Displaying fillets

Mike LeCompte CPF

MGF, Master Grumble Framer
Joined
Jul 20, 2005
Posts
792
Location
Knoxville TN
We currently have about 175 fillets that hang on our display wall separately from our mouldings. They are grouped according to colors--silver, gold, woods, etc--but take up valuable wall real estate; like why show fillets at a coupla bucks a foot when we could be showing $25-$75 per foot mouldings in the same area?

So----I'm looking for new ideas for displaying. thought of the carousel someone suggested but there are just too many of them to fit--their current space is three rows 44" tall.

How are you folk displaying these? And we want them out in a predominant position because we show them on about 75% of all the jobs we show.
 
I have mine mounted on foamboard chevrons and stacked on a corner holder. That way when doing a layout the mat slides right over them and really helps the customer visualize the package. Cut the foamcore the same dimensions as a corner sample, and mount the fillet to it as you would for a frame package. No wall real estate involved.

James
 
Mike, I am assuming these are the fillet samples left after you've culled the ones that look too much alike, etc.

That's an awful lot of fillets, maybe too many to do what James did?
( mine are mounted this way on foamcore, too- just easier to sell)

What about a 44" revolving stand, with three sides? (or taller if you plan on this collection growing.)

I would weed 'em out first. Sorry I don't have anything more ingenious that this!
 
The fillets are really for you more than the customer to view. So, they really don't have to be taking the space of more expensive samples.

But, do you really charge just a couple of bucks per foot for fillets?? Please tell me it ain't so!

The minimum I'd charge for a fillet is $10. They maybe not be that expensive, but what about the labor??
 
Gumbogirl: we show the fillets--all of them--that come with the LJ line and Roma line. DOn't agree it's too many; in fact, could use about two dozen more. As I said, we show them a lot.

James: are you saying cut them and mount them like a matboard sample? Now THAT's totally cool if that's what you mean.

Paul: no, I ain't that dumb. I was talking about the cost of the things not the retail. Just as I was talking about the cost of the corner samples, not the retail. With that space freed, can show more Roma high end stuff.
 
What Paul said....It sounds like you're agressively selling them so there's no real need to display them as long as you remember to show them to the customer when the art calls for it.
Or you could have 10 or so of your favorites displayed and the rest tucked away.

We've got ours stacked a couple of inches deep on sliding boards under the counter and whip em out when needed (right beside the baseball bat
).
 
The carousel works for me - a metal Nielsen/Bainbridge one, fillets stuck to mat chevrons made flush with foamboard. Display my bevelled accents in the same way. This way fillets and bevelled accents all face out - on a caddy they would be face down. With fillets/matboard chevrons, vary the colours of the matboard and don't forget to make a note of the mat reference as well as the fillet ref on the back.

Fillets are one of our easiest upgrades and so take pride of place.
 
Originally posted by Mike LeCompte CPF:
James: are you saying cut them and mount them like a matboard sample? Now THAT's totally cool if that's what you mean.

Yes, they are like a matboard sample, so when you layer them in to show a sample you can lay your matboard samples above and below so the customer can see the package with the depth of the filet already there. I cut my samples and attach them to the inside of the V of the foamboard so the matboard sample can slide right up to the fillet. This is a really easy way to sell the fillets. I use the white space on the foamcore to put the descriptive sticker for the fillet.
And they store easily on a matboard sample rack!

James
 
We have a few sets of flat files under our display counter. I sorted the filets by color, then mounted them to foamboard strips about 9" wide with a velcro strip running down the middle to hold the corners in place. They take up 2 drawers in the flat file. We actively sell them so we are always in the drawer. The biggest bonus to filing them this way is that I no longer have customers pulling them off the wall and telling me they want to use it to frame their 24 x 36 poster!
 
James - I am liking this idea of yours - can you post a photo or two to show how the fillets are attached?

And I like the carousel idea as well - gonna have to make one!

Right now I have fillets in a drawer and they are a bit of a jumble. Although I am tending towards just stocking length of just one type of composition gold leafed fillet and toning it to match whatever I put it on!
 
Originally posted by Framar:
James - I am liking this idea of yours - can you post a photo or two to show how the fillets are attached?

Not my idea as much as I would like the credit. Took a fillet course last March and it was presented there. I will try and get photos tonight.

James
 
Framar, if you like the carousel idea check the archives. I'm pretty sure Kathy posted photos at some point of some nice looking carousels that she built.
 
Yeah, that was me Diane, thanks for remembering. It is nice to know one of my posts was helpful....

Here is the link Framar. Fillet carousel

They were cinchy to make and all out of scrap too. I never did put the spinners on them. I keep them under my table and lift it up by the knob when I want to use them. They have been very useful to me. I have two of them, each side holds approx 25 samples, so that is approx 200 to show.

Hope this helps somebody!
 
Thanks, Kathy - I remember those now! Now all I have to come up with is space UNDER my bench and on TOP of my bench! That's all!!!
 
I display my fillets (only 68 of ‘em) on a four sided, 18” high carousel the plans for which were displayed here on the Grumble. My carousel is similar to Mar’s, but is on a lazy susan.

Even though I only have 68 “Wreltneys”, I vastly underestimated the size of the carousel I needed to display them.
 
Does anyone else have the Nielsen matboard metal spinner? I think it was designed to take the whole (initial) artcare range what - 140 boards?

The range is vastly expanded now of course, but this thing is perfect for fillets. I can post a photo if it was a European thing, shouldn't be too hard to copy in wood - or metal if you are geared for that/know someone.
 
Hey Kathy...good idea on the carousel. I'm going to make one of those for myself. I don't do much with fillets, but then you can't sell what you can't see! Thanks!
 
I use a roll like an artists brush roll with individual slips for each fillet but you can only have one piece instead of corner sample. I'm incredibly tight on space and this works well for my clients ... as far as the whole presentation and selling up goes.
 
THE WRELTNEY WRACK! I love it! It's on my list of things to do next...
 
I love the idea of the "mat sample" fillet samples!

That would be ideal for the fillets that are made to match certain moldings. If someone is looking at one of those moldings, just automatically pull out the matching fillet to show them. After all, it's a set!

A fun way I saw of showing fillets, was to put a jar full of short sticks (labled on the back) on the counter, where the customer could play with them. That got them thinking about fillets without feeling like you were trying to "sell up".
 
I use of of those small mat board holders. I stack my filets on them as you would a mat. Then when I want to work with a filet I just pull out the rack(s) and find the one I want. We are limited on space so I find this very easy.
 
The only real problem I have with Dennis Tilly's "fillet on a corner sample" idea is:

Now how are you going to show that fillet on a frame?

Mike, you can show three or four fillets with a easy sell and 7x mark-up in the same space as a $75/ft 3-1/2" Louie XVI CC with only a 2.2x mark... which one would make you a lot more profit; day in and day out?
 
Originally posted by Baer Charlton:
The only real problem I have with Dennis Tilly's "fillet on a corner sample" idea is:

Now how are you going to show that fillet on a frame?

Very true, so when you get a sale, hopefully you have a piece left over for showing with a frame...And thanks for the name...That was the guy who should get the credit for showing the corner sample on fillet idea.

James
 
Originally posted by Baer Charlton:
The only real problem I have with Dennis Tilly's "fillet on a corner sample" idea is:

Now how are you going to show that fillet on a frame?
Funny how things come together when you are surfing... I read this article last night on Fletcher's site "FANTASTIC" Fillets!

The author suggests mounting the fillets on the outside of a plexi corner. Then the fillet can be shown in a frame and the art can be seen through the plexi. May not be perfect for everyone but sounds workable.
 
Baer, I had the same problem with the fillet on the mat sample, because we use them fairly often on frames, so here is what I just made up after reading this thread. I cut two mat 'corners', 4.5" wide, and a foamboard sample 3.5 " wide, and made a 'sandwich' with them by gluing them together. I placed a velcro chevron inside the 'lip' of the bottom mat. Now when I want to show a filet inside a mat, I tuck the filet sample inside the lip of the sandwich. The velcro chevron helps hold it in place while we move the sample around the item being framed. The foam board gives just enough space for the lip of the fillet, and I can place the mat corner sample over the whole package, same idea as Dennis . I hope I don't need to post a picture because I can never seem to get that to work!
 
So now, what do you do when the fillet's "rabbet" is too wide for the frame sample's rabbet and the fillet ends up sticking out of the frame sample too far?

I have sanded some of my more popular fillets so that they fit better, but it is very distracting to the frame.

Fillets for mats are so much easier to show.
 
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