If mannequins could talk they would witness to the fact that too many people walk out without buying that jacket or sweater after checking out the price tags. More expensive stores have left the price tags off the display samples entirely, hoping the acquisitive urge takes over before the wallet is consulted. Some large department stores, notably The Bay in central Toronto, have a multi-floor system and camouflaged exits so that the customer walking through the store gets disoriented and lost among the beautiful clothes, staying within the store much longer because the circular aisles don't seem to have a way out.

Retailers can get nervous and also get that feeling of having no way out if they don't hit their numbers while people are in a happy mood and willing to spend. Christmas is the make-it-or-break-it season for retailers so it's important that the economy be stable enough for cash to be flowing. Canada's economy however is dependent on the U.S. so the events unfolding with the central banks on Wall Street and the outsourcing of American business and jobs could soon result in much less shopping, to put it mildly. Store owners can't take a major drop in sales or they won't be able to pay their rent. The good locations in Toronto with pedestrian traffic have correspondingly high rents, sometimes $10K a month for a fairly small space. Strategy has to be developed that will cover expenses and make a profit.

Capital is needed for advertising, signage, and attractive displays, It's important that customers fall in love with the item enough to produce the credit card so the store must be set up visually so that prospective buyers notice clothes on well-posed mannequins; they should have mirrors and change rooms nearby to tempt a try-on and functional hangers for browsing, Sales of impulse items increase greatly the longer the customer is inside the store.

When a retailer sets up his or her store, a supplier of this equipment must be contacted. There are Toronto store fixtures specialists who provide and install things like shelving, floor racks, clothes hangers, gridwall, display cases, sign holders, and mannequins. These are generally known as retail store fixtures and displays. They would stock supplies for the store to be purchased or rented, depending on the situation. When looking for things like mannequins for sale and glass display cases the decision-making process can be tedious; most stores involve partners and both of them will have to agree on the layout of the store. If they heed the advice of the fixtures supplier they might save time.

The store inventory plan for percentage of product they would like to display must fit into the available space so the measuring skills and experience of the fixtures company can guide the way. In Toronto retail displays companies are many and they deal with a wide variety of ethnic backgrounds so it is inevitable that bargaining and comparing prices will slow down business for the fixture man even further. He is operating in a netherworld - part retailer himself, part wholesale supplier, and part rental department. In such a marginal business there is no room for sudden public price increases in gas, food, and other basic necessities that would lower the buying power of consumers. In the retail world forward momentum is critical.