Got Tykes?
Creative ways to build a kids' department from scratch
By Erinn Morgan

Do you have pint-sized customers? If children are a part of your business, it would behoove you--and benefit your customers--to create a specialized area for them. When kids' frames are mixed in with adult styles in the dispensary, they can get lost easily, and so can your customer.

If there is a separate kids' area, there will be no mistaking your focus on this important market segment. This commitment can be made in the form of a larger area, perhaps sectioned off from the main dispensary. Or you can devote a section of a frame board with kids' P.O.P. or colorful frame bars.

How do you decide how large to make your kids' area? "It just depends on your dispensary," says Lori Estrada, designer at Fashion Optical Displays. "It depends on how many frames you want to display and how many kids you see."

THE ROUTE TO KIDS

To get you started on the right track when it comes to making a kid-friendly dispensary, here are pointers from experts in the kids' display field, dispensers who have catered to this crowd for years, and interior design companies.

	A sophisticated kids' dispensary, above: Hefner Pointe Youth Optical

1. Harmonize. Once you have decided on your space allocation to a kids' section, begin planning the design and decor of this area. Remember to keep the look of the section in line with your dispensary. "If creating a kids section, we would make a scaled-down version of the larger cabinets in the main dispensary," says Margaret Furman, designer with Magic Design, a San Francisco-based interior design company for the optical industry. "This is so everything harmonizes with the rest of the office."

If you have a high-end dispensary or a simple, sophisticated look, adding a kids' department can be challenging from a design perspective. "Sometimes people go out and buy toys or stuffed animals to add into the dispensary," she says. "But you may not want to have brightly colored furniture or toys mixed in near your nice wood cabinets if you are a high-end dispensary."

In this case, she recommends having one or more simple additional elements to make the area more fun, playful, and whimsical. "You still want to cater to children without making a drastic change to the dispensary's look," she says. If you are going for a sophisticated look that is still cute, you can use the same color scheme used in the main dispensary, but incorporate a wall laminate with a cute print. It appears blended in until you look closer at it. It has character, but still ties into color scheme."

2. Create a safe space. To help parents shop comfortably for themselves as well as their kids, some recommend
creating a separate gated, or walled-in area for kids. "In creating a separate area, add a small wall just tall enough to conceal the toys, but kids can still peek over to see mommy," says Sandy Bright, owner of Bright Displays in Temecula, Calif. "You could also create a space with a safety gate and safe toys and furniture. This way the kids can play and mom can relax while shopping for them. This is great for toddlers. It's a whole different ballgame for older kids."

3. A place of their own. Kids in the seven to pre-teen crowd will not appreciate a space shared with toddlers and younger children. They are maturing and aspire to emulate the teens and adults. If space allows, a separate section for this age group will benefit your kids' business. Some dispensers separate the frames geared to older kids by displaying them at their eye level. "We place the larger frames for pre-teens higher up on the boards than those for smaller kids," says Christi Anderson, a dispenser with Hefner Pointe Youth Optical in Oklahoma City, Ok.

If your space is limited, display items can help separate sections for kids and tweens. "Use proper P.O.P. and props to separate the age groups," says Bright. "You want to respect their age or they will be bored."

Colors used in the sections for different age groups can also make a difference. "With little kids, you want brighter colors to attract their attention," says Justine Kish, interior designer with Ennco Displays.

"When we do a younger kids' area, we use rainbow and bright colors." For older kids, trendy or sophisticated adult-like colors with proper P.O.P. is the right direction. "If there is room, have a separate pre-teen area," says Kish. "Use something trendy like metal or silver acrylic rods. It makes it easier for the dispenser to group these in the same section--it's certainly better than sorting through all the frames in the dispensary when presenting to this age group."

A brightly colored, kids' zone, right: Fashion Optical Displays

4. Eye level. While display level of frames can separate the pre-teens from the little ones, opinions vary on whether kids frames should be displayed at eye level or not. Mary Jane Deffner, owner of Kinderspecs in Encinitas, Calif.,
displays the more durable items on the bottom within kids' reach. "The higher-end stuff is on the top," she says, noting that her prices for children's eyewear range from $39 to $289.

"I would suggest not putting frames at eye-level for kids," says Kish. "A two-year-old will pull them off and play with them. It is really the parents who need to look at the frames. So we usually recommend placing them at the same height or a bit lower than adult frames. It has to be enjoyable for the adult to view too since they are paying."

5. Play space. Most experts do agree that it is important to have a selection of toys and games for your tiny
customers. Your dispensary's look and focus will determine the type of playthings you purchase. "It is important to have a little table, games, and toys," says Kish. "You want to make the whole process fun for them. And you have to have a nice balance between the kids and adults." Kinderspecs created a separate area within its dispensary for toys and games. "The front entry area has a one-and-a-half-foot ledge where we keep games and toys, and they can sit and play. We also have little desks if they want to get more serious."

6. Enhance what you have. To further emphasize the kids' section (particularly if your area is small or sectioned off in the main dispensary), some design experts recommend making the most of your point-of- purchase materials. "Many company-supplied P.O.P. displays have great graphics," says Bright. "You can enhance this P.O.P. by placing it on pedestals in the kids' area or even next to the dispensing tables to give it more focus. Pedestals in primary colors really draw the eye and get the point across."

Another display item to bring attention to your kids' area is mirrors. "Kids love to look at themselves, so mirrors are important," says Kish. "I like to use eccentric mirrors with funny shapes."

	Visual Dynamics' Jungle Club display and animal print frame pads

7. Take a photo op. Kids--and their parents--love pictures, especially of themselves. With this in mind, a few savvy dispensers have created "photo walls" of their child customers. "Since the back of our frame boards are white plastic, we have hung pictures there of our patients with their glasses--the photos are laminated against colorful paper," says Christie. "So the kids can see themselves and other kids with their glasses on. We take a picture of everybody who comes in and then hang it up."

At Kinderspecs, Deffner has created one wall that is all Polaroid pictures of the kids she has fit with glasses. "You can watch the kids grow up and see what they looked like over the years--and they can see what their friends looked like. This really helps me keep my customers coming back."

8. Appreciate the little things. Sometimes it is the tiny thoughts put into your kids' section that will make a big difference. "One of our best ideas was having lots of brightly colored frame mirrors laying about," says Christie of Hefner Point Youth Optical. "For $3 a piece, that's our best toy. The kids love them--they look at themselves with their frames on, they also play with them and pile them up all together."

9. Making space. If you have limited space in your dispensary, you do not have to discount a kids' section. Simplicity can give you the area you are looking for without taking away from your adult-based business. Says Kish: "If you don't have a big area, just change the colors on your frame-display rods so people can see this is the separate area."

The bottom line is that a successful kids' section doesn't have to cost a lot of money to create. Creative design and outfitting makes all the difference.