Most Canadians are all too familiar with what Quebec’s messy political situation has done to Montreal’s downtown core – but, rather than shrugging its shoulders at the many ‘espace a louer’ signs dotting the city, one company is using the empty storefronts to its advantage.

In Vitro Marketing has launched a new outdoor advertising medium that uses empty storefronts for imaginative advertising displays.

‘There’s so many `For Rent’ signs, it’s terrible,’ says Giovanna D’Alesio, partner at the Montreal-based company. ‘It just breaks your heart.’

Returning to Montreal after a six-year absence, D’Alesio noticed that the city’s downtown core looked particularly seedy with all its empty retail space, and decided some three-dimensional ad displays could spice it up.

So far, the company has created displays for several clients, including McAuslan Brewing’s Frontenac Extra Pale Ale, Musique Plus (the French-language equivalent of MuchMusic) and Musee Juste pour rire Ñ the city’s comedy museum.

The firm tries to take a fresh approach to each space, with what D’Alesio says are ‘interactive’ displays. The Musže Juste pour rire display, for example, features a car cut in half.

‘What I sell is the downtown,’ says D’Alosio, adding that some of the trendiest spots in Montreal have prime space to advertise in this medium.

According to figures In Vitro obtained from Acces Montreal, a city service information provider, 116,000 people pass the corner of rue St. Catherine and rue de la Montagne on a typical day, which means the displays reach a huge number of people.

Each window costs $2,000 per month plus production, with a cut of 10-15% for the landlord.

D’Alosio says the spaces remain for rent – the ‘espace a louer’ signs are simply smaller – and there are contingency plans for the client if a tenant is found.

An In Vitro display is a lot less expensive than traditional outdoor advertising, says D’Alosio, and the advantage to attracting people out walking is that they may continue down the street to a store where they’ll buy whatever product is being advertised. In fact, the company tries to match the product to a particular area depending on the local audience.

Although Montreal contains an abundance of abandoned retail space, In Vitro is not limiting itself to that city.

‘We’re going to try and sell more nationwide,’ says D’Alosio. She has contacts in both Toronto and Ottawa and her plan, ultimately, is to create packages where a client could buy space in all three cities.

The company expects to have at least five window displays up by the fall and is currently working with clients to prepare for Christmas.