Pottery Barn is leaping into the in-store demo workshop bandwagon with their very first event: The Holiday Decorating Class. First Martha Stewart, then Real Simple, and now, Pottery Barn-- and it's good for business.
Retail and magazine giants are finding more and more consumers want education and resources before they open up their Louis Vuitton Monogram Groom.
During Sunday's hour-long 9:00 am class at the Beverly Center location, we discovered how to decorate a console table, mantel and dining table with color, height, texture and holiday theme, all using Pottery Barn products (of course.) The instructors included store and design staff, including General Manager Julie Riva. Williams Sonoma fresh-baked goods were served and we were given gift bags with brochures and Benjamin Moore paint samples. Complimentary holiday ornaments were passed out with purchase. A nice touch was the reminder phone call the day before.
We can only see these classes getting better and better. Instructors should brush up on dining etiquette, the specific formal names of tabletop items, and housekeeping of the linens, protection of your furniture from dripping wax and how to avoid scratching from the various products. Keeping on top of this information will improve the value of the workshops-- because it's not only about selling, it's about incorporating everyday elegance into your lifestyle-- a great deal of that is care and maintenance.
We hope to see additional classes offered in storage and organization-- PB offers a terrific companion book Storage and Display.
- Pottery Barn Home Decorating Guide (click to download)
- Sign up for Pottery Barn e-mail event and product updates (scroll to bottom of screen)
