Beyond Red & Green • Christmas Trends
By Susan Wagner, Editor of Smart Retailer Magazine
The witches and goblins have been repacked and the Halloween candy all eaten or given away, which means now is the time for Christmas and holiday décor to show up in stores across the country! Yes, some people may grumble that we're barely past October—and whatever happened to Thanksgiving decorating!—but the truth of the matter is people love to celebrate the Christmas season. Many of us prefer to decorate earlier, thereby enjoying the holiday season as long as possible. To think that years ago people used to wait until Christmas Eve to set up and decorate their tree!
For the holidays, traditional red and green will always reign supreme, but every year different color variations become popular. For this holiday season, expect to see brighter, more whimsical shades of green mixed into the color schemes. Hues such as lime and candy apple are quite trendy and bring a hip, young look to Christmas decorating. For the red tones, watch for coral colors and even pink-tinged variations. For the more contemporary decorator, a black-and-white Christmas can be quite striking and surprisingly popular with the right set.
For this year's holiday season, several design trends are also taking root. The wintry, frosty look is appearing all over. Last year, penguins were the bird of the season; this year, the cute critters are joined by polar bears and other wintry animals. Following this look, you'll see more swags, wreaths and other greenery frosted in faux snowflakes or glittery ice drops.
The nostalgic Christmas theme is still strong with materials and designs from the past showing up in new ways. Velvety flocking, which was once popular on wallpaper, is being used on ornaments, wreaths, jingle bells and other decorations. Chenille, another old-time favorite, is enjoying a resurgence as well. People are looking to vintage chenille Santa faces and other ornaments to decorate in a retro theme.
Of course, there are other Christmas decorating schemes as well. Glittery, sparkly over-the-top Christmas décor tops the list for many, as does a more sophisticated European-style design. And watch for silhouettes and colored fused-glass ornaments to pop up across the country.
Happy holiday decorating!
Smart Retailer is a magazine geared toward helping retailers run wonderful gift stores. If you are an owner of such a shop and are interested in learning more, visit www.smart-retailer.com.