It is December and it’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas everywhere you go. There’s a tree in the Grand Hotel, one in the park as well, the sturdy kind that doesn’t mind the snow… So you probably know the lyrics, but my point is I have noticed something different this year and I hope you have too.
It definitely is beginning to look a lot like Christmas in the neighborhoods that I drive through, in the shops and malls of the area and in the orders being seen by Nashville Wraps, which tell us that Christmas is alive and well. We even had snow flurries this weekend in Middle Tennessee.
I have noticed lots of Christmas decorations and outdoor lights this year as well. It almost seems that every other house has something. It makes me want a day above 50 degrees again so I can get on my motorcycle and go sightseeing. I digress so quickly…
In the retail sector we are seeing an influx of orders that started the week of Thanksgiving and is still building. I have said many times that Nashville Wraps is a good barometer of small and medium business USA, and we are seeing about a 15% increase over 2009. But why? Lots of reasons….
People who survived Christmas in 2008 and 2009 have seen a gradual increase in consumer spending. In 2009 consumers were pent up with being repressed/depressed due to the economy. In 2010 they have been frugal throughout the year and are releasing more of their shopping withdrawal this season.
In 2009 we were all pelted with all sorts of meanies before the holidays: job losses, swine flue, and the news in general. The new normal lifestyles have also had an affect, but while the news in 2010 isn’t great relative to the economy, these haven’t been good enough reasons not to get out and shop this year. Thankfully we are still in charge of our own destinies, attitudes, and finances to a degree. It is certainly our choice about whether and what we want to give to make someone happy this year. Americans are a giving people and we want to give a spark of love and happiness this year regardless of how depressing the first 11 months were. So to the streets we go.
Online shopping is of course on the increase, but still for Christmas there is nothing that replaces the experience of being out in the weather, searching for parking, and being with other people shopping in a vast variety of shops. I am old fashioned, but there is something sacrificial about me going out to select that perfect gift rather than searching only at online outlets. I think that has some impact on what we are seeing today.
For whatever the reason, I am happy to see it, and I know that many Nashville Wraps’ customers are too. So to you I say Merry Christmas and God Bless America, and if that is politically incorrect then so be it.
Robby Meadows
Director of Marketing
Nashville Wraps
As I was saying, we CANNOT give up on setting our country right and this blog is evidence that there is plenty of hope for that cause.
“Great companies tend to make great decisions. ” Nashville Wraps is one of the best!
Yes, I’m going Christmas shopping today and my neighborhood looks a little like a carnival… I could do without those snowman blowups tho! I so badly want to do a midnight yard decorating raid. I’d move the lighted deer to a nice spot under a tree instead of standing in a row in the middle of the yard, tuck the lighted presents around the tinsel tree instead of lining up the driveway, yata,yata,yata ..that s just me tho. I’m happy with my small tree, lighted mantle garland and yes, my Menorah. I’m Christian but I love the Hanukkah story and tradition also. Merry Christmas to all and God Bless us everyone!
We have been hit hard here in Michigan (at one point our area had an unemployment rate of 16%), but we saw a change last year already. Folks wanted “special” gifts, and were more interested in our fresh from the farm wool and handmade items than in years past. This year has been more of the same, though I do think the length of the economic woes and the uncertainty continue to dampen spending in general. We’ve noticed much less “plastic” spending this year, too, with most folks paying in cash.
Love your bags and your blog. Long live political incorrectness!
I agree last year and the two years before that I didn’t have a tree or any Christmas decorations I had several reasons for that good or bad. Right after Christmas last year when everything was on 50% or more off I purchased all new stuff ( I had donated all the old stuff except a few things that had special family meaning) New tree, new LED lights, amazing that you can plug 43 strings of them together without blowing a breaker. We also purchased garland and all the other necessary stuff. This past Saturday we put up the tree and decorated, looks great and now I remember what I had been missing the last 3 years it brought back a flood of memories of family past and preasent of telling that 6 year old Son that Santa could not make that big foot truck fast enough and that he might get a card telling him that he would get it right after Christmas. The laughter of family telling storys about each other, the food as well as the smells in the house as it was put on the table, the depth and true meaning of the prayer from one of the family praying for family and friends well being and the joy of fellowship with each other. The real realization that God gave his only son for our sins because he loved his children so much, what a gift we have received. Priceless. Merry Christmas