Modern Display’s new location boasts accessibility for customers

Modern Display — the Utah-based holiday decor store — is gearing up for its first holiday season at a new location in Murray.

Spencer Vriens, Modern Display’s co-owner, said says it feels “surreal” to be in a new location after over 40 years on 700 East north of Trolley Square in Salt Lake City. Some recent mornings, he said, on his drive from Farmington, he has reflexively taken the 400 South exit on Interstate 15, just as he used to for years.

The company, founded by Vriens’ grandfather in the 1940s, announced in June that it would be moving from their landmark location.

It’s been a “whirlwind,” Vriens said, moving from the Salt Lake City location to Murray, plus delays in construction and dealing with permits. The June announcement said the company planned to reopen this August.

The new store — at 5959 S. State St., in what used to be a ShopKo — is not that much bigger than the old location, Vriens said. It is more open, though, with higher ceilings and generally more space between shelves for customers to navigate.

“The nice thing is that we have way better parking here than we had in our old location and we have the ability to have our customers [use] shopping carts,” Vriens said. “The accessibility was a little bit difficult in the old space.”

A grand opening sale is scheduled for the first week of November, ahead of the holiday season. The store is open now, and already is boasting steady amount of decor and displays for the holidays.

Accessibility is a big plus for store employees, such as Melissa Eror, who said she has been with Modern Display for “19 Christmas seasons.” Eror, who focuses on setting up the showrooms, said she loves working for “an institution” in Utah and the Intermountain West.

“[At] the old place we didn’t have an elevator. It was difficult to get strollers or wheelchairs [inside],” she said. “Anybody that had accessibility issues, it was hard for them — and it was hard for us as employees to try and help them.”

The benefits are already apparent. When another employee was guiding an elderly customer toward the lighting displays in the back, the customer remarked, “The other place was so crowded.”

As an employee, Eror said, she is excited for the chance to better serve customers while also retaining the sense of magic the old flagship location embodied.

“One of my big concerns was making sure that we didn’t lose the nostalgia of the old place and all of those memories that people had of coming every Christmas,” Eror said. “I wanted to make sure that we tried to preserve that, but also create a beautiful new place for everyone to enjoy as well.”

One thing the new store doesn’t have is the iconic window that faced out onto 700 East in the old location, giving people a look inside. “That window was built in 1980 when things were a little less expensive,” Vriens said.

It’s not feasible, Vriens said, to modify a window for such a big building — so there has been a lot of discussion about how to give customers a similar experience in the Murray store. The plan is to create displays at the front of the store, to entice customers to explore further inside.

Vriens also said he hopes traffic from Fashion Place Mall, just up State Street, will help attract a new customer base.

“People can expect the same wonderful shopping experience they’ve always had at Modern Display,” Virens said. “Just in a a new spot that is hopefully easier and [more fun] to navigate.”