Welcome to the final stretch of 2024.

For most Americans, this means pumpkin, cider and fir aromas fill the air. Food is sweeter and richer. Crisp, cool air blows outside. Lights in homes and shops illuminate the streets as darkness arrives earlier each day. Dried leaves crunch beneath your feet.

For retailers, this also means chimes ring through your store as more shoppers open your doors each day. Laughter bounces between walls during your shop’s annual fall and holiday events. Customers’ arms abound with gifts as they await their turn to check out. Your shop’s festive displays and installations are met with faces of delight.

These last few months of the year are undoubtedly the busiest in retail, and it’s easy to feel overwhelmed. You’ve likely spent all year, or more, planning for this season — ensuring you have the correct amount of inventory, the ideal product mix, the perfect merchandising plans. It’s quite the undertaking.

Being an independent retailer is a tremendous labor of love. Ask the owners of MiCA 12/v, this issue’s retailer profile (page 48), who have spent 21 years adapting, growing and evolving their store to the ever-changing retail landscape. Their heart lies with their customers, and that’s what has ultimately led them to their success. When I asked co-owner Carolyn Deininger how she felt about the upcoming holiday season, she responded quickly with excitement — eager to begin her festive merchandising and community engagements.

I hope joy, abundance and merriment outweigh all the busyness and stress that come with operating a retail store during the fall and holidays for you this year. From my seat, I am so proud of the resiliency this industry has shown in what has been not-the-easiest last few years in retail.

This time of year in particular, your role in bringing joy to your community is more apparent than ever. To so many, your store is their reprieve — a chance to disconnect from their own year-end stresses, shop for loved ones (and themselves) and take in a beautifully curated environment. You are a source of levity, festivity and warmth. So here’s to you, retailers!

Enjoy 2024’s final months — and its final issue of Gift Shop® Plus. Next stop: 2025!

Until next time,

Featured Photo: Paper Mâché Pumpkins. Photo courtesy of Ragon House.