What Dollywood Teaches Boutiques About Store Layout — Weekly Retail Tidbits #238

Originally published as Tidbit #238. Lightly edited for the blog.

“Design is not just what it looks like. Design is how it works.”
— Steve Jobs

Last week I had a fun visit with a store owner who is relatively new to retail.
Her business combines some unique ideas — and it’s working. All three
sections of her store were full of happy, chatting customers on a weekday
afternoon. Good energy everywhere.

She and I had worked together at market, and now that most of her orders had
arrived, we started talking merchandising. We walked displays, talked
placement — and then I asked her if she’d ever been to Dollywood.🦋
She hadn’t.

Leaving Dollywood

You don’t just walk out. You have to go through their gift shop, and it is
anything but a straight shot. You zig and zag through product after product. It’s
hard enough for adults to resist — but bring a child along and you already
know how that goes. “I want this, Mom..”

That exit is a masterclass in design. Every turn is intentional. Every placement
serves a purpose. Dollywood knows exactly where they want you to go — and
they make sure you go there.

Designing the Layout

Back in her store, the largest retail area was easy for customers to walk right
past without even pausing. And in the section through which they did walk, the
first thing greeting them was a sale rack.

I get it. We all want to move product we’ve been staring at too long. But sale
merchandise doesn’t deserve prime real estate.

The Goal

The bigger conversation was simply this: what is the goal of this space? And is
every single design decision helping to reach that goal?

And don’t assume you know the answer. Goals vary more than you’d think.

Some retailers need every square foot to turn a profit — it’s their livelihood and
their employees’ livelihoods, too. Others have the freedom to build something
they love first. Some stores exist to serve a community, tell a story, or support
a cause. None of those is wrong. But they lead to very different layouts.

Your store design should serve your goal.

Once you know your goal, everything else gets easier. Where do you want
people to go? What do you want them to feel? What do you want them to do?

Answer those first. Then design backward from there.

Rethinking your space?

Grab a piece of paper and sketch it out. Stick figures. Squares. Arrows.
It does not have to be pretty.

Take a picture of your simple sketch, load it into your AI tool, and tell it your
goal. Not just “help me with my layout” — tell it why your store exists, who your
customer is, what you want them to feel when they walk in.
That context is everything.

The AI becomes your thought partner — and so do I — your consultative sales partner. There is nothing quite like a fresh set of eyes in your space from someone who has seen a lot of stores and knows what works.

But I can’t always be there. AI can. Use both.

People and AI are better together than either one alone.

You have more resources available to you right now than any retailer before you ever did. Using every single one of them — that’s just smart retail.

Read on for another AI tip – or insight – and 3 Tango manufacturer examples of
using good design in product development, displays and marketing.

March is almost here — and for most retailers, that means things are about to
pick up. Yay!

xoxo,
❤AmyFay

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AI Tip:

You’ve probably seen files that end in .md and never given them a second
thought. I hadn’t for a long time.

MD always meant one thing to me — medical doctor. And when I heard .md
meant markdown – my mind went to retail – sale.

But slowly over the past year .md seems to have crept into my life and landed
in a huge way. It’s something I see, think and use daily now.

.md stands for a markdown file which is the simplest possible way to save and
share information online. Just plain text. No fancy formatting, no complicated
code. Clean, simple, readable.

Here’s why that matters

AI tools can read plain text faster and better than almost anything else.

If you’re saving notes, store goals, product descriptions, or processes and you
want AI help — a simple .md file is one of the most efficient ways to do it.

Simple sketch on paper. Simple text in a file. Both just plain, intentional
communication. Both more powerful than they look.

Sometimes the simplest format really is the best.

Know your goal.
Then take the most direct path to get there — in your store, and in your files.

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3 Tango Tidbits
re: design

ORI – What problem do their products solve?

The founder was walking down the streets of London seeing drab, falling apart
bags with things falling out of them. He thought – there is a better way.
He went home and sketched what we know as the Bantry backpack today.
The design solved problems.

• Quality (extremely well made – no falling apart)
• Color (life shouldn’t be drab!)
• Pockets (a place for everything)

There are tons of other design elements answering problems like no-slip
bottoms, straps starting in the center at the top of the back to distribute weight
in the most healthy way – AND – they are a certified B-Corp company!

My personal favorite item this time of year is the Waterloo (umbrella). It has a
button that just pops it open quickly! And it’s easy to close. Durable.
ORI has expanded the line to multiple colors, bag choices, and even socks!
Decision fatigue can be real – but I am here to help you with that.
It’s worth it. Just ask!

ORI assets for retailers are the bomb. If you’re a retailer and want the info – email me!
Shop ORI

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Lenny + Eva – Perfecting Displays

Lenny + Eva redesigned their displays a couple of years ago.
Branded, functional, EASY!!!

Lenny and Eva is made in the USA. The collection shown above is long-wearing gold/silver metal with great price points. I wear mine every day – and it looks the same as it did when I started! (a few weeks ago😊)
Shop Lenny + Eva

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Compendium: Teaching us through 3 blasts from the past

Check out these first 3 product photos of Positively Green cards.
They were produced a few years ago.
Notice the backgrounds? Guess what designers do now?

Yes – designers choose a white background that lets the product speak for
itself. In our busy world with 30,000 distractions daily – our attention needs
capturing immediately. That’s easier when it’s clean and simple.

Compendium offers three different card collections:

• Love Muchly
• Positively Green
• Humor Us

Interested? I am happy to put together an order tailored for your store for you to
review. Act fast if you want the show special! It’s always a great deal, though.🤓
Where will it fit your store design? (hint: checkout area!)

And – most importantly –
Please don’t send your customer down the street to finish a gift from your store. 🎁
Shop Compendium

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“The details are not the details. They make the design.”

— Charles Eames

What’s your goal? 😊
❤️AmyFay

With heart eyes on – finding things we ❤️!

Market Fun – January, 2026

❤ Harper Brothers General Store – Sevierville, TN

❤ Perch Home & Hospitality – Gallatin, TN

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