Display Workshop builds large-scale, decorative mall, retail, and museum displays. Their shop is a full-service fabrication facility, containing everything from metal and woodworking shops to fabrics and sewing. Utilizing these techniques was very successful; however, cheaper, imported goods from overseas were beginning to make a significant impact in the display market. This forced the company to change its perspective and develop additional goods and services. The question was what could they do to serve the same client base with more options, greater flexibility, and maintain the high quality standards that Display Workshop is known for? The answer was fiberglass.

Fiberglass and composites added new branch to the Display Workshop arsenal, as it allowed them to create larger and more complex projects utilizing less material goods and man-hours. Resulting products would be extremely strong and durable, perfect for mall crowds where considerable human contact is a routine event.

Because most of the large sculptures are one-of-a-kind projects, they typically don’t use molds, but rather carve the shapes out of foam. The foam arrives in large blocks, and the sculptors make quick, initial cuts with chainsaws or other power tools. Once the block is carved into a rough shape, tools get smaller, all the way down to a toothbrush, as more and more detail must be preserved. Finally, when the entire shape is finished, it is coated in latex rubber to protect the foam from resin. The latex layer must be carefully applied, as even the smallest pinhole can allow resin to seep in and eat away the foam from the inside.

Once the foam is properly coated, fiberglass is applied by hand as necessarily. The fiberglass is wet out with either polyester or epoxy, and the layers are built up as needed. Once cured, the parts are sanded, polished, and finished as dictated by the project. Gel coat, paint, and a variety of other finishing techniques are used.

Many of Display Workshop’s pieces are quite large, with a recent effort, a massive fiberglass snowman for the Monroeville Mall outside of Pittsburgh, peaking at over 25 feet. Due to the large size, most parts are fabricated in a number of smaller pieces. Once the individual pieces are completed, the entire display is constructed inside the warehouse. After the build is satisfactory, it is disassembled, packed, and delivered to its final destination.

Beside the ability to build bigger and better creations, fiberglass has consumer benefits as well. Previous mall displays would typically be used for about 3 years, at which point the rigors of assembly and disassembly as well as the constant daily abuse would render the display as past its prime. However, with the durability of composites, many of these displays can be used for 5 seasons or more. And even at this point, new displays are purchased primarily for a change of scenery rather than instability.

Now that Display Workshop has been in the fiberglass game for a couple years, they are expanding the use of composite materials. Molds will be constructed for items that are common in displays such as large Christmas ornaments. Because Christmas decorations account for about 75% of overall sales, initial mold construction will be geared toward those types of items. As the fiberglass product line grows, mold production is expected to grow as well.

Display Workshop is currently enjoying the slightly more relaxed off-season, working on only a few projects at a time. Besides mold construction, they are working on a massive fiberglass castle. Once the Christmas season approaches, however, production will really kick into full gear, with as many as 15 projects or more occurring at any given time. It appears that like most consumers, mall management are last-minute shoppers as well.

Display Workshop’s pieces can currently be seen in a number of malls and shops on the east coast including Beartown and Puppytown stores. They were also responsible for a huge, fiberglass, Super Bowl ring for 2001 champion Baltimore Ravens. But stay tuned, Display Workshop’s creations may be coming to a mall near you.