Christmas: A time for giving (up)?

Christmas, or “holidays” as you prefer to call them in your neck of the woods, are close at hand and stores are ablaze with artfully arranged displays all aimed at putting us in the mood for shopping.

Thanksgiving doesn’t exist in the U.K. (we have little to be thankful for and you got rid of us anyway…) so “Black Friday” is not that big a deal. Instead, Christmas is the be-all and end-all, and it has been an ongoing visual merchandising fact since the middle of last month.

Shoppers this side of the pond face the prospect of close to three months of glitter, twinkly lights and ho-ho-hoing before the big day when the man in red climbs down the chimney. The big question is: do we care?

Well, maybe not. By November the air is usually thick with complaints about how early the shops start their festive campaign and isn’t it earlier than last year? Actually, it isn’t and the point, perhaps, is that while this may not be the “most wonderful time of they year” for some, for retailers, it is certainly the most vital – get this one wrong and we might as well all go home.

And in truth, we may all supress a Yuletide yawn occasionally, but there is still a certain thrill to be had from inspecting the VM efforts of the big retailers in London, Paris and Berlin. This is when retail puts its best foot forward and if you’re not tempted to dig deep, then you may actually be meaner than you imagine.

Be of good cheer as you tuck into your turkey a day or two from now. We won’t be doing the same, but we have many reasons to be thankful for our version of “holidays,” not the least of which is that retail, VM and store design keep huge numbers insulated from the chill of the deep midwinter.   

John Ryan is a journalist covering the retail sector, a role he has fulfilled for more than a decade. As well as being the European Editor of VMSD magazine, he writes for a broad range of publications in the U.K., the U.S. and Germany with a focus on in-store marketing, display and layout, as well as the business of store architecture and design. In a previous life, he was a buyer for C&A based in London and then Dusseldorf. He lives and works in London.