This story appears in the
August 2004 issue of
Entrepreneur.
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Former banking executive Kellie Scott raises an eyebrow or two
when she says that she relied on the principles of feng shui to
design her art gallery. "I'm a pragmatist," says
Scott, the 48-year-old owner of Red Sky Gallery
in Charlotte, North Carolina. "But I've always been
sensitive to how a room feels."
Consultant Jami Lin of Feng-Shui-Interior-Design.com explains that feng shui
is the Chinese art of placement. Users believe that the
practice-incorporating lighting, layout, color, balance, space and
shape-can dramatically increase a store's appeal. "Feng
shui design keeps the eye moving," says Lin. "If
customers don't see something they like, their eyes should
automatically go to something else."
Lin suggests consulting a professional but says retailers can
employ simple principles on their own, such as lighting
consistently without dark spots, keeping garbage cans out of sight,
and making entryways clean and inviting. Incorporating these
principles, says Lin, can improve the energy flow-and cash flow-in
your store.
It's worked for Scott, who used a feng shui consultant to
pull her gallery's look together. "When we display things
together using feng shui, they often sell together, where we might
only sell one of the pieces if we didn't have them displayed
that way," she says. "We really see a positive difference
in sales when we're using feng shui."