the I are often lined in slatwall, as is the outside of the two short lines. What you end up with is a whole lot of mobile display space.

It slices, it dices, it juliennes...

What can you do with this amazing contraption? The question should be, what can't you do with it. Slatwall is wondrously versatile – you can add shelves, a hang rail for clothing, hooks for small items, and a hat rack, and that's just on one side! Don't have room for a gondola? Try a pinwheel – same concept but smaller and they spin (woohoo!). Either way, we have used slatwall hardware to outfit it, which will save you money that you can use on something more useful, like casters for everything in your store. Okay, maybe not everything but casters are cool, you have to admit.

Just to be confusing...

Sometimes gondolas have standards built into the frame, rather than slatwall. These units are more likely to be metal, open-aired, and look fabulous with glass shelves or hang rails. One advantage of this look is that you can see through it, so it doesn't present as much of a block visually. Also, most product seems to float on glass shelves (as long as they are clean) and this focuses attention on the product, not the shelves. Joan, the Store Fixture Fairy, is particularly fond of this type of display and you can often find one in use in our showroom.

Use your imagination...

Gondola units can languish in our warehouse because we don't have time to outfit them in hardware and without that added visual, they tend to be overlooked. Use this to your advantage – gondolas get marked down more often than anything else in our warehouse. Finding hardware might take a little more time and extra help from us but the end result is definitely worth it in terms of display space. Next time you come in, ask one of us about these handy units. We'd be happy to show you what we have and happy to help you make the hard(ware) decisions.

Bad puns, as always, are just part of the service at Portland Store Fixtures.