In-Store Demonstrations and Events
About Us
Custom Merchandising Services, Inc. (CMS) is family owned and operated by Diane Bednarz (founder of Demo’s By Diane, Ltd.) and her daughter, Denise Bednarz Mackowiak. As a family owned business, we extend ourselves and treat all of our customers as if they were our own family.
Denise served as the Director of Marketing and Operations of Demo’s By Diane, Ltd. For over 17 years managing the development and execution of all promotions and events on behalf of clients to improve brand recognition, boost sales, and ultimately, assist the client in achieving business objectives. Denise holds a bachelor’s degree in marketing & communications, holds a food service sanitation certification for the state of Illinois, and is basset certified.
CMS is proud to welcome Executive Chef Michele Perl as our certified chef consultant for recipe development. Clients can add professional recipes to their events with minimal additional cost. Michelle comes to us with vast industry experience as a former cheese & deli buyer/merchandiser and also created and implemented the original demo department and program for one of Chicago-lands’ premier chains. Chef Michele has also developed cross merchandising recipes for a major independent in Arlington Heights, IL.
Together, we have over 50 years experience in the food industry and pride ourselves in knowing the culture and trends of the Chicago-land consumer and area retailers. We specialize in working with the independent retailer customizing programs to meet clients exact and individual needs.
All of our event personnel are personally interviewed and staffing coordinators pay particular attention each job order making sure the right person is scheduled for the job. They take into consideration store demographics and culture to make sure the event personnel selected are a fit for the store. Detailed vendor program instructions are customized outlining preparation & key selling points for event personnel to effectively promote and sell product per client specifications. We pride ourselves in providing all of our customers with the best possible service one demo at a time.
