Share

The Store Room: What spring holiday is most popular in your store?

"What spring holiday is most popular in your store and what products/displays do you feature?"

Daniel Hazen
Ozzie Dots
Los Angeles, Calif.
Spring is always a time when we think of getting ready for the festivities of summer. We all start shedding those dark outer shells and don the pretty pastels of spring, usually starting with the holiday of Easter. Our first project is to outdo last spring's window display - lots of colorful flowers, an abundance of pretty Easter eggs and, of course, the Easter bunny. The bunny has to be the focal point, whether it be comical, playful or even antique and dated looking. I would say that it definitely brings in a ton of customers, because they are curious what we have new to offer during this time.

Barbara Rozema
Party Plus Inc.
Redlands, Calif.
I have been surprised that our St. Patrick's Day sales have been increasing! We brought in a lot more wearables last year and sold through very well - hats, tiaras and lighted buttons all are doing great. We also sell lots of beer glasses. Banners, particularly glitter ones, sell well. Cupcake cases bombed, but then again I guess not too many people eat a cupcake with a beer.

Pat Schwerman
PartyWorks
Huntsville, Ala.
It's not the spring holidays; it's spring! We sell butterflies, flower dangles and flowers on stems, invitation cardstock with a spring theme and balloon flowers. We dress our windows with bright pastels and anything that reminds us spring is here sells.
Yes, we have all the spring holidays, but we just love spring. We may be in the South, but we still have winter (at least what we think is winter).

Adriane Brandenburg
Fun Party and Wedding Services
Shawnee, Kan.
Spring has several holidays that do well for us, kicking off with Mardi Gras. We carry a great selection of masks and beads and it seems like I can never carry enough masks. Next up is St. Patrick's Day and Kansas City has a huge parade, plus our town has a family-friendly parade that is right in front of our shop. We sell tons of green - beads, leis, balloons, hair color, wigs, plus all the décor and more wearables.

Easter is a little quieter, but we get a little boost of First Communion and Confirmation business. They are usually simple items like napkins, balloons and a religious gift-type item. Rounding out the spring season is Cinco de Mayo. Kansas City has a crazy number of Mexican restaurants and there are a ton of celebrations. Again, lots of beads, add in some piñatas, sombreros and chili pepper lights and you have a party!

Margo Jolly
Signature Celebrations
Tustin, Calif.
St. Patrick's Day is always big for us. We display leprechaun sculptures and themed Mylar balloons.

Denise Hagopian
Heavenly Choice Events
Montebello, Calif.
The academy awards are the hottest spring "holiday." We look forward to a whole store make over featuring movie star collectibles, gold stars, black and gold fabric, clap boards, foil balloons, movie reels and windows with the latest trend merchandise.

We plan Great Oscar parties. Our favorite display is mixing some adult lingerie in with Marilyn Monroe and our Oscar stand-up. It is so very sexy, plus this year we added Twilight's Edward & Bella.

Kathy Dalton
Simply Unforgetable Party Shop
Ocala, Fla.
As far as first quarter holidays, my best has to be St. Patrick's Day. Mardi Gras was No. 1, but the last couple of years it has been too close to Valentine's Day, so clubs and bars can choose one or the other to do as a theme.

At St. Patrick's Day we really promote wearables and decorations. The decorations go to the clubs and the bars and of course the wearables are sold to the customers of both. We have approximately 36 feet of product on hand and at least 20 feet of this space is dedicated to wearables. We sell hats, head boppers, buttons, leis, flashing pins, glasses, boas, vests and any other unique items I find that a person can wear.
The decorations are best with items that a bar or club will use - cutouts, danglers and ceiling décor sell best. This formula seems to work well for Mardi Gras too, so watch your dates and adjust your orders based on the day of the week and closeness to other holidays.

I find that St. Pat's does best when it is during the weekend and it gives people a reason to make it a party night. Even people who don't normally go out will venture out on a Friday or Saturday night when there is a special event.

Pat Schwerman
PartyWorks
Huntsville, Ala.
Spring is a good "holiday" for us - almost as good as fall.

As soon as New Year's Eve is over, we begin cleaning up the store and getting ready for spring. We clean the shelves, the floor, everywhere. Since we sponsor a Bridal Show every January, our first window of the New Year is wedding. But come February 15, we change to spring.

This year we had dangling spring flowers, flowers in boxes, flower napkins and anything flowery all on a bed of grass on our window table. Our colors are usually as many we can possibly use. It seems that the more colors we use, the more attention the window gets.
Sometimes our windows are uncluttered, but our spring window is full and our shelves are full of spring merchandise as well - colorful plates, napkins, imprintables, etc.

I love having customers stand outside and stare at the windows while they eat their ice cream cone from Baskin Robbins. We don't have much of a winter here if you compare it to the rest of the globe, but our inch or so of snow and our 30-degree temps are enough for us to welcome spring.

 

 

Originally posted Monday, Aug. 30, 2010