Holiday Report

Christmas and Holiday (From page 113) ones who have passed away. Similarly, Hollingshead said she is seeing cardinal motifs as a big trend. “The story goes if a cardinal appears, the spirit of a loved one is near,” she explained. Grinch, glitter and glitz Santas are also popular trends at always Christmas right now. “Grinch is really big right now,” she stressed. “We have a Grinch tree, and Department 56 has a Grinch village, and they’re both big sellers.”

Bilbo said Santa is popular as ever; he said the brand possible dreams Santa and others are releasing more Santa and Mrs. Claus sets—“it seems to be of interest, and not just with the possible dreams line. People are always looking to add Mrs. Claus to Santa; I'm seeing more of it in the last few years,” he explained. “Christopher Radko figures are also selling really well. I think part of why so much is selling—we’re in a tourist town, and over the last year, people had extra money with the stimulus checks. Maybe they didn’t need it for essentials. People were tired of being subdued, so they celebrated Christmas in a much bigger way.” Bilbo added, “personalization is probably our biggest category. We used to use one or two vendors for the personalized ornaments. It now takes four, sometimes five just to keep us stocked. We have an entire section of our third room of just personalized ornaments. One of our employees— keeping them restocked is almost her full-time job. And we have to hire people with excellent writing to write the names with special pens.”

Retailers find their merchandise in different ways. “I say order a wide variety, order it early, and order enough,” Hollingshead said. “I find all my vendors at the AmericasMart in Atlanta. I try to get around to as many vendors as possible to see what they are showing in new products. We also make a decision based on what has sold well in the previous season—we’ll add more of that collection, or we’ll see a new collection and add to it.” Bilbo said his senior buyer and visual merchandiser make every effort to attend the market in Atlanta, as well. Constante said due to their limited space (700 square feet) they try to be selective when choosing new merchandise.

Although generally the most enjoyable part of retail, arranging eye-catching displays at Christmas and holiday stores has a magic all its own. “I like to take a large piece that catches the eye and use it as a focal point for the display, then put smaller pieces from the

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Current Christmas Colors for Current Sales Success

Red and green will always be the official colors of Christmas, but they certainly aren’t the only color combination for the holidays.

“The color blue is really strong,” said Mel Bilbo, owner of Kringles Christmas Shop in Branson, Mo. “We have a section just in blue décor that’s selling really well.”

Diego Constante, owner of Feliz Navidad Sedona in Sedona, Ariz., said the traditional red and green still dominates at Feliz Navidad Sedona.

“I believe this year's Christmas colors are gold and silver, and white and red,” said Tammy Hollingshead, manager of Always Christmas in Hiawassee, Ga. “Red is always good. They are popular because they are classic colors.”

Anything goes, according to Patty Hutchinson, owner of the Twelve Months of Christmas in Bedford, Ind. “People love it all. I have blues, browns, greens. Different people have different tastes. If you like it, it doesn’t matter if anyone else does.” ❖