Using props to build a scene in a store is a great way to satisfy the visual needs of your customers. For example, showing a poster that says "Winter is coming soon, stock up on your winter weather gear!" won't be as effective as using a winter scene in the display window, along with a snowy atmosphere with mannequins wearing heavy coats.
As the holidays approach, one way to think about decorating is to use themed displays. These can be as simple as wallpaper brought up to demonstrate upcoming holidays or the winter season in general, or they can be much more complex, with Styrofoam snowmen, cardboard presents and model towns. The amount of effort that someone puts into the winter decorations will have an effect on the number of people who choose to come into the store to appreciate its appearance. People will actually be inspired to regularly visit a store that offers beautiful display windows and interior decorations that change every month or with every major holiday.
Natural props
Don't shy away from using natural props either. These can be used in conjunction with winter or other festive displays. For example, bushel tubs often evoke the spirit of the harvest season, and anything can be put into one of these objects, from food to clothes to toys.
Another way to invoke a certain mood is to use Glass Hex Jars, which have an old-fashioned quality that many people will associate with a bygone era when things like food tasted better and were made with a higher attention to quality than they are now. Someone selling food could put those items into one of these jars, and people will think that the food in the jars is as wholesome and old-fashioned as the jars themselves.
There are many other items that invoke particular feelings. A faux-stone vase creates an impression of rocks outside in a dewy garden, and these can store any number of things, not just flowers but other plants and even non-plant items. Rustic crates give the impression of cargo from a ship, and could therefore contain items that lend themselves to the sense they are from another country. This could include food but also shirts or anything else that someone would want to make seem imported from another time and place.
